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  3. Careers
  4. Plan your career

How the Careers Service can help you

The Careers Service provides an impartial, all-age careers information, advice and guidance service throughout Northern Ireland. Professionally qualified careers advisers can help young people and adults make informed choices about their future career paths. Careers advisers can also help parents/guardians with their child's future career plans.


What the Careers Service can do for you

Careers guidance can help you become more aware of:

  • your career options
  • the skills you need for the jobs/ careers you're interested in
  • the importance of looking at current and future job trends when planning your career

It can also help you feel more prepared and more confident when making decisions about your career options and your career.

Services for young people

Whether you are at school, college, in training or looking for work, experts are on hand to help with your plans for the future.

Careers advisers can provide information, advice and guidance on:

  • choosing subjects for study at school, college or university
  • current and future job trends and opportunities
  • career planning and career options
  • further and higher education
  • apprenticeships and training
  •  entry routes and the skills and qualifications required for particular jobs

If you are still at school you will be offered at least one face-to-face careers guidance interview. This interview usually takes place in Year 12 and will be held in your own school. The purpose of the careers guidance interview is to help you to consider your career options and to make informed, suitable and achievable career decisions.  

Services for adults

The Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance to people who are:

  • looking for education, training or employment opportunities
  • thinking of changing job or career direction
  • considering returning to learning to either re-skill or up-skill
  • facing redundancy
  • ready for a new challenge
  • thinking of starting their own business
  • looking for information on a particular career
  • unsure what career might suit them
  • unsure of how to plan their next step

 Careers advisers can provide adults with information and advice on:

  • current employment trends, future job opportunities and job search techniques
  • further and higher education, training and post graduate opportunities
  • working overseas / gap years
  • vacation / voluntary work
  • career options and career planning
  • learning opportunities
  • transferable skills
  • applying for jobs, including CV preparation, interview techniques and completing application forms

They also offer individually tailored guidance to help you analyse your personal preferences, strengths, skills, abilities and personality to realise your full potential .

Help for parents

As a parent or carer, you are likely to be the single biggest influence on your child’s thoughts and feelings about their future careers.

In an ever changing economy, young people today face a number of challenges and decisions about their futures and it is more important than ever that they make their career choices wisely.

As a parent or carer there is plenty that you can do to support your child and help them make successful career choices. Providing support and encouragement is immensely important, and the more you know about what careers information, advice and guidance is available and where it can be accessed the better. 

  • Help your child make the right career choices

Guides to help with career planning

To help you or your child make informed career decisions, the guides on the following page offer advice and guidance, as well as worksheets and checklists to fill in.

  • Guides to help with career planning

Contact a careers adviser

There are many ways to contact a careers adviser, including online web chat, telephone, email, online form or in person.  

Contact details can be found at:

  • Careers Service

Privacy notice

To find out how the Careers Service gathers and safeguards your personal information, see the Careers Service’s privacy notice.

More useful links

  • Choosing or changing career
  • Skills in demand

Chat with a careers adviser

Careers webchat is available from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm.  Outside of these hours, or if all advisers are busy, you can ask questions online.  Before using the webchat service, read the Careers Service’s privacy notice

 Chat with a careers adviser in Northern Ireland

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Plan your career

  • Applying for jobs
  • Careers events
  • Careers guidance application for adults
  • Careers guidance application for Young People
  • Careers guidance interview
  • Careers online support
  • Choosing or changing career
  • Financial Services Spring 2023 Academy
  • How the Careers Service can help you
  • Looking for work
  • Professional Services Academy - PwC
  • SKILL UP – the flexible skills programme
  • Skills in demand
  • Starting your own business and becoming self-employed
  • What type of work would suit you

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