Careers consultant : Career development

Careers consultants come from varied backgrounds and their career paths are usually individual, depending on training and areas of expertise.

Opportunities for career progression can also depend on internal staffing requirements and the size of the organisation.

In larger consultancies, or for those consultants employed in the human resources/personnel department of an organisation, there may be opportunities for promotion to senior consultant, team leader or managerial posts. This can involve managing team members, management of large scale projects, budgeting and financial responsibilities.

For those in small consultancies, there are few opportunities for promotion other than becoming a partner in the business or leaving to establish your own consultancy.

For the self-employed and those in small firms, career development can take the form of specialisation following several years of more general work. Specialisation may focus on the needs of specific client groups, such as women, those with mental health issues or those at particular career transition points, e.g.  mid-life career change, returning to work after having a family or early retirement. Specialist areas can also include particular types of advice, such as CV preparation or use of specialised career tools like Myers Briggs personality type indicator or innovative techniques for managing work-life balance.

Experience as a careers consultant may lead to a variety of other areas. Depending on your previous work and training, these might include:

• careers guidance
• personnel management;
• occupational psychology;
• counselling.