Career Management Resources

A guide to the resources available to those offering careers support

Dr Maire Shelly

Associate Postgraduate Dean

North Western Deanery

Introduction

Over the past 4 years, the North Western Deanery has introduced a package of career resources into Hospital Trusts and General Practices to support trainees making decisions about their future and to support the trainers who are offering them guidance. The aims of this paper are to outline these resources so that trainers know they are available and to indicate where they have been found most useful so that those unfamiliar with the resources can use them effectively. The web-based resources are easily available and the other tools can be accessed through the Department of Postgraduate Medical Education in your local Hospital Trust.

While all of these resources provide valuable support for those considering their career, none of them will provide the answer in isolation. The resources are best used as part of a package of career support facilitated by a supervisor, trainer or colleague. They are designed to prompt reflection on an area of an individual’s career and to help the individual to reach decisions on how to take their career forward.

Throughout the document I refer to trainees and trainers as though trainees receive career support from trainers. Clearly traineesalso provide and trainers also receive career support. The terminology is to simplify rather than dictate.

Deanery website

What is this?

The Deanery website address is It is predominantly a source of information and is a valuable way of communicating up to date information to those who need it. Information on training programmes, recruitment and Modernising Medical Careerscan be found on the website.

Information more immediately related to careers can be found in the careers section of the Deanery website ( ). In this section you will find:

  • Information on careers in medical specialties. This includes details of training programmes in the North Westand lifestyle profiles. Details of less conventional careers related to medicine are included, for instance Medecins sans Frontieres and the Red Cross.
  • Links to related sites to provide follow up details and contact details of who to contact for further information locally. This is usually the Career Lead or Training Programme Director for the specialty.
  • Links to other information relevant to careers, such as competition ratios for different specialties and different units of application.
  • Resources to support your career, such as:
  • Articles related to careers to provide background information
  • Reviews of books on career related topics
  • Information, links and downloadable documents offering tips on career management skills, for example, how to complete application forms and how to improve your interview performance.
  • Presentations, workbooks and podcasts on areas such as reviewing your specialty application and interview skills

How do I use this?

The website is predominantly a source of information and links to other sites.

There is information that all will find valuable. For instance, the recruitment information and competition ratios will inform decisions about which training programme to apply for and where to apply; the resources then support the process of applying and being selected for the programme.

Access publicity

What is this?

Posters and a range of items are available that have been designed to raise the profile of career support and signpost people to the Deanery website for further information. Trainees may not know the career support available to them and access it appropriately.

How do I use this?

Displaying posters, flyers, items, screensavers etc in areas where trainees congregate will encourage them to visit the careers section of the website and find out what support is available and how to access it.

Library and Books

What is this?

A number of books on career related subjects have been donated to departments of postgraduate medical education, medical libraries, general practices and individuals. In addition a small library of careers books, pamphlets and papers is held at the Deanery for reference purposes.

How do I use this?

Books can provide a useful resource for trainees. The Deanery library may provide ideas and options of the selection available to extend departmental collections. A list of titles available in the Deanery library can be found on the website and reviews for some of these are also included.

Sci 45

What is this?

Sci 45 is a software package developed by the Open University to encourage medical students and trainees to explore the medical specialties they may be suited to. The programme is based on characteristics derived from clinicians in different specialties.

Essentially the programme offers a questionnaire of 130 questions asking about factors that may influence career choices. After answering these, the person completing the programme get a set of linear analogue scales with elements such as: likes working in teams – likes working alone and their individual position on these scales. There follows a list of 10 specialties (there are actually 46 in the programme) that they may be suited to and another list of 10 specialties they may be less suited to.

Sci 45 was available as a CD and installed to particular computers. It has been updated to Sci 59 which is web-based and offers additional specialty options within what is basically the same framework. Access to Sci 59 is by purchased usernames and passwords and we have not invested in this version of the programme. It is available to BMA members through their website.

How do I use this?

The programme is useful for trainees to explore their options, particularly if they are unclear about what to do.

The page with the linear analogue scales on is often ignored in a rush to find “the answer” however, this page provides a useful starting point for a discussion on the areas that are important to the trainee in their career.

The specialty lists do not indicate which specialty the person should go into and which they should not. They are simply listing the specialties, identified using the profiles in the programme, that will have people who are like them or not like them.

Medical Forum

What is this?

We have licensed 2 packages from Medical Forum, one for trainers and one for trainees.

Trainers Pack

This pack contains several resources:

  • ACareer Guidance Essentials - Tutor workbook, available at
    click on CGE Toolkit then tutor login

The password for trainers is teddy

This workbook is a basic introduction to career guidance. It consists of 10 short tutorials each taking about 10minutes.

  • A Career Guidance Essentials – Tutor reminder pocket leaflet. This is a summary of the workbook for easy use and to act as a reminder if you are using the personal version of the workbook with a trainee.
  • Powerpoint presentations with accompanying tutor notes and handouts on:
  • Career planning support 1: Summary: some definitions of career advice, information, counseling and some good and bad sides to each as well as some exercises to encourage interaction and thinking.
  • Career planning support 2: Summary: some definitions of career guidance, career envisioning, career management skills, some good and bad points about each and some exercises to encourage interaction and thinking
  • Your career is yours: Summary: a presentation designed to alert individuals to the fact that they have total responsibility for their career and that gaining the right career is not just a matter of picking one off a shelf but is a proactive process that the individual needs to actively engage in.
  • Interview do-s and don't-s: Summary: a run through of some tips for interview preparation and how to get better at interviews.

Trainees Pack

This contains two resources:

  • A Career Guidance Essentials – Personal workbook available at at
    click on CGE Toolkit then trainee login

The password for trainees is dolly

This is similar to the workbook for tutors. In fact the headings for the ten lessons are the same. The emphasis is different so that the tutor versionisfor those aiming to provide career guidance and the personal version can be used by individuals wishing to learn more about how to manage their own career.

  • Portfolio pages related to careers. Although titled Foundation Programme Careers Support Portfolio Pages, they can be used by doctors at all levels in their career.

How do I use this?

There are some suggestions on how to use these resources, particularly the workbooks, on the Medical Forum website.

The tutor workbook provides a useful introduction to careers guidance and all trainers will benefit from doing it.

The personal workbook encourages career reflection. As such it is a useful tool for trainees to use before a discussion about their career.

The portfolio pages are also a useful way of encouraging reflection and provide a written summary of this for the future. Although it is designed for Foundation trainees, others can use it and with minor modifications, it is suitable for any level of doctor.

Windmills website

What is this?

The Windmills website address is: . It provides a comprehensive career planning programme that people can work through at their own pace. The questions underpinning this programme are:

  • Where am I?
  • What sort of life do I want?
  • How can I start working towards my kind of life?

Each section contains exercises and space to reflect on and record the outcomes.

How do I use this?

Because this is a comprehensive programme, people can work through it as a whole or dip into areas particularly relevant at the time. Trainees can be invited to visit the site to encourage them to reflect on their career in general. The tools within the site that they find most useful will then provide a starting point for discussion.

Career Coaching DVD

What is this?

The Deanery produced this DVD on Career Coaching in partnership with a training organisation called Excellence for All. The DVD has 4 sections:

  • An introduction and how to use the DVD
  • Description of a model for career coaching and details of each step
  • A career coaching interview illustrating this model
  • A discussion of the interview and how to use the model

How do I use this?

Watching the whole DVD will give an overview of this career coaching process. If you want to watch only part of it and do not have previous experience of career coaching, I would suggest starting with the interview and discussion. When you want to find out more, the description of the model and perhaps watching the interview again will clarify some of the stages.

DVD on Selection to Specialty Training

What is it?

This DVD was developed as a partnership between AGCAS (the Association of Graduate Career Advisory Services) and the SW Peninsula Deanery. It is aimed at junior doctors preparing for selection to specialty training and uses genuine assessors and candidates, to show what may happen in five different assessment stations:

  • Portfolio Interview
  • Presentation
  • Mock GP Consultation
  • Structured Interview
  • Simulation Station

The DVD includes feedback from the assessors and the candidates’ reflections, together with narration emphasising the key learning points.

How do I use this?

The DVD is available through Departments of Postgraduate Medical Education.

It can be used by individuals alone or in a one to one setting. It is also ideal for use in group sessions and to prompt discussion.

People with training in Careers support

There are a number of groups who have received training and support to develop their careers guidance skills. These are:

  • Network of Career Leads

There are a number of strands to the network of Career Leads:

  • Each training programme has a designated career lead, often but not always the Training or Foundation Programme Director.
  • Each specialty training programme also has a designated career lead at SpR level, often but not always the trainee representative on the Specialty Training Committee.
  • Each Hospital Trust has a Career Lead, often but not always the Director of Medical Education or Clinical Tutor.

Members of the Career Lead network are offered training in aspects of careers management and relevant careers management skills. To find out who the Career Lead is for a training programme, contact the Training or Foundation Programme Director or the trainee representative on the Specialty Training Committee. The Department of Postgraduate Medical Education will know who the Trust Career Lead is.

  • Other individuals with training in Career Management Skills

Training in careers support has also been offered more widely and taken up by clinical and educational supervisors in most specialties.

A group of trainers have been trained and licensed to deliver sessions using the Windmills skills cards (see for more details). To find out the members of this group, contact the Department of Postgraduate Medical Education.

Over 100 SpRs and Consultants are trained and licensed torun sessions and workshops on interview skills using programmes and materials specially developed by Windmills and the Deanery. To find out who is licensed in your Trust, contact the Department of Postgraduate Medical Education.

Suggested use of these Resources

Thesecareer support resources can be used in a variety of ways; this is simply a suggested starting point.

Step 1: Prepare yourself

Get yourself in the right frame of mind. Remember that the trainee is responsible for their career and that you do not have to have answers to their questions. Your role as their guide is to help the trainee explore their options and the consequences of their decisions ratherthan make decisions for them.

The resources specifically aimed at trainers are:

  • The Career Guidance Essentials – Tutor workbook from medical forum which offers a general overview
  • The Career Coaching DVD produced by the Deanery which offers a guide to a career coaching process.

If you havenot used either of these before, starting with the general overview may be most useful.

You may also wish to familiarise yourself with one or two of the resources for trainees listed above.

Step 2: What does the Trainee need?

Whether or not you know the trainee involved, it is useful to ask them to specify in writing what they hope to achieve as a result of the conversation you plan with them. You can then invite them to use one or more of the resources to prepare for the meeting with you.

The following algorithm illustrates how targeted resources can be suggested in preparation for a career discussion about recruitment. Some elements of this situation can be generalised to other scenarios.

Algorithm to suggest relevant resources prior to a career discussion around recruitment

Step 3: Conducting the meeting

The Career Coaching DVD may provide some tips for this. The most important tip I can give is to remember that it is the trainee’s career and ask questions rather than be tempted to give answers – however helpful they may seem!

The Medial Forum Career Support Portfolio pages or the specialty portfolio may provide a useful way for the trainee to document the meeting and reflect on its impact.

Step 4: Follow up

One career discussion may not solve the issue. The trainee may have goals to achieve, information to seek or issues to reflect on using another resource. You may then have another conversation with them.

You may want to find out more about careers support and the opportunities available to develop your skills. You can discuss this with the CareerLead for your training programme or Trust, or you canemail me

I do hope you have found this guide useful. If you have any suggestions on how to improve it, please contact me at .

MP Shelly.

13.08.08