Personal Advisers in the Connexions service provide information, advice and guidance for 13 to 19 year olds. They help with any of the issues that affect a young person’s life, including:

• careers, training and employment
• difficulties at home or school
• problems in areas such as relationships, housing, health, money, drugs or alcohol.

Their work with young people can include:

• talking to them to identify their needs
• providing information, or helping them to access information
• supporting them to make informed choices that meet their needs and enable them to reach their potential 
• providing motivation and support and challenging low aspirations
• advocating and mediating on their behalf
• helping them to identify and access opportunities for self-development, such as voluntary work, community activities or sport
• helping them to access specialist services, such as drug and alcohol organisations and housing
• helping them overcome racial, gender, disability and other types of discrimination and stereotyping.

Personal advisers work with a wide range of other organisations such as:

• schools, colleges, training providers and voluntary organisations - to plan services for young people
• employers and training organisations - to support young people into work or training 
• parents and carers - to encourage them to support young people

Other duties include giving talks and leading group discussions, keeping records and carrying out other administrative tasks.

Hours and Environment

As a personal adviser you will usually work 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. You may occasionally need to work during the evening and at weekends. You will work in a variety of places, including schools, Connexions centres and the community.

It will be useful if you have a driving licence, as you will probably need to travel within the local area.

Skills and Interests

To be a personal adviser you need:

• the ability to gain the trust and respect of young people
• excellent communication skills
• to be non-judgemental, empathetic and caring
• a creative and imaginative approach to problem solving
• enthusiasm and commitment to helping young people make the most of available opportunities
• patience, flexibility and a sense of humour
• the ability to work as a team member
• time-management skills and the ability to organise your own workload
• administrative and computer skills.

Entry

To become a personal adviser you will need relevant experience of working with young people.

To be fully qualified you will need a qualification to at least NVQ/SVQ level 4 or equivalent in a relevant area such as careers guidance, youth work or social work. Local Connexions Partnerships decide which qualifications they consider relevant.

You will also need to take either the Diploma for Connexions Personal Advisers or the Understanding Connexions Training programme. The amount of training you will need depends on the qualifications and experience you already have.

If you have relevant experience but do not have a relevant a qualification at NVQ/SVQ level 4 or equivalent you may be able to enter a Connexions Service as a probationary personal adviser, and work towards fully-qualified status by taking the Diploma for Connexions Personal Advisers and obtaining a relevant NVQ/SVQ level 4.

Some Connexions services also offer trainee-level entry, where you can study for NVQ Level 3 in Guidance and then continue with the qualifications mentioned above.

For all services you will need an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check to make sure you are suitable to work with young people.

You should contact your local Connexions Partnership for information about recruitment in your area. Visit the Connexions website for contact details – there is a link to the website in Further Information below. The Practitioner section of the website has details of becoming a personal adviser.

A foundation degree in Working with Young People and Young People's Services is available at some universities. It is suitable if you are working, or intending to work, in services for young people, including the Connexions service. You can study the course full-time, part-time, by distance learning or online, so you may be able to fit it in around your work. If you do not have relevant experience, you will usually need a Level 3 qualification such as 2 A levels or a relevant NVQ at level 3, but entry requirements vary between different providers, so you should check with them.

There is information about the foundation degree on the Connexions website. For more information about foundation degrees see Foundation Degree Forward at: www.fdf.ac.uk

To search for colleges and universities offering foundation degrees see the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) at: www.ucas.ac.uk

Training

If you start work as a personal adviser without level 4 qualifications, you will be supervised by a fully qualified personal adviser whilst you are training and working towards the qualifications required by your Connexions Partnership.

You will also receive Assessment, Planning, Implementation and Review (APIR) training.

Local training programmes have been developed by many Connexions Partnerships, covering topics such as drugs awareness, counselling, child protection, equal opportunities and health and safety.

Opportunities

The Connexions Service is delivered by local Connexions Partnerships throughout England. Connexions is not available in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Most personal advisers are employed directly by local Connexions Partnerships. Some are employed by organisations subcontracted to provide a service to Connexions, for example youth services, health authorities or voluntary organisations.

As an experienced personal adviser you could have the opportunity for promotion to a team leader or management post within the service. You could also move into related fields such as education welfare, the care sector and training.

Annual Income

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Trainee personal advisers can earn up to around £20,000
Qualified personal advisers can earn from around £22,000 to around £27,000 a year. 
Senior personal advisers can earn around £29,000.

Further information