Case studies: Connexions personal adviser: Kelly

Kelly graduated with a BA (Hons) in Religious Studies and now works as a Connexions personal adviser following completion of the postgraduate Qualification in Careers Guidance (QCG) and a significant period of time in a management role as a lead personal adviser.

I’ve always been interested in working with people and was successful in getting a job in a college after completing my degree. This work developed my interest in supporting people to make decisions planning their futures, and equipped me well for my application to study for the QCG.

Although my degree was in a seemingly unrelated subject, it did help prepare me for my role as a personal adviser by developing key skills such as research and presentation skills, ICT skills, group discussion and listening skills as well as a firm knowledge and understanding of different societies, religions and cultures. These are all essential skills that I still apply in my work today.

Once I’d completed the QCG, I was offered a job as a personal adviser. It was in this post that I had to complete the second part of my training to become a careers adviser/personal adviser by taking the NVQ 4 in Advice and Guidance. I was then given the opportunity to apply for a temporary lead personal adviser role, which involved managing a team of personal advisers and allowed me to further enhance my qualifications portfolio by completing an NVQ 4 in Management.

Working as a personal adviser involves being a central point of support for young people aged between 13 and 19 and I have a caseload of clients with differing needs. When I first joined the service, the role very much mirrored that of a traditional careers adviser, but it now involves supporting young people on a whole range of other issues including health, housing, leisure and finance. Inevitably, this means making appropriate referrals to other agencies and professionals, such as youth offending and housing organisations, the police and drug and alcohol support agencies.

The job is very rewarding and I enjoy working with young people both on a one-to-one basis and in the group sessions that I deliver in school. It’s very varied and you get the opportunity to work alongside a range of professionals to working with and supporting young people with diverse needs and requirements, from individuals who may need traditional careers guidance to those who may have more complex issues, such as homelessness and drug or alcohol abuse. Anyone wanting to follow this career path should be sure to get as much work experience as possible dealing with the public, and should have a real interest in and ability to deal with people from diverse backgrounds with diverse needs.

There’s a lot of administrative work such as record keeping and report writing which can sometimes be tedious, but is nevertheless, an essential part of the job. In addition, the work often involves dealing with young people and families experiencing a lot of problems, which can be upsetting. In these instances, it is important to focus on helping the clients involved and maintaining your professional boundaries.

My management experience offered me new challenges and allowed me to work with a team of advisers on a more strategic level. This is something I enjoyed very much and I’d be interested in taking on new management roles to ensure that I continue to be presented with the diverse challenges that I’ve already faced in my career.