Career Support Services for Employees

The provision of career coaching or counselling in employing organisations

This paper presents the findings of an IES Research Network study. The project examined the various ways in which major employers offer a specialist career support service to their employees. Such services vary in terms of where they are positioned, what the service covers, the kinds of people delivering career support and the training available for this work.

The project collected information in a number of ways. Fifteen major employing organisations sent written responses to an email survey and an additional nine case study organisations participated through in-depth discussions. The case study organisations were chosen because they offered internal career support of a specialist kind. Twenty seven interviews were conducted with employers, representatives from public career services, professional bodies, training providers for career professionals in higher education and in the private sector, practising career coaches and occupational psychologists.