Case Study
From youth work into international development

The background
Claire has a strong track record in youth work at management level. Her position was being made redundant and as part of her outplacement package she contacted us to gain clarity on her way forward. The redundancy was well timed as Claire was considering getting into a new sector - International Development - and wanted to use this as an opportunity to review her direction and strategies.

The issues
Claire had already decided that she was going to first have a period of travel including volunteering overseas. Her desired outcome in working with us was therefore 4 fold:-
To explore other career options; to gain clarity on what she wanted to do next; to make constructive use of her time away to and to have a clear focus and a plan for when she returned.

The process
We began by establishing with Claire what she really wanted from her work. This was something of an eye-opener for her as she realised that even though she wanted to work in the not for profit sector, material comfort and success were very important to her. She had never acknowledged this before. It therefore became crucial that her next move had the potential and prospects for promotion, pay and top level leadership. This resolved we then turned our attention to fields and roles that may interest her, with Claire honing in on Emergency Relief. A period of research followed, in which Claire was able to gain a deeper understanding of the profession, including routes in as well as relevant overseas volunteering opportunities. She intends to do an MA in Development Studies on her return from travel supported by relevant work in the field. We also worked with her on sculpting her CV in readiness for her return.

The results
Claire has a clear strategy for the way ahead. She is clear on the area of International Development she wants to get into and an action plan to do so. She feels informed, clear and excited about her future.