To not take up job offer as a Trainee Careers Adviser

[Asvan]

Hi all,

Please go easy on me with this, I'm really torn right now and just need some guidance.

I am a mum of 4 and I have been working as a part time TA at my local school for the past 6 years. The job is good in the fact that I can drop my kids up and pick them up and I dont have to worry about childcare at all. The only problem is that there is no career progression and I'm quite unhappy with the management (that's another story) and I'm bored of the job.

Before I had kids I got really good A Levels and a degree but I never knew what I wanted to do as a career. This is something I'm still trying to figure out.

Anyway, recently I applied for a trainee Careers Advisor position and to my surprise they offered me the job. However, I'm so torn between whether to take it or not. These are the issues I am thinking of:

1. The job isn't term time only so I will need to arrange childcare in the holidays (I have no family or friends who can help me).
2. Because of the childcare costs I will probably be worse off than I am now.
3. It's a target based role and because I haven't worked in that kind of environment for a long time I'm worried I wont be able to keep up with the demands.
4. I will have to do regular presentations, which is something I have always found super difficult.
5. I'm so scared of failing because I haven't been in a learning environment for a long time.

Apart from the above, it is a role which I have always been interested in and it's a fantastic opportunity as they are willing to invest in my future. Should I leave my current secure job on the doorstep to take this amazing opportunity?

I really don't know what to do.

Absolutely take it! You will grow in confidence. The next year will go by anyway... invest in your future!

Please note that the job is currently home based until March so I know until then I wont have many issues. However, when it's back to normal all my above issues will come into play.

Should I give up my secure boring job to try out this new opportunity which could go either way?

Which qualification will you be gaining? NVQ 3/4?

Careers advice & coaching is a really rewarding job. You can find roles that aren't target based once you are fully qualified. Ideally look towards getting L6 qualifications

Oh and you'll be fab - I know it's really nerve wracking doing presentations but will become second nature with practice!

I will be gaining a Level 4.

The first 2 reasons are valid - can you work out how much the childcare would cost and decide whether it's affordable with the new salary? Your last 3 reasons are basically because you are afraid. Don't be - they have offered you the job and it's a trainee position so they won't expect you to hit the ground running. You are bored in your current job so no real reason to stay, and you sound like you want this job so go for it!

Sounds like a great opportunity to me although I can see you'll face some initial challenges in taking it. Not many paid trainee roles come up in this profession

I have done some basic calculations and I will be worse off by about £200 which in my case is a lot of money.

I would love to work as a careers advisor in a college or school in the future or maybe even work from home.

I think my main concern is the childcare costs as my kids are still too young.

Are you a careers adviser yourself?

Are you a single parent? What can the children’s father do for holidays etc?

Is the job safe, despite Covid and possible further lockdowns? It would be terrible for you to leave reliable employment to end up being dismissed due to lack of demand, lack of money, lack of hours etc. During a probationary period most companies can get rid of you for no reason and I've heard all too much of that happening in these weird times. Not to be negative, but it's worth thinking about.

The organisation recruited these positions because of the fallout of Covid. They have been awarded funding to support workers back into employment so that poing of view it will be safe.

The probationary period does worry me though. All my anxieties about not being good enough are making me think that they will get rid of me after three months.

Is it for the National Careers Service? If so, working for targets will be a big part of the role but I'd expect it to be more 1-2-1 work than presentations

I work for the Scottish Careers service and I agree it's a great opportunity. I totally understand the issues you have but it's a career you can really progress in - and some future roles could be term time only.
I hated doing presentations when I first started the job, but it's second nature now and there's a lot of training available.

Not being funny, but your OP does not make a great case for you being strong at careers advice. You never knew what you wanted to do as a career and are still figuring it out. You've applied for and got a job that you don't appear to want, don't like several aspects of and it doesn't suit your needs. You've no idea what to do about it. I mean, maybe you'll be great at empathising with people who are lost and lack direction, but I only hope they give you a lot of training. Maybe you should have applied for careers advice rather than to be a careers adviser?

(Hope that doesn't sound too harsh. Sorry if so, just can't get over the irony.)

@Pinkdelight3 I think you are being very harsh. Clearly the OP is low in confidence. No need to make her feel worse. And actually I think it is very possible to be a successful careers adviser and also be exploring your own career path.

To be honest one aspect of the role for me is that I will get to learn a lot about other careers and this may help guide me toward another career path? Or maybe I will just love the role so much that I progress further.

I have lost a lot of confidence since I had my kids. At school, college and uni I was a confident, star student. After that i had a number of roles which helped in my application for the careers adviser role but now I'm seconf guessing myself thinking I'm not going to be good enough and i should just stick to and be grateful for the dead end job that I currently have.

I had L4 and L6 in careers advice funded in my last job. I think it's an excellent opportunity and if you can find a way to make it work for you, go for it.

@ilovesooty

I had L4 and L6 in careers advice funded in my last job. I think it's an excellent opportunity and if you can find a way to make it work for you, go for it.

If you dont mind me asking, what do you do now? And how difficult were the Level 4 and Level 6?

I'm self employed now but I previously coordinated the Education Training and Employment project for a large drug and alcohol service.

The L6 was technically more difficult but more interesting as there was a lot of careers theory in it. It didn't take me as long as the L4 but that was because quite a lot of the L4 was a bit tedious. You get a lot of support if you have a good assessor.

Just think though while you are WFH would you need childcare? Couldn't see how old your kids are. And think about why you applied in the first place ? What attracted you to the role? It sounds as though your confidence is what needs worked on - your interviewers will have seen the ability so go for it.

Just be aware that a lot of colleges now take on quite a lot of 1:1 advice role for adults including advising on job search and quite high level CVs from executives facing redundancy. I loved the student and young people aspect dealing with university applications and career choices, but my part time level 4 in no way gave me the skills to feel equipped for the higher level stuff especially as I hadn’t worked outside education for many years.check what their expectations are..

Would it look bad if I take the job now and leave in March if things dont work out after homeworking finishes? I will carry on for as long as I can but if it gets too difficult with childcare I would have to leave. I dont want to regret saying no at this stage without even trying.

Give it a go with the attitude that it will work. Try to save what you can and investigate ways to pay for childcare - can you access voucher schemes?

Completely agree with pp - give it a try and see if you can find options to help with the childcare challenges. I do really hope it works out for you.

Also agree with the poster up above that it's important to train to the level required to support your client group. I work in HE and we do ask for L6 to support with the higher level careers guidance required for our professional coaching services.