Why did you decide to do this course?

Lassie: I had 9 years’ experience as an internal trainer at a retail company and I felt that within this time I was touching the glass ceiling. There was no chance of a promotion or development. I decided that I needed to do something different. I spoke to my friends in the coaching profession and it made me start to think about this as a career. I then decided that a Higher Education qualification in coaching would be better.

Ashley: My undergraduate degree was in economics but I never really liked maths and I realised that I am much better at communication and needed to choose a different path. I was at a life crossing and wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do as a career but knew that I liked the idea of giving advice to others and thought this course would enable me to do this.

What do you hope to gain from the course?

Ashley: I am hoping it will be a journey of self – discovery and that I will also have more opportunities to communicate and forge a career for myself. I’d like to learn more about the reasons behind people’s emotions whether that be my own or my colleagues. I’d also like to become more confident and be able to interpret behaviours and theories.

Lassie: The course is offering me the chance to spend a year in my favourite country – the UK and I think the years’ experience will give me the chance to travel Europe in between learning and experiencing.

How did you hear about the course here at Warwick?

Lassie: I found out about the course via my HR link in China. I asked for information on all degrees in this field in the UK and in particular at Warwick, Bath, Edinburgh and Nottingham. I then chose Warwick.

Ashley: The course was a recommendation from a Chinese agency. I was looking for postgraduate courses in the communication field and discovered this course.

What are your plans following the course?

Ashley: I’d like to be a career advisor within the Higher Education sector. It would be good if this was in the development process area in China or in a related area in the UK. I’m hoping this course will give me the soft skills and ability to network which could be applied to my desired career.

Lassie: I’d like to stay in the UK as there is a lot of pressure from society in China and I feel the working environment in the UK is really inclusive. I’d like to work as a freelancer or a careers coach. My ideal job would be to work at a coaching academy which would provide professional service to corporates rather than internal Human Resources. I’d like to be more free spirited!

Ashley completed our MA in Career Development and Coaching Studies in December 2020. Here she shares what she has gone on to do since finishing the course.

Ashley: I'm taking a PTA programme in Korn Ferry now, working as a research analyst, excepting to get a full-time offer in 2021 after getting my degree certificate. My main daily responsibility is executive search in industrial field, which means, I need to search, approach and influence appropriate C-level candidates to rethink about their careers and pitch them to the positions that our clients give us.

My last experience was in Page Group, there I worked as a 360 degree consultant for junior candidates in finance field. Through business development conversations with my clients, I got their requirements of talents that they were looking for. Then I used different approaches to find the potential candidates, arranged them face-to-face talks to discuss about their career backgrounds and coached them to take job interviews if they were invited by our clients.