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Insights on money, career and trading

Take a new path as a career guide

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Daniel at 2:08 am

The climate is changing for those looking to offer guidance counselling

The recession has left many looking for fresh opportunities and the call for advisers to help them on their way is growing The climate is changing for those looking to offer guidance counselling

There are careers. And then there are careers in careers. You can be a guidance counsellor in a school, an MBA consultant from fortunaadmissions.com or other similar consultancies, an internal coach in a big company, or set up on your own as a specialist in career coaching or career management.

The employment options are varied, the range of related courses even greater. Though anyone can set up as a career coach, credibility comes only with a properly accredited course and affiliation to respected industry organisations. You’ll need to gain experience so you can showcase that you are able to handle this and are qualified in this position. To help with finding places of employment that can provide this experience, you may want to arrange your resume in a professional manner using resources like ARC Resumes so you can be taken seriously in this profession.

Ninety-seven students (from an intake of 100) recently became the first graduates of the first Level 7 diploma in career coaching in Ireland. The diploma was devised and delivered by a private company and is accredited and awarded by the Dublin Institute of Technology.

“We are in a recession and people are looking at where the job opportunities are,” said Miriam Magner-Flynn, the managing director of Career Decisions Ireland, the firm that came up with the diploma. “Career coaching is a huge growth area, with people looking for jobs or promotions, and companies bringing in career coaches when they are making people redundant.”

Students learn how to help others choose the right career or change their current work-life, mostly through practice-based learning such as role-play. They also study subjects such as ethics and marketing.

Of those who graduated recently, 30 have found related jobs and 45 are working for themselves as career coaches. Some are doing so as specialists for the industries in which they have previous work experience, such as construction and law.

The more traditional path into advising on careers is to qualify as a guidance counselor, having already worked as a teacher, or to study organizational or occupational psychology. Some might also pursue their master’s in counseling psychology and work as career advice counsellors afterward.

Besides, you won’t have to do anything. You might only need to bring your master’s degree and market yourself as much as possible. Aside from that, you may need to look for the best place to hire therapy rooms in London or elsewhere, where you may sit and take the sessions. People who understand behavioral psychology may find it lucrative.

“We would see ourselves as being completely different from career coaches,” said Michael Gleeson, the public relations officer for the Institute of Guidance Counsellors (IGC). “We would see ourselves as professional counsellors in the personal, educational, vocational and career areas. Our institute has more than 1,300 members, about 800 of whom are employed in second-level schools. Others work at third level or are private practitioners.”

To become a member of the IGC, you must have a primary degree and complete a masters in guidance and counselling at Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin or University College Cork, or a graduate diploma from the University of Limerick.

Alternatively, you can do one of two specialised higher diplomas at NUI Maynooth, either one in adult guidance or one in school guidance.

“These courses involve modules on the psychology of human development, counselling theory and practice, psychological assessments, ethical issues, educational issues, professional practice and the psychology of work and working life as well as including a work placement,” said Gleeson. “Most of the students would have worked for at least three years as a teacher first.”

However, he warns that, since last week’s budget, the job prospects for guidance counsellors are poor in the short term.

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Insights on money, career and trading