Career Counselling - Our Philosophy

The CPD is a comprehensive career development tool which can be used either on a 'stand alone' basis or in conjunction with a qualified career counsellor. Using the CDP by itself will take you a very long way down the road to discovering who you really are and whether or not you are in the right type of job. The more thought you put into interpreting the answers, the better you career decisions are likely to be. The CDP will also enable you to use counselling more effectively should you wish to take further advice.

We offer an expert 'face to face' career counselling service in London based on the Career Development Profiler (and other tests if necessary) which costs £275 including VAT for a half day session with an experienced counsellor plus 3 months follow-up with e-mail and telephone access and advice on your CV.

For overseas clients, we offer a telephone counselling service at a cost of £55 per half hour session.

We believe there are four key stages to any good career development programme:

Enable you to understand yourself - your personality, motivation, strengths and weaknesses through psychometric testing using the Career Development Profiler together with skilled counselling.

Help you clarify your career objectives by matching your personal needs and abilities to an appropriate career.

Develop a strategy that helps you either modify your present work or follow a new career path.

Give you the necessary insight, skills and support to stand the best possible chance of achieving your career objectives.

What a journalist, writing in Shape Magazine, said about our career counselling programme using the Career Development Profiler:

"During the two-hour session, Jenny (from West Associates) is fantastic.  Her method is practical without being judgmental: supportive without going all 'Californian'.  Her insights help me to see where I need to channel my ideas and I'll definitely be going back to carry on the process of finding my ideal job.

Prior to our meeting, Jenny sent me a questionnaire to fill in.  I was worried that it would be like the questionnaire it I got after I finished my GCSE's - the results showed that I'd make a good zoo-keeper or policewoman.

 I needn't have worried, this questionnaire was a carefully crafted piece of psychometric work, divided into sections such as 'motivation' and 'long term goals'.  The questionnaire showed that magazine writing was the right job for me, and my personal profile landed me squarely in the 'sympathetic and creative people' category.

Since I'm a journalist, this assessment is spot on.  However, this isn't the end of the story.  As Jenny points out, it isn't so much what I'm doing that's presenting me with the problems, but the way I'm doing it.  Two things in particular caught Jenny's attention: my motivation and self-esteem. 

Firstly, the 'motivation profile' showed that I 'enjoy and need a sociable atmosphere at work where I can thrive in a caring environment'.  Jenny asks me how much time I spend on my own during the working week and I admit that, in a five-day working week, I tend to be alone for at least four of them.  This leads me to tell Jenny that I've been thinking of getting a more permanent post and Jenny is keen that I start 'putting systems in place' to achieve this and together we work out a plan.

The other thing that stood out in my questionnaire are my 'self esteem' issues.  Jenny points out that I put myself down in the majority of my answers.  Jenny's advice is to look at why I'm so negative about myself and to find ways to not be so pessimistic. I'll definitely be going back to carry on the process of finding my ideal job."