Careers consultant — George Theodorou

Although quite new to the profession, psychology graduate George is already involved in providing advice and guidance to university students, as well as working with academics to embed employability into the curriculum

How did you get your job?

My journey into the careers profession started at the University of Liverpool, where I studied the BSc Psychology and worked part time as a student careers coach. I applied for my current role via a jobs website and was successful. I feel that the practical experience I gained as a student and the insight into the role of a careers consultant really helped.

What's a typical working day like?

I provide students with one-to-one guidance appointments, lasting 20 minutes each. I also offer one-hour slots for students who need a bit more time. Aside from this, I frequently deliver workshops, so on a daily basis, I am planning and preparing for upcoming sessions, ensuring the content is up to date and impactful.

I also work with academics on how employability can complement the academic curriculum. This involves building relationships with academic staff and identifying opportunities to make employability more visible in their modules.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The best part of the job is the one-to-one interactions with students. I thoroughly enjoy hearing their stories - how they’ve got to where they are, where they want to go next and what motivates them. It's a real pleasure getting to know our students on this level.

Delivering workshops also provides a sense of fulfilment as I get to see a number of students in a session. It's lovely interacting with them, learning about their understanding of employability and their own career plans, and helping them along this journey.

What are the challenges?

There aren't really any major challenges. It's a large institution, so naturally things happen a little slowly. However, in my experience, those I interact with - such as colleagues within my service and academic colleagues - all prioritise the student experience and deeply care about making this the best it can be.

As I'm relatively new to the role, getting my head around policies and procedures, while also understanding who does what, can be quite a challenge.

In what way is your degree relevant?

My psychology degree is not that relevant to my current role. While there were modules on life transitions, which relates to the world of careers, my degree was more science-focused, rather than on interpersonal interaction.

How has your role developed and what are your career ambitions?

I haven't been in the role long, so at this stage I'm just learning the ropes but am progressing all the time. My career goal is to become a life coach/counsellor and to potentially have a portfolio career that includes football coaching and perhaps even careers counselling. I'm currently embarking on a Level 2 football coaching qualification and also a Level 3 counselling qualification.

My journey towards these ambitions has just started. However, I'm enjoying my current role and will look to complement this career with counselling and football coaching.

What advice can you give to others wanting to get into this job?

• If you're a student, try to engage with your careers service as much as possible and see what opportunities there are to work within the service.
• Take a look at the job profile for this profession on Prospects or other related careers website. Check out the responsibilities of the role and reflect on these - how would you feel doing this on a day-to-day basis? Then check the skills needed - how confident do you feel that you have these skills, and can you evidence them in your application?
• Finally, speak to people in the profession. Learn about what's involved in their role - what do they like about it, and what are the challenges? It can help you get an appreciation of what the role is like and can help you build valuable connections in the sector.

Find out more

• Read all about being a higher education careers adviser.
• Discover what a careers adviser does.