Re:locate magazine | Employee Support | Partner Support | Career counselling

As case studies show, career counselling can help trailing partners buy-in to the move, upgrade their careers and – in doing so – it aids retention.

Career counselling can prove invaluable in ensuring the so-called ‘trailing partner’ doesn’t feel like an also-ran in the relocation process. It gives him or her the chance to consider what they want to get out of the relocation, and how best they can achieve it. A relocation may prove the perfect chance for a reassessment of the direction in which the individual wants it to progress – or, indeed, for an entire change of direction.

Helen Grierson is relocation manager at Connells Relocation Services. She says, “We’ve noticed an increase in companies including spousal and partner support in domestic relocation packages – not just in the group move situation, where everyone, employees and their families alike, has to be onboard as far as the idea of relocation’s concerned, but in one-off career moves, too. With the cost of housing and the upheaval families face if they need to find new schools for children, it’s not surprising that couples are reluctant to move – and the cost of living means that both partners may well need to be working. Whatever you do for a living, finding a job quickly within the new area can be essential, and career counselling can help ensure it happens sooner rather than later.”

Says Antonia Price, Relocation Manager at Profile Locations (www.profilelocations.co.uk), whose company has been offering this niche service for over four years, “Nowadays a good career-counselling provider offers a menu of support, so cost really isn’t an issue. Ideally the career counsellor and client will meet face-to-face and have a series of three or more sessions for 90 minutes or so, with follow-up email and telephone contact in between. If this isn’t practical, though, new technology means remote support can be offered by email and telephone. A good counsellor will be flexible and work on the key aspects of importance to the client, from career review and exploring a change of direction, to CV writing and preparing for interviews. Lots of practical information is provided on job hunting in the new area. For instance, we offer a great Workbook that’s full of useful information to aid the job search, together with lots of contact details and career planning exercises to help the client establish a five-year plan – something that’s really helpful if your partner is constantly on the move every few years. It means partners no longer have to put their own careers on hold.”

In the case of expatriates, finding support from a career counsellor can be a life-saver. Imagine the combination of strange country, no friends and unfamiliar culture, plus your partner out at work all day. It’s vital that the career counsellor knows specifically how to work within the relocation situation and understands the change and transition that is inevitably involved.

As the case studies below reveal, career counselling can make all the difference, whether you’re relocating to the UK from abroad or relocating within the UK.

Caroline was not happy to be leaving her successful career in banking. She was unsure about whether there would be opportunities for her outside London, and therefore welcomed the opportunity to reassess her career with the career consultant. Through a careful review of her working life and analysis of her strengths, she was able to see that her passion for finance and business had largely manifested itself via her first-rate communication skills. Help from the consultant enabled her to research training in a career in business media analysis, and she was also offered work as an associate with a local firm of financial consultants, giving her the flexibility she wanted.

Maria was a qualified dental practitioner from the Philippines. At home, she had one child and full-time help. She feared losing her professional skills if she was unable to find suitable work in the UK. During career counselling sessions, she ascertained the exams needed to allow her to practise in Britain, and these were booked for her. She also started taking English proficiency classes, then proceeded to finalise her UK qualifications. As recommended, she spent time networking and researching local private practices in her locality, offering herself as a part-time practitioner to begin with in order to maintain her high level of skills while her child was small. She was successful and took up a position in a nearby town, and now plans to specialise in cosmetic dentistry.

© 2007. Article taken from page 29 of the spring 2007 edition of Re:locate magazine, published by Profile Locations, Spray Hill, Hastings Road, Lamberhurst, Kent TN3 8JB. All rights reserved. This publication (or any part thereof) may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of Profile Locations. Profile Locations accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.