Can anyone recommend a good Careers Adviser in London?

[digitalgirl]

Seems like I've lost the creative agency job I had when I was pregnant. Need to return to work in the next couple of months as MA and savings run out.

Have been applying for jobs in communications in the public sector, but am wondering if it's too much of a career change and whether I need to retrain. I really want to talk to someone about my skills and where I could go with them. Am willing to pay for the session, I'd rather talk to someone that can genuinely help me rather than a recruitment agent who's just trying to fill jobs.

If you're trying to change career at the moment you will probably find things very difficult. I work in recruitment (I know, boo hiss etc) and where my clients used to be flexible about background and consider career changers they now really don't need to as they have so many options of candidates with the right experience.

I recruit into comms in the public sector amongst other things and it is already an incredibly desirable job role and sector (most jobs will have in excess of 100 applications). The best thing to do in my opinion is try and network your way in via contacts you already have. Is this an option for you?

I know how frustrating it is, would love to change direction myself. Are you in a position to be able to retrain or take on internships to get experience?

So what would you really dream about doing if your career could take you anywhere?

Do you have the skills, job experience and qualifications for that?

What do you need to do to get the required skills, experience and qualifications?

How can you make that possible? (find the money, get the training, do something part-time while you re-train, develop relevant networks)

What do you have that is unique that will make you stand out against other candidates? An exciting hobby, work with a charity, something from your previous job that was high profile / exciting...

That's what I was worried about.

I don't really have any contacts in that area, all my contacts are in broadcasting.

I'm open to retraining/internship, depending on how long it would take...finances are tight. But how would I go about applying for internships as a career changer?

And actually is comms what I want to do? Do I need to be schmoozing journos and politicians down the pub every night? I want to get out of the whole pub-schmooze lifestyle which is partly why I want a career change. I just want to be able to go into the office, do my job incredibly well, then go home to my lovely lovely DS.

Also, a really good career coach would take you through these type of questions in a structured way and give you some tools to help you think about your skills, passions and priorities.

Many will offer a free initial session and that might get you 80% of the way.

notsoclever all food for thought, your first question actually floored me. Do you know any career coaches? Or anyone that's used one?

Someone recommended these people to me a few years ago. I went to visit for a free consultation and liked the woman I saw (I think it was Jo Ouston herself but can't remember) but I had a baby and worried about my career later (by which time I couldn't afford it)

From the website it doesn't look as if they do much individual careers advice, but they certainly did then and would be worth a call.

Errr (many big embarrassed faces) I do career coaching....

But any good career coach should ask that type of question. Look for a specific career coach rather than a general coach. Also look for a coach who is properly qualified.

A free session should let you know whether the coach in question asks questions that challenge you, and also offers information that supports and encourages you.