Case studies: Connexions personal adviser: Clare

Clare graduated in 2004 with a degree in leisure studies and business management. After a year teaching abroad, she looked for a career that involved providing face-to-face guidance. She now has the QCG and works as a personal adviser with Connexions.

After my degree, I had a keen interest in working with young people as I’d just returned to England after teaching English in the Czech Republic. I had originally always planned to go into teaching, but felt that I’d thrive more in a work environment with a bias towards face-to-face contact with individuals. I was drawn to the ideal of helping people plan their future and supporting them through the process. I did a huge amount of research on the type of organisations that provide such a service and I was really impressed by the aims of the Connexions service and in particular the role of the personal adviser. I’d really enjoyed working closely with my form groups in my previous job and helping them overcome hurdles in their educational and personal lives was hugely rewarding. When I realised that this kind of work was part of the personal adviser’s role, I knew this job would suit me down to the ground.

I went to visit a member of Connexions staff at an outreach post in my home town to discuss their job and the role of a personal adviser. I realised that I would either have to join the company as a Connexions assistant and work my way through the NVQ 3 in Advice and Guidance in order to be able to apply for a trainee personal adviser position, or apply to do the QCG before applying. I was really motivated to get stuck in and so I decided to apply as an assistant so I could keep on working closely with young people whilst working towards my own career goal. It took 18 months and a move to a larger Connexions centre to start my trainee position, and a further 18 months to qualify.

When applying for this kind of work, evidence that you’ve worked closely with young people is an absolute must as they are the main client group. This might be through a job, or you can give up some of your time to get experience by volunteering.

By taking the NVQ route I learned most of my skills whilst doing the job, and the whole experience was very valuable. Some of the most relevant skills are: interviewing techniques - I attended a training course for this and was encouraged to practise and analyse each stage of the interview process; caseload management, which can only really be learnt by doing it; and multi-agency working, which I really value as a skill and I wouldn’t be so effective in my job without it.

Although at first glance my degree may not seem to be particularly relevant to helping me get this kind of post, the course did cover many skills and areas of knowledge that are directly related to my work. This would be true of a lot of degree courses, and it’s just a question of analysing the subjects included in the degree programme to see what can be taken into the work place.

The role of personal adviser is always evolving to meet the needs of the service and of the young people who use it. The contact with young people is what drew me to the job in the first place and this is still one of the most enjoyable aspects of my work. I also like networking with the other organisations and agencies that I come across through my daily working life and it’s great to build strong working relationships with them. The creative side of the job is also rewarding, especially developing new materials to use with young people and seeing that they work successfully.

As with any job, there’s a lot of administrative work to complete, which can be time consuming, but it’s essential to the role so even though it’s less enjoyable it does bring some job satisfaction to know your work is accurately recorded.

I’m really enjoying where I am at in my career at present and I envisage that I’ll stay in this role for a long time. Now that we’re part of Children’s Services, the role is ever evolving so who knows what doors it will open.