Bankers pay for careers advice

An array of firms, from one-man bands to international companies, is available to prod the professionally thwarted in the right direction.

Fees range from several hundred to several thousand pounds but the service always follows the same pattern. It begins with clients being asked what they are doing now and what they would like to do. It ends, if successful, with the careers specialist enabling the leap from one to the other to be made.

Paying for career advice may not strike everyone as a sensible use of their money. Their own instincts, and a few chats with friends and family, might be preferable.

However, plenty of people believe paying is worthwhile. Anthony, a credit derivatives settlements manager, says: "I was working in a role that I didn't enjoy. It was too operationally focused and I wanted something more financially oriented. I felt I didn't have many options.

"I used a careers coach to help me establish exactly what it was that I wanted to do, what my motivations were."

Unlike outplacement, which is the generic term for the careers advisory services banks offer to redundant employees, career coaching is used by people still in work. Most pay out of their own pocket.

Martin, a private equity specialist at a European bank, believes personally funded careers coaching is a superior service: "Most employers offer outplacement as a means of salving their conscience. Outplacement companies are very nice and will offer you a cup of tea and a chat when you're out of work. But at the end of the day if there are no jobs on the market, there is not much else they can do."

By comparison, Martin says careers advisers can help pre-empt job loss. "You need to visit someone six to nine months before you lose your job. That way you can plan ahead for what may be a difficult time."

He says one of the main benefits he gained from his adviser, the international firm Bernard Haldane Associates, was an improvement in his networking abilities. "I wasn't a good networker. I'd chat to people and rarely note their name and contact details for future reference.

"Nowadays I go out of my way to put contacts in my database. I don't do it nearly as much as Bernard Haldane advised me to but I do a lot more than I did before."

David Northwood, head of client marketing at Bernard Haldane, says: "People are often in a role that doesn't fit their skillset or that is driving them to distraction." As well as conducting internal marketing campaigns to catch the eye of senior staff and further their chances of promotion, he says clients are encouraged to ask selected colleagues to suggest what their ultimate role could be.

Paying for careers advice may not lead to rapid promotion or a new life as a Chinese herbalist, but this does not mean it has failed. It may result in a subtle improvement in wellbeing and the confidence of being on the right track.

Martin ended up working for the same bank but in a different division. He says careers counselling helped him find a new niche: "It probed my mind and pointed me in an obvious direction I had been too busy to think about."

Anthony, who employed the services of an independent careers coach, ended up taking six months off work before returning to credit derivatives in a role that pays him less money but offers greater balance between work and the rest of his life.

Without advice, he says he may not have taken the career break, and without the career break, he may not have had the opportunity to put his life in perspective.

Most careers advisers specialise in advice and do not actively help clients find new jobs. However, some do offer this service, including InterExec, a UK-wide career adviser with an office in the City of London.

Shane Alabaster, head of client marketing, says: "We have good relationships with headhunting firms. We can put clients in contact with people who would often be inaccessible without our help."

Alabaster says about 20% of InterExec's clients have an investment banking background, twice as many as a year ago. However, and despite InterExec's apparently cosy relationships with headhunters, he admits the firm has been unable to work miracles in a difficult market. "If we can't be of help, we will let people know. Corporate finance has been as dead as a dodo. If someone came from equities, we would probably explain that we couldn't help them in the short term," he says.

Companies which offer clients contacts with headhunters must tread carefully to avoid falling foul of the Employment Agencies Act 1973, which prohibits charging fees to workers for helping them find jobs.

This is not stopping companies from entering the market. Cressing Templar, a career management firm, plans to offer a careers counselling and headhunter introduction service to City of London clients from next month.

Not everyone is convinced that introductory services are a good idea. Toby Eccles, a former associate director at UBS Warburg, says some companies promising access to a wide range of recruitment contacts are unlikely to do so in any meaningful way.

"It is very easy to corrupt a network. Members will quickly learn that the person they are being presented with has paid for the privilege, and is not necessarily a particularly exciting prospect."

Eccles has instead used Career Energy, a career counselling service. He says its advice "has helped me to narrow the focus in terms of what I want to do, and given me the confidence to explore the sector before applying immediately for a position".

Choosing a careers counsellor

Careers counselling is unregulated. Prices and services vary widely, so choose an adviser with care. At Bernard Haldane, the standard fee including VAT is just over 4,500 (€6,480); clients can talk to careers counsellors for up to three years. Roger Steare, an independent adviser, charges 1,400 for three or four 90-minute sessions, plus psychometric testing. InterExec charges three months' salary, with the possibility of a 30% reduction for its full service.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, an industry body, advises that careers counsellors should offer free initial consultation to establish a client's needs.