Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Very personal, take a lot of time researching things for you . |
| Disadvantages: |
Cost ! But not unreasonable . |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
Background
I came across this service when I quit my teacher training course last year and had no idea what to do next. After contacting my old university I was disappointed to find that they only help people within 2 years of graduation and, right or wrong, I'd already spent 5 years working abroad so that meant free help was long gone! Being a bit of an internet geek, I did some searching and found this. It seemed reasonably priced compared to everything else out there and a chat on the phone about what they could do for me enticed me to make a visit.
Intro
C2 is a one-stop career advice and guidance service provided by The Careers Group, the careers service of the University of London. According to their website "The C2 service was set up to provide a specialised service for graduates and equivalent level professionals at later stages in their careers. In addition to helping individuals, we also provide consulting and coaching services to a broad range of organisations".
Services
The primary services are:
- CV or application form feedback in person or via e-mail
- Career development coaching
- Job application coaching
- Interview coaching
- MBTI personality feedback
- Group coaching seminars
- A careers information centre.
Location
They are located in central London at Stewart House, Russell Square, the administrative heart of the University of London. Their full address is Stewart House, 32 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5DN and can be contacted on 020 7863 6060 and careershop@careers.lon.ac.uk.
Cost
Agh! Yes it seems steep, but having done my research, it's just a snip compared to most things out there.
Career Coaching - Career Health Check £49.00
Career Coaching - First Full Session £95.00
Career Coaching - Follow Up Session £85.00
Career Coaching - Partnership Programme £350.00
Careers Library - Day card £4.00
Careers Library - Five day card £10.00
Careers Library - Monthly membership £19.00
Group Coaching - Evening workshop (2 Hours) £40.00
Group Coaching - Full day workshops £125.00
Group Coaching - Half day workshop £70.00
Interview Coaching - Practice and Coaching (2 hrs) £180.00
Interview Coaching - Practice Interview (1 hr) £95.00
Job Application Coaching - CV review (30mins) £49.00
Job Application Coaching - Full CV Revamp £350.00
Job Application Coaching - Job Specific (2 hrs) £180.00
MBTI Personality Feedback with Career Coaching (2 hrs) £180.00 MBTI Personality Feedback (1 hr) £95.00
My Experience
I opted initially to do a bit of my own research by using the library- mostly because it only cost £4! I do remember using the careers service at uni and their carers library pretty much reminded me of that. There are loads of free publications about and reference files and books on any sort of career you could ever think up. Interestingly, it also covers further study and working overseas that I didn't expect. The overseas bit I've already done but the study bit was something I hadn't thought of before so I'm glad all the options were there.
Having decided that whatever I wanted to do next it was going to involve doing a masters, I wanted to make sure I was making the right decision and just wanted to talk it over with someone who knew what they were talking about. So I made an appointment for a career coaching session the next day.
My adviser was absolutly lovely and contrary to my expectations, wasn't 60 years old and wearing a cardigan. In fact she was about my age and had also spent time living abroad so I had confidence she understood my background. It took about one hour and during that time we clarified my options, discussed how I knew I really wanted to do a masters and came up with a very practical plan for making an informed decision. In the library I found some contacts who I approached for some work shadowing. (This bit you have to do yourself but she explained how best to go about approaching companies for some experience in this way).
Outcome
So, I arranged to observe someone doing the job I thought I wanted to do and I loved every second of it. It really confirmed that it was what I wanted. Feeling sure, I applied to the masters course, taking on board the advice in the lovely booklet I picked up from C2, and was accepted! I'm now half way through and can't wait to put my learning to good use.
Conclusion
Obviously, I can only comment on my own experience but I would fully recommend this service to anyone considering a career change or just wondering what to do next. With the advent of the internet, there is no shortage of information out there on jobs and studying but it doesn't necessarily make it any easier to make a decision. If you want a professional opinion and advice on making your decisions from someone who really goes all out to make it a personal experience, this is it. Overall, it just made me confident that I had explored all the options and was going into my (very expensive) masters course knowing exactly what I wanted to get out of it and knowing what I needed to do in order to find myself a job afterwards. With regard to the cost, obviously I'd rather it were free but it's only a small price to pay for peace of mind. I've not finished yet but I'll let you know...
