Careers Advice
Are you at a crossroads in your life and are not sure which direction to take? Fed up with furlough, uncertain about unemployment and want to make a change? Feel like the need for a fresh start? Solihull College & University Centre may have the course for you. Why not speak to one of our Careers Advisors for impartial guidance and support so you make the right change email us at careers@solihull.ac.uk
The need for specialist careers advice and guidance has never been so important. It is vital that people of all ages have access to good quality, realistic and impartial information, advice and guidance for them to make informed decisions for their future.
The College Careers Service consists of a team of qualified career guidance professionals who are dedicated to helping people to progress successfully into further, higher education, employment or Apprenticeships.
Mission
Our mission is to make the Careers Service fully accessible to College students as well as the wider community by providing impartial information, advice and guidance that is fully integrated, accessible and highly regarded. We aim to encourage successful transition into further study, training or employment.
We’d love to hear your feedback on the college careers service. If you have used the Service, please provide us with your views, comments, recommendations or any further improvements as this will help us with enhancing and providing a more effective service to all:
Careers Feedback Survey
The College has developed a careers explorer that will help you work out the career for you and the course to get you there. Take a look:
Fast Forward
Resources
Documents
Careers Leadership Team
Solihull College & University Centre has established a Careers Leadership Team. The team meets at least once a term and oversees the effective implementation of the careers, advice and guidance at the college.
The members of the Careers Leadership Team include:
- Director of Services for Students (Careers Leader/Chair) – Adam Thomas
- Central Careers Service – David Richards – 0121 678 7020 / David.Richards@solihull.ac.uk
- Head of School – STEAM Faculty
- Head of School – Creative Faculty
- Head of Department – Stratford-upon-Avon College
- Additional Needs Manager
- Work Experience Coordinator/Consultant
- Talent Bank Coordinator
- Tutorial Manager
Accreditations, Memberships & Partnerships
Solihull College & University Centre has been recognised for its outstanding careers work and has been awarded Gold level in the National Quality in Careers Standard, awarded under licence by Prospects. The Quality in Careers Standard is awarded to schools and education providers who can demonstrate the importance they place on careers and how they support students to make decisions about their life after college.
Solihull College Student Services is a Matrix accredited service. The standard is the unique quality framework for the effective delivery of information, advice and guidance.
OFSTED is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.
Following a recent OFSTED inspection of Solihull College in 2016, the Careers Service was highlighted for providing an effective service:
Career advice and guidance are effective. Learners are placed on the level of study that best suits their skills and interests, so that the vast majority complete their courses and move on successfully to further study, apprenticeships and employment.
Learners and apprentices quickly develop a broad range of good personal, social and employability skills, as well as positive attitudes to learning, that prepare them well for their future careers.
Enterprise Advisors
Pete Franklin
Enterprise Adviser
Pete has recently retired after a varied and successful 35-year career in IT. Starting as a programmer in the 1980s Pete progressed through technical and management roles, always remaining close to the leading edge of technology, and also shaping new ways of working as IT went from a finance-oriented niche interest to being deeply embedded in all aspects of business. Spending most of his career working for large consulting and enterprise software companies meant that he has worked with a huge variety of organisations in both the private and public sectors, giving him a broad perspective on the world of work, a perspective that has only been extended by watching his three grown-up children setting out on their own very different journeys.
Pete’s experience and connections will be extremely valuable in undertaking the Enterprise Adviser role, which is intended to support more effective connection to the world of work and develop, shape or add value to the college’s careers, enterprise and employer engagement strategy.
