Careers information officer : Training

There is no specific, national-level training, but there are opportunities to undertake in-house training and to attend one-off external courses. These may be related to information provision itself or cover related areas such as staff supervision or web development. Courses and training opportunities vary from region to region and service to service.

Professional bodies, such as the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) , provide a range of training opportunities in specific subjects, such as:

• writing for the web;
• collection management;
• effective information retrieval;
• guidance skills;
• challenges of careers work;
• labour market intelligence;
• computer and web resources.

There are a wide range of options available: from short courses to post-experience certificates, diplomas and MAs, delivered via seminars, conferences, taught or research courses and through more informal meetings and discussion groups.

Some careers information officers may undertake postgraduate or professional qualifications in more specialised areas, such as librarianship or information science/management (accredited by CILIP), IT or careers guidance.

Other bodies, such as employers' groups, may offer day events where information staff can broaden their knowledge and understanding of a specific occupation, employing organisation or area of work.