Any careers advisers in Scotland?

[ScottishMouse]

I’m pretty new here and looking for any careers advisers or similar in Scotland that might be able to give me some info/advice.

I am interested in the possibility of retraining as a careers adviser. I’d particularly like to work in schools. I’m finding it a little tricky to find out what the route(s) into this are, how the role slots into schools, and what the role looks like.

Is the only route in to do a postgraduate course in career guidance & development? I am in Edinburgh and it looks like Napier offer this.
What are the job prospects coming out of these courses?
Are careers advisers who work in schools employed by the school or by SDS? If SDS, can you choose just to work in schools or would this just be a part of your role? And how does placement in schools work?
If you are a careers adviser, can you tell me a little about how you find the role, what you enjoy about it, and what you maybe don’t enjoy so much about it, and anything else that you wish you knew about it in advance?

Thanks in advance!

You might be best also posting this question on Scotsnet. There's definitely careers advisors on the boards there particular round exam results time when they're good at giving advice.
I think @sassanach is one

Thanks @Photio ! I’ll do that.

yes I am
You have to be a SDS employed careers adviser to work in Scottish schools although to work in colleges and universities, you don't need to be SDS employed.
To be a careers adviser in Scotland, you need to have done at least the postgraduate diploma in careers guidance at either UWS or Napier.
Technically you can apply for career coach jobs without this, but in terms of payment, reognition and job prospects, you should really have the postgrad.
And be on the CDI or AGCAS register.
Anyone who doesn't have these memberships or qualifications is akin to calling yourself a doctor without a medical degree.
HTH

Super helpful, thanks @sassanach. Not at all opposed to undertaking the course at Napier/UWS, just wanted to see if there were options I had missed.

Would you mind a few more questions?

Do SDS recruit specifically for roles based in schools? Do they advertise for specific schools or how does placement in a school work? Or do they recruit for a more general role in which school based work may be a part of it?

Do you have a sense of what job prospects coming out of Napier/UWS courses are looking like at the moment?

Thanks!

In addition to Napier and UWS courses the university of Huddersfield offers the postgraduate qualification as a distance learning option.

If you're keen to work in schools in Scotland then the Napier or UWS courses are probably your best option.
However, If you want to work in higher education then the Huddersfield course specialises in university careers and employability.

Job prospects from all the career development postgraduate courses are pretty good at the moment as there is a national skills shortage of qualified careers advisers.

I wouldnt recommend distance learning unless you were already working in a careers related role and your employer was happy for you to do the qualification as you willl either need to go on placement, or use your job as the example.

SDS will simply recruit for a careers adviser - they wont say if you are schools based, centre based (all ages), or solely working with adults. You wont get to choose your school. Whilst some advisors have worked in the same school for years, this cannot be guaranted. SDS may specify a locaction though..

I know the lecturers for both courses but that's getting into 'outing' territory now! Their graduates work mostly for SDS but have also gone to work in colleges and universities as careers advisers. They may also work for local authorities or third sector but these are less likely to be careers guidance specific and much more employability which is not quite the same thing and lower paid.

I wouldnt recommend distance learning unless you were already working in a careers related role and your employer was happy for you to do the qualification as you willl either need to go on placement, or use your job as the example.

I have done the DL course with Huddersfield and I was new to the sector. I didn't need to be already working in the sector as the course team were brilliant at finding me placement that was close to home and in the sector I wanted to work in.
I spoke to quite a few university careers staff ( as that's where I wanted to work) and they all recommended the Huddersfield course as it's known to specialise in higher education work and research. I had to do DL as I didn't live locally. I had placements at 2 different universities and got a job part way through the course.

Thanks @GCSister and @sassanach , great info. Really appreciate it.

So does that mean there is no guarantee of getting a schools based role @sassanach? One of the reasons for considering this as a career change option is that I would very much like to work with teens and young adults. University/college goers would be my next choice, but would much prefer school age. It might be a deal breaker for me if it’s a bit of lottery who I might end up working with.

Good to hear about your experience @GCSister. Do you know if the Huddersfield course would qualify me to work in Scotland too?
I’m not afraid of DL - I did 3 years DL with UHI previously and it worked well for me at the time - although it wouldn’t be my preference.

No worries. Yes, it would qualify you to work in Scotland. I was told that it was internationally recognised - I asked this as I was thinking of working abroad at some point. We also had international students on the course too and students from Wales and NI.

Great, thanks @GCSister. This is all good info for decision making.

Whislt the majority of your clients will likely be teenagers and young adults, you will be expected to work with all ages and you will not be given a choice in the matter. They advertise themselves as an 'all age service'.

Whilst the majority of advisors are school based, there is no guarantee that will be your specific role. They may have an urgent need for an adult guidance advisor for example or a careers adviser working in prisons. I have worked with all client groups,, and yes, also in prisons. Even if you worked in schools, there's no guarantee they might move you to an adult guidance role.

You can do the CIAG course at any institution, but bear in mind education is a devolved issue so if you do the Huddlesfield course and its all about the GCSEs and A levels of your prospective clients, what if you come back to Scotland and its all Highers and National 5s in the conversation? That was a main complaint of English students on my UWS course - it was too Scottish focused.

And distance learning is fine, but you STILL need to fit the study and placements around your current job, unless you are not working.

Mulling over all this info, and thinking about how this career option would work for my life (2 kids, oh who travels a lot with work) and interests/goals…
@sassanach sorry for all the questions, but I need to figure out if I should pursue my research into this area or cut my losses and look at alternatives…
So, SDS recruit for a general role, and then what…you get placed somewhere? Do you get any input into location or context? Are you moved about frequently? I can imagine that the role is quite different depending on the service users you work with and that not every context/type of service user would suit every careers adviser. Any more info on how this works, how one might move about/progress within SDS would be amazing if you have the time. It seems very difficult to find this info anywhere.

You can do the CIAG course at any institution, but bear in mind education is a devolved issue so if you do the Huddlesfield course and its all about the GCSEs and A levels of your prospective clients, what if you come back to Scotland and its all Highers and National 5s in the conversation? That was a main complaint of English students on my UWS course - it was too Scottish focused.

That's not true! They do a module on working in schools and colleges and it covered England, Scotland, Wales and NI and students were asked to compare those to international models......I didn't do that module but was given access to the materials and my course mates discussed it on our whatsapp group.

Cross-posted @sassanach. I think you pretty much answered my questions, thank you!

Yeah they might say "careers adviser - Glasgow' in the job advert, but there's several offices in Glasgow, and in greater Glasgow so the office you get assigned to might not be the city centre office! Then they decide if you are going to be a centre based advisor, school based adviser or what. If you are school based, that could very much change - I was schools based, came back from mat leave and they'd moved me to the prisons. Then they moved me to adult work. I now work in a university based role and know the Napier and UWS lecturers very well (why not reach out to them, they are very helpful too!).

Yes the client group can vary. It can include adult career changers, those facing redundancy, young offenders, care experienced young people, traveller communities, disabled people, asylum seekers / refugees, prisoners, ex offenders, those with alcohol/drug problems, school refusers, graduates, school leavers, young parents, school pupils, apprentices, sometimes even primary aged children. You will be engaging with other agencies such as social workers, schools, psychologists, local authorities, police, probation officers, housing departments, benefits offices, training providers, employers, colleges, universities, foster carers, parents, grandparents etc.

A big big problem is the difference on both sides of the border. In Scotland, we get paid better, and that's because the postgraduate qualification is valued. In England, schools tend to recruit careers advisers themselves and don't care so much for the qualification and the pay can be much lower. Universities are different though, they do tend to respect the qualification and pay better.

@GCSister I have not done the Huddlesfield course but my English cohorts definitely found it difficult to apply part of their learning when they returned to England.

@sassanach , so interesting, thank you! This system is completely different to what I am familiar with from growing up in a different country. I had naively assumed that I could choose to be a careers adviser in schools only. I’ll have to think hard about this career option now, as I don’t think my talents or interests lie in some of the areas you mention. Or perhaps think about working towards a university type role instead of schools. Much to chew over, thank you.
And yes, I will definitely think about reaching out to the course lecturers.

I guess it depends on how the course/modules are structured.
For my group there was a real emphasis on not being too England centric as there were students from all over as it was a distance learning course.

As @sassanach has pointed out it is different in Scotland.
In England you would specifically apply for a job working in a school, either with the school directly or with a careers company that has contracts with schools.

The Scottish set up is quite unique!

It seems so @GCSister. I am sure there are advantages and disadvantages on both sides. Just not quite what I was expecting, and is making me doubt it’s right for me. My passion is working with young people, and I’m not sure I could offer as much to some of the other client groups (for complicated personal background reasons).

I would really advise reaching out to course lecturers. In my experience they have been so helpful and honest about where their specific course could lead to.

Thanks @GCSister, I will do that. I won’t dismiss this option without digging into it further, as on many levels it really does appeal.

It's a fabulous job!
I'd highly recommend it!

@GCSister , I’d be interested in hearing more about the university type role if you’re happy to tell me more at some point. What does your day to day look like? Is there any flexibility in terms of hybrid working/hours/part-time possibilities? What do you enjoy most and what do you enjoy less about your role? Do you feel the same changes in university working as some other types of university staff in recent times (I used to be an academic in a previous life, and many of my ex-colleagues are feeling increasingly frustrated and disillusioned)?