Having a career conversation

NHSP will contact you to discuss and arrange a career conversation. This is entirely voluntary but can provide an opportunity to discuss and explore options that you may well be thinking about when considering a career in healthcare.

In a career conversation, the trained professional will encourage you to explore possibilities, focus your attention and help you identify your next steps. The diagram below shows the general structure that a career conversation usually follows to help you know what to expect.

Employee

Stage

Coach
  Opening  

Who am I?

  • My past experience
  • My skills and strengths
  • My aspirations and motivations
 Exploring

Exploration

  • Clarify purpose
  • Question and listen

What are my options?

  • What roles am I suitable for?
  • What training would I need?
  • How can you support me?
 Focusing

Discuss Possibilities

  • What are the options?
  • What is possible now and later?
  • Provide realistic options

Personal development

  • How do I get there?
  • What can I do to make myself more employable?
 Taking action

Encouraging Action 

  • Discussing possible strategies and immediate actions
  • Direct to appropriate training and resources
  Closing  

Preparing for your career conversation

Here are some areas for you to consider before your conversation. Use these four areas to help guide you through the conversation.

Know yourself

Consider what your ultimate goal is for both the meeting and your next role in health and care. Consider your key strengths, ‘hard’ technical skills, ‘soft’ transferable skills, work values and your areas of interest.

Explore possibilities

Start looking yourself at what options might be best suited to you and use the meeting to confirm this and what the possibilities are.

Making choices

Assess what development needs you may have. Take a look at the careers sites for what skills and qualifications you might need. Ask about what support you can expect to gain those skills and qualifications required.

Making it happen

Consider “what is the one development need I have?” and focus on that.

Useful reflections to help you prepare:

  • Which roles interested you during your exploration?
  • Do you have all the skills / experience required for these roles?
  • What transferable skills do you have?
  • What did you gain from your experience as a vaccinator?
  • What can you do to boost your employability?
  • What do I need to do to make this happen?
  • What can the organisation/coach do to support me to do that?
  • What development do I need to do - how can I be supported to do that?