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Careers adviser
Hours
37 per week
Starting salary
£18,000 + per year
If you like meeting different people and want to help them reach their full potential, this could be an ideal job for you. People who do this job help others make decisions about their education. They also help with training and work options.
You can qualify by completing a careers adviser course or diploma.
You will be suited to this job if you have good listening and questioning skills. You’ll also need the ability to develop good working relationships with a wide range of people.
WorkDesc
The work
As a careers adviser you could help people:
- assess their abilities, interests and achievements
- find learning and work opportunities
- use careers information and resources
- make decisions that suit their life and their circumstances
- look at available options
- make a plan of action for achieving their aims, and give them support as they carry it out.
Your work would also include:
- developing working relationships with employers, colleges, universities and training providers
- keeping up to date with occupational and labour market information
- giving talks and leading discussions
- keeping records and completing other administration tasks.
HoursDesc
Hours
You would usually work 37 hours a week, Monday to Friday, perhaps with some evening work.
You could work at a range of locations, including schools, colleges, universities, and adult information, advice and guidance centres. Your job could include a lot of local travel.
IncomeDesc
Income
Starting salaries can be from around £18,000 to £20,000 a year. This can rise to around £27,000 a year. Senior advisors can earn £35,000 a year or more.
Short-term contracts are becoming increasingly common.
There are no national salary scales, and earnings vary between employers.
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
EntryRequirementsDesc
Entry requirements
You can qualify as a careers advisor through higher education or through a work-based route.
Higher education: Qualification in Careers Guidance (QCG)/Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Guidance
This is a one-year full-time or two-year part-time course. It combines academic study with work-based learning, and includes the Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Guidance. Most people starting this course have a degree, but you may be accepted if you have relevant experience. You will need to check exact entry requirements with course providers.
Visit the Institute of Career Guidance (ICG) website for details of colleges and universities providing the QCG.
Work-based route
Work-based qualifications that you can gain are:
- Level 3 Award for Supporting Clients to Overcome Barriers To Learning and Work
- Level 4 Diploma in Career Information and Advice
- Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development.
These replace the previous NVQs.
The awarding body for these qualifications is OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations). See the OCR website for more information.
Please note: The existing higher education route will continue to be available as a full-time/part-time alternative to the above work-based qualifications. See the LSIS website for more information on the new qualifications.
To work with young people and other vulnerable groups you would also need to have Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) clearance. See the CRB website for details.
TrainingAndDevelopmentDesc
Training and development
As a careers advisor you can develop your skills and knowledge by completing a qualification at Masters degree level. See the Institute of Career Guidance (ICG) website for details.
As a member of the ICG with at least a Level 4 qualification, relevant experience and evidence of continuing professional development (CPD), you can join the ICG Register of Guidance Practitioners. This is a way of showing the public and employers that you are a qualified practitioner.
SkillsAndKnowledgeDesc
Skills and knowledge
To become a careers advisor, you will need to have:
- the ability to develop working relationships with a wide range of people
- good listening and questioning skills
- the ability to research information and explain it clearly
- organisational and time-management skills
- the ability to work under pressure and meet targets
- self-confidence in group situations
- administration, report-writing and record-keeping skills
- computer skills
- commitment to equal opportunities.
MoreInformationDesc
More information
Institute of Career Guidance 
3rd Floor
Copthall House
1 New Road
Stourbridge
DY8 1PH
Tel: 01384 376464
www.icg-uk.org
Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS)
www.agcas.org.uk
LSIS
Tel: 0300 303 1877
email lluk.advice@lsis.org.uk
www.lsis.org.uk
OpportunitiesDesc
Opportunities
You could be employed as a careers adviser with the National Careers Service, at colleges and universities, in the voluntary and private sectors, and at independent career development consultancies. See the Institute of Career Guidance website for details of these organisations.
From April 2012 the National Careers Service will offer services to adults and young people. There will also be opportunities to provide careers guidance services directly to schools.
With experience you could progress to a supervisor or management position. You could also become self-employed, working as a consultant, researcher or writer.
You could choose to specialise, for example in working with adults, people with special needs or unemployed people. Another option could be to move into industry, providing information, advice and guidance on career management for employees of large companies.
You may find the following links useful for vacancies and general reading (links open in new window):
Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.
We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.
LMIData
Related industry information
Industry summary
The further education industry is part of the lifelong learning sector, represented by Lifelong Learning UK Sector Skills Council, which also includes: community learning and development; higher education; libraries, archives and information services; and work‐based learning. The sector as a whole currently employs over 1.2 million people in a range of educational institutions, as well as public and private sector organisations.
The further education industry includes staff involved in the delivery, support and management of learning who work in general further education (FE) colleges, tertiary colleges, sixth form colleges, independent specialist colleges, Scotland’s further education colleges and post‐16 learning in Northern Ireland and Wales.
Key facts:
- There are 305,243 people working in further education, of which:
- 263,257 staff are in England
- 6,357 staff are in Northern Ireland
- 21, 604 are in Scotland
- 14, 025 are in Wales
- A higher proportion of female staff is employed part‐time than male staff.
- A further education lecturer usually works 37 hours a week, with around 25 hours spent teaching.
Jobs in the industry include: head of department, senior lecturer, team leader, curriculum leader, lecturer, teacher, trainer, learning support staff, assessor, internal verifier.
National and regional data
East Midlands – There are an estimated 22,087 people in the further education workforce in the region, of which:
- 9.9% of the teaching staff are of a Black or Minority Ethnic origin
- 8.2% of the workforce are teaching staff
- 60.8% of teaching staff work part‐time
- Pay is the second lowest of all English regions.
East of England – There are an estimated 23,091 people in the further education workforce in the region, of which:
- 10.9% of the teaching staff are of a Black or Minority Ethnic origin
- 7.8% of the workforce are teaching staff
- 53.4% of teaching staff work part‐time
London – There are an estimated 34,406 people in the further education workforce in the region, of which:
- 33.2% of the teaching staff are of a Black or Minority Ethnic origin
- 14.8% of the workforce are teaching staff
- 59.7% of teaching staff work part‐time
North East – There are an estimated 15,488 people in the further education workforce in the region, of which:
- 3.3% of the teaching staff are of a Black or Minority Ethnic origin
- 5.1% of the workforce are teaching staff
- 49.6% of teaching staff work part‐time
North West – There are an estimated 43,001 people in the further education workforce in the region, of which:
- 6.4% of the teaching staff are of a Black or Minority Ethnic origin
- 16.1% of the workforce are teaching staff
- 56.2% of teaching staff work part‐time
South East – There are an estimated 37,189 people in the further education workforce in the region, of which:
- 8.8% of the teaching staff are of a Black or Minority Ethnic origin
- 14.5% of the workforce are teaching staff
- 57.8% of teaching staff work part‐time
South West – There are an estimated 27,539 people in the further education workforce in the region, of which:
- 9.9% of the teaching staff are of a Black or Minority Ethnic origin
- 10% of the workforce are teaching staff
- 68.2% of teaching staff work part‐time
West Midlands – There are an estimated 30,894 people in the further education workforce in the region, of which:
- 12.9% of the teaching staff are of a Black or Minority Ethnic origin
- 12.4% of the workforce are teaching staff
- 59.4% of teaching staff work part‐time
Yorkshire and the Humber – There are an estimated 29,562 people in the further education workforce in the region, of which:
- 6.7% of the teaching staff are of a Black or Minority Ethnic origin
- 11% of the workforce are teaching staff
- 58.9 % of teaching staff work part‐time
Northern Ireland – There are an estimated 6,357 people in the further education workforce: 2,142 staff work full‐time, 51% of them were male; and 3,465 staff work part‐time, 37% of them were female.
Scotland – There are an estimated 21,604 people in the further education workforce, of which:
- 61% of the workforce are teaching staff
- 57% of full‐time equivalents (FTEs) are female
- 51% of teaching staff FTEs and 63% of non‐teaching FTEs are female
- the majority of staff are aged 30‐49 years
- 64% of teaching staff and 37% non‐teaching staff work part‐time
- 61% of staff are employed on a permanent basis
Wales – There are an estimated 14,025 people in the further education workforce, of which:
- 60% of the workforce is teaching and learning staff
- 13% is teaching and learning support staff
- 28% is other support staff
- 61% of the workforce is female
- 70% of support staff are female
- 31% of female staff are aged 40‐49 years
- 15% of male staff are aged 50‐54 years
- amongst non‐teaching staff, numbers are high in the under 25 years age group
- 70% of the full‐time equivalent workforce is full‐time
- 74% of the full‐time equivalent workforce were employed on permanent contracts
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