The evolving role of a higher education careers consultant

The role of a higher education (HE) careers consultant (CC) is a multi-faceted and valuable one (along with the vast array of other job roles in university careers teams, including employer engagement, work-based learning, digital careers learning designers and data specialists). It is a fairly well-established role in pretty much every university I have come across in the UK (and beyond the UK, in varying guises*). But this question around what careers consultants do, has been posed to me many times by students, graduates and university colleagues, especially working in a new established university and careers team here at Arden University.

Sometimes it’s worth going back to basics…so for any academics, professional services staff, students and graduates, below provides what is hopefully a useful and succinct overview. This is certainly not an exhaustive list, and roles and responsibilities may vary across institutions. CCs roles are also ever changing and adapting to meet the needs of career development work in HE:

• CCs have typically undergone training within the career development field, equipping them with knowledge and skills such as coaching or career guidance. This is to enable supporting students and graduates on a one-to-one basis, and to provide tailored and impartial support on anything from ‘I have no idea what to do after my degree’, through to ‘I need some advice on how to prepare for a job interview I have next week’. You wouldn’t want to see a therapeutic counsellor who’d had no training in their approach, so it shouldn’t be any different for a careers professional. Many CCs even obtain additional qualifications to enhance their work e.g. counselling training. The value of career guidance skills is further explained in this article here.
• Linked to above, many CCs retrain as careers professionals and may come with a whole heap of life and career experience themselves; recruitment and HR, teaching, science and engineering to name but a few! All of this adds value to their work with students and graduates.
• Many careers consultants are ‘pracademics’, practitioners in their field as well as being academics actively engaged in teaching and research. Many, such as myself, have completed masters and HE teaching qualifications. I would say that HE careers work is moving more in this direction, and which has brought about a change and evolution of job roles for careers professionals in the academic space.
• CCs develop vast knowledge of study, training, employment routes, recruitment processes, and labour market intelligence for different career sectors and subject areas, in order to support students and graduates, and to inform their work with academics. Some CCs specialise in terms of the focus of their roles e.g. graduates/alumni, embedding careers into the curriculum, equality and diversity in careers work.
• Many CC roles now involve working collaboratively with academics to deliver careers education within the curriculum. Here at Arden, the Careers Team sits within Faculty of Learning and Teaching rather than Student Services. This means we get the chance to work with lecturers to embed careers education into teaching of subject matter, to help students to ‘unpick’ what they are learning from their studies and how they can use this to articulate their strengths and attributes to employers, and to incorporate live projects and authentic assessments into modules.
• CCs usually work closely with internal employer engagement and work-based learning professionals in their own teams to build relationships with alumni and other professionals as a way to provide a platform for students and graduates to engage with employers and the workplace (careers events, careers fairs, guest talks, employer input into modules etc).
• CCs typically work closely with academics to collaborate on a range of careers initiatives targeted at students and graduates; promoting the careers service, identifying and responding to the careers related issues and challenges of students through developing a range of activities to enhance students’ confidence and skills to move successfully into roles or further study following graduation.
• Many CCs now focus specifically on supporting the career development of students before they start their courses at university, during their studies, and once they graduate and become alumni. This means the work of a CV  
• Increasingly, higher education careers professionals are conducting research to inform and enhance practice across the higher education sector, and publishing through the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS), the Career Development Institute (CDI), and the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (NICEC)

Arden University Careers Team contacts:

Students – careers@arden.ac.uk

Graduates – alumnicareers@arden.ac.uk

Employers – employers@arden.ac.uk

*Careers-related roles in higher education vary in terms of job title and responsibilities (consultant, adviser, coach) and depending on the institution.

Written by Sarah Warburton - Arden University