Considering career change and looking at Counselling

MerrionPippin

Hi - I've read through many threads on here, both recent and (very) dated, and just wanted people's broad opinions on this.

I'm just about to turn 30. I studied Economics in college, and have worked in Financial Services since graduating 7 years ago. I've come to the realisation that I will be a very, very unhappy person if I have to continue working in this industry for the next 35 years.

I have always had an interest in psychology. I've done my own reading - but it's been very infrequent over the years and only been in my spare time as a hobby. So basically what I am saying is that I have zero experience/qualifications as you may expect given my background.

I have looked at the IICP courses and figure I need to start with the Certificate. IICP seem to have decent feedback on here, and I guess the big draws it has for me are (i) location, and (ii) the part-time option. I would need to keep working to fund any further education I would do - otherwise it's a complete non-runner. So I'm happy to put up with Financial Services for another 4-5 years until I qualify as something.

What draws me to this course/career path in particular is the following:

• First and foremost, it's working in a field which I have a genuine interest in. I would be excited at the potential to do something I am actually interested in for a living. Any further qualifications/learning I would pursue would be pursued out of a genuine interest rather than just improving my CV (which is the sole reason for any of my Finance qualifications). It would be nice to do something which I feel makes an actual difference to peoples lives, rather than mulling over meaningless numbers on spreadsheets in an office for 9 hours a day.
  
• There seems to be varied career options - whether it's working for the HSE, working for a private practice, even self-employment is possible down the road if it's something I wish to pursue.
  
• Other careers I have considered (which, truthfully, have always been in the "Other Options" column for me) would spit me out at the end back on a graduate salary of €20-25k. I don't want this to be a consideration, but I'm not going to fool myself - it's important. I'm at the stage where a wedding needs to be paid for, a house needs to be bought and potentially having children. I'm happy to delay these for now however.

I guess what I'm looking advice on here is a couple of things.

1. I'd like the other side of the argument. When I'm excited about something (as I am about potentially doing this career change), I tend to ignore/minimise the Cons. I'd like someone to shoot down what I've said above, or tell me about some of the less favourable aspects of such a decision.

2. My plan - for now - would be to do the Certification, then the Diploma/BA, and then potentially a Masters - all through IICP and all part-time. I realise this is a big commitment and it's something I'm ready for. But is there any negative feedback on either this institution or these courses in particular?

Happy to receive any feedback via PM if preferable - and any feedback would be HUGELY appreciated. Thanks.

Kitty St Cormac

Hi

As someone who has recently made a career change I would advise you to go for coaching to help you with your decision making. Coaching will help you to identify the obstacles, deal with the fear of change and also bring clarity to the situation for you.

It is too big a change not to spend some quality time on the decision making process.

I am a ICF qualified coach if you would like to have an initial discussion to understand more about coaching.

I hope this is of some help.

endacl

Kitty St Cormac wrote: »

Hi

As someone who has recently made a career change I would advise you to go for coaching to help you with your decision making. Coaching will help you to identify the obstacles, deal with the fear of change and also bring clarity to the situation for you.

It is too big a change not to spend some quality time on the decision making process.

I am a ICF qualified coach if you would like to have an initial discussion to understand more about coaching.

I hope this is of some help.

Or....

'As somebody who has recently qualified and is trying to generate a client base, please come and be my client'

...?

Kitty St Cormac

endacl wrote: »

Or....

'As somebody who has recently qualified and is trying to generate a client base, please come and be my client'

...?

Not at all, my business is focused on Leadership Development and executive coaching. I was just offering to be a sounding board *free of charge* as I've been in this situation myself.

dar100

Kitty St Cormac wrote: »

Not at all, my business is focused on Leadership Development and executive coaching. I was just offering to be a sounding board *free of charge* as I've been in this situation myself.

Your not allowed self promote your business on this forum

dar100

Kitty St Cormac wrote: »

Not at all, my business is focused on Leadership Development and executive coaching. I was just offering to be a sounding board *free of charge* as I've been in this situation myself.

Your not allowed self promote your business on this forum

Kitty St Cormac

dar100 wrote: »

Your not allowed self promote your business on this forum

I know this, I just wanted to offer some help .....