My name is James Platford. I'm a careers adviser and I work for the National Careers Service.
If I'm doing 1-to-1 meetings on the day, that's generally, 5 or 6 appointments in a day. Hours, an hour with each customer. Going through information, advice and guidance, coaching, mentoring and all that kind of stuff regarding careers.
Making sure you get really good action plans written up that can inspire and motivate the customer that you're dealing with. Because they read through them and it's making sure that you have everything very clear and so they understand what their next steps are, what they have set themselves.
Workshops, I love. It’s one of those ones where people are very nervous when they start. It’s sort of really, why am I here? What I mean, and by the end of it, you've just really inspired them and you can see the group coming together.
I did a level one coaching course and a level two information, advice and guidance. To be a National Careers Service careers adviser, I had to do a level four careers information, advice and guidance qualification. Learning about the various different careers theories was fascinating, and it really opens your eyes to the different ways you can support people and allow them to support themselves as well.
I would say the most important skill is listening. Every customer is different and they're often not knowing where their barriers are. And I think the real trick is in understanding, listening for what they're not saying, and then asking that follow-up question to find out if that's what the barrier is, because that's when you give your best, that's when you do your best work. That's when you know at the end of your appointment, you've really made a difference for the customer because you've listened properly.
