Career Coaching

If you feel stuck, unable to move forward, or have circumstances that are impacting on your career, Career Coaching may be able to help. 

This page talks about the kinds of situations Career Coaching can help with, commonly asked questions, and how to book an appointment.

What is Career Coaching?

Career Coaching is where a Career Coach works one-to-one with an individual to help them explore where they are now and where they want to be. The role of the coach is to help the individual gain greater self awareness, and guide them towards the conclusions, decisions, or steps they need to make for themselves. 

What does the RCN offer?

RCN members can access free, one to one career coaching over the telephone.

There are two types of coaching: interview coaching and career coaching, and you can have up to 3 sessions in a 6 month period.

If you are not a member, you can join the RCN and access the service straight away.

Are you ready for Career Coaching?

Be prepared to reflect over your career, explore your thoughts and ideas, challenge your perspective, and take ownership for moving forward.

As coaching is a collaborative process, you will be required to carry out research, answer thought provoking questions, complete coaching exercises, or even do a bit of homework. For this reason, do consider whether you have enough time and are able to engage fully.  Your coach wont be able to tell you what to do.  

What could Career Coaching help with?

Below are some of the challenges or scenarios that RCN Career Coaching may be able to help with. Please expand the headings below to find tailored information about any necessary preparation you'll need to carry out before your appointment, and information about when and how to book an appointment with us.

Further down the page again, you can find our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) which offers advice or further information for the issues that Career Coaching cannot help with, such as where to find information about different roles, courses, or problems with references.

How do I book career coaching?

Please expand the heading below that best describes your situation to check if career coaching is suitable for you, and how to book an appointment via RCN Direct.

We have online advice on interview skills and techniques, as well as sample interview questions and managing interview nerves.

Interview coaching

If you've been shortlisted for interview, you can book one-to-one interview coaching sessions over the telephone to help you prepare for your interview.

As there are usually waiting times for appointments, please book as soon as possible to try and secure coaching before your interview date.

How interview coaching could help

• Practicing and rehearsing interview techniques, such as the STAR technique
• Getting feedback on your interview skills, communication skills, etc.
• Exploring which questions might come up, based on your Person Specification.
• Exploring any obstacles (e.g. anxiety, lack of confidence) you fear could hinder your performance, 

Limitations and managing expectations

Career coaches cannot give any advice or answer queries on disclosing a disability or requesting reasonable adjustments at interview. If you need support with this you can speak to RCN Direct, your RCN rep, or explore the RCN Peer Support resources on disability and neurodiversity, which includes a disability coaching service.

Preparing for your session

Once you've booked your appointment, you'll need to:

1. Complete a short pre-appointment questionnaire (this is mandatory)
2. Send us the Person Specification and Job Description for the role you're applying for. These documents need to be in a PDF or word format.  Photos will not be accepted.  You can also send us any organisational values or strategies if you think it would be relevant.

How to book an appointment

Please contact RCN Direct to speak to an adviser about booking an appointment.

You may feel it's time for a change in your career. Perhaps you feel stuck, unhappy, disillusioned, and/or underchallenged, but feel unable to move forward.

How Career Coaching could help:

• Giving you a safe space to reflect on your journey, career ideas or aspirations
• Exploring your reasons for wanting change and/or weighing up options
• Coaching exercises to identify your strengths, values, or which environments you thrive in
• Challenging/exploring any obstacles, worries, fears, or self-limiting beliefs 
• Empowering you to take responsibility for problem solving or planning your next steps

Limitations and managing expectations

Remember, Career Coaches can never tell you what to do, suggest "suitable jobs" for you, or recommend which skills, courses or pathways you should explore. 

Preparing for your session (if you already have ideas)

You would be responsible for researching the particulars of any roles or pathways you may potentially be interested in, so that you can bring your ideas and findings to your session. We recommend taking some time out to research up to 3 roles that interest you.

Please see the "I need information on different roles" FAQ below, which can provide you with lots of tips, resources, contacts, lines of enquiry, and ideas. If you get stuck and cannot find the information you need for your session, you can email the Careers Service for help.

Preparing for your session (if you don't know where to start)

If you are struggling to think of 3 roles, haven't got a clue what you want to do, or are feeling particularly overwhelmed, don't worry. Have a think about what you have enjoyed during your career, what energises/excites you, which clinical areas or specialisms interest you, any courses that interest you, etc. and write down some notes about this.

Your first coaching session could focus on exploring your career values and strengths, by completing exercises such as "My Values," or "When I'm at my Best" with your coach. The aim would be to gain an awareness of what's important to you and which working environments you thrive in, allowing you to narrow down 3 roles (and research them) for your second session.

Booking an appointment

To book a career coaching session, please contact RCN Direct to speak to an adviser. The adviser will ask you some questions about what you're looking for, and explore whether Career Coaching would be the right service for you at this time, and/or what you might need to do to prepare for your sessions.

If the adviser thinks that Career Coaching would not be suitable for you, they will try and signpost you to resources or services that would be better placed to address your query or issue.

If you find yourself at a career crossroads due to a change in your health, you're not alone. The RCN Careers Service speaks to many members who successfully redesign their career around ill health or disability. We understand this could be a difficult time for you, and are here to try and support you.

How Career Coaching could help

• Offering you a safe space to reflect on your situation
• Talking through your career ideas with you
• Helping you to identify your transferable skills
• Coaching exercises to identify your strengths, values, and which working environments might suit you
• Coaching exercises to identify any challenges or obstacles, and explore how you might overcome them
• Encouraging you to plan your next step

Limitations and managing expectations

Often, members who book career coaching for ill health are hoping that the career coach will be able to tell them which job would be suitable for their health, or which employers would be willing to make adjustments, but this is unfortunately not possible.

Finding a job that's right for your health will be incredibly personal and different for each individual, down to individual choice, preferences, and limitations. The coaching model would take the position that you are the expert on what jobs or path would be right for you, and the Career Coach would try and lead you along your own journey of self discovery.

Career Coaches cannot tell you what to do, suggest which jobs might be suitable for your health, or answer queries about different roles. They also cannot offer any advice on disability discrimination, reasonable adjustments, or redeployment. If you need advice on this, please see the RCN advice guide on disability discrimination and reasonable adjustments. We also recommend looking at the RCN Peer Support Service resources and network, particularly the Health Ability Passport Guidance which talks about asking for and negotiating reasonable adjustments.

Before booking coaching

Your first step should be to carry out some research and investigate potential suitable roles or settings. You may want to see our page on Managing your career with ill health and prioritising a work life balance which includes ideas on 9-5 roles, office roles, part time roles, flexible roles, etc.

Your ideas don't have to be limited to nursing, and you might want to explore other roles within healthcare, or even outside nursing / healthcare all together. 

Please see the resources below to help you with the next steps on this.

How to book an appointment

To book a career coaching session, please contact RCN Direct to speak to an adviser. The adviser will ask you some questions about what you're looking for, and explore whether Career Coaching would be the right service for you at this time, and/or what you might need to do to prepare for your sessions.

If the adviser thinks that Career Coaching would not be suitable for you, they may be able to signpost you to other resources or support that would be better placed to answer your query or issue. They may also suggest other services such as disability coaching, an RCN rep, RCN counselling, CV checking service, or other.

Resources (within nursing)

• RCN Careers: Managing your career around your health
• RCN Careers: Finding roles with flexible, part time, or 9-5 hours
• RCN Careers: Ideas and Inspiration
• RCN Careers: Navigating a Career Crossroads
• RCN Careers: Blocks and Bridges coaching exercise
• NHS Careers: Career Planning

Resources (outside nursing)

• Prospects: What can you do with your Nursing degree?
• Prospects career planner - Which job would suit you? 
• National Careers Service - Skills Health Check

Other useful resources

• RCN Advice: Disability Discrimination, the Equality Act and Reasonable Adjustments
• RCN Peer Support Service
• RCN Peer Support Service: Health Ability Passport Guidance
• RCN Peer Support Service: Disability Coaching
• RCN Counselling Service
• Scope: Access to Work grant scheme (If you do not know what adjustments you need, an Access to Work assessment can help.)

You could find yourself considering leaving nursing or healthcare because of shift patterns, work life balance, or issues at work.

Alternatively, you could be feeling burnt out, stressed, or disillusioned with the profession.  

How Career Coaching could help

• Offering you space to reflect upon your current situation and why you became a nurse/midwife/healthcare professional 
• Exploring the underlying reasons behind any decisions
• Exploring whether it's the profession or current environment that needs change
• Talking through the career ideas and career aspirations you have
• Exploring your transferable skills, values, priorities 
• Encouraging you plan your next steps, set some goals, or move forward

Limitations 

Career Coaches cannot influence your decision, give you advice on what to do, recommend suitable roles, or suggest possible solutions.

Preparing for your coaching session

You would be responsible for carrying out any investigation work or research on what roles you may potentially be interested in before your appointment, so that you can bring your ideas and findings to your session.

We recommend taking some time out to research up to 3 alternative roles that interest you. Your research may include

• Investigating what kind of skills, experience, knowledge, courses or qualifications would be essential/useful
• Job market research (salary, demand, possible employers)
• Reaching out to universities, course providers, employers, colleagues, or peers to get more insight
• Reaching out to your fellow peers in the RCN forum facebook groups.
• Exploring the FAQs further down this page such as "I want information about nursing roles."
• Exploring some of the resources and links below.

If you don't know where to start, feel particularly lost, or cannot think of 3 roles that interest you, your first career coaching session could explore coaching exercises such as "My Values," Or "When I'm at my best" to help you gain awareness of what's important to you, or which environments energise or excite you. To prepare for your session, do have a think about what you really enjoy, or which areas interest you. You could take inspiration from your current role, previous roles, any training or courses, placements, volunteering, etc.

RCN resources

• RCN Careers: Finding roles with a worklife balance (ideas about roles more likely to be office based, flexible, or with part-time/core hours)
• RCN Careers: Managing your career around ill health

External career resources

• What can you do with your Nursing degree?
• Prospects career planner - Which job would suit you? 
• National Careers Service - Explore Careers 
• National Careers Service - Skills Health Check
• Which roles within Nursing suit you?

How to book an appointment

If you think career coaching could help, please contact RCN Direct to speak to an adviser. The adviser will ask some questions about your situation and explore whether or not career coaching could meet your needs or be suitable for you at this stage.

They can also advise you about other possible forms of support such as the RCN Counselling Service, the RCN Peer Support Service, or support from your local RCN rep.

If you’ve been subject to an investigation, sanction or NMC referral, you may feel concerned about the impact it will have on your career. If you're looking for a new job, you should be upfront and honest with any future employers. It's likely that some employers will turn you down when you disclose what happened. Try not to be disheartened and be prepared to keep trying.

Our page Applying for jobs following investigation, dismissal, sanction or NMC referral has lots of helpful information and tips including how to make a disclosure with future employers. 

If you want practical support with applying for jobs to maximise your employability, take a look at our online resources on CV Writing and Applying for jobs. The RCN Careers Service can provide written feedback on your CV and applications, and you wouldn't need to book a career coaching appointment for this.

How Career Coaching could help

If you're applying for jobs following an investigation, disciplinary, dismissal, NMC referral, or NMC conditions of practice, a Career Coach could help you: 

• Explore how you disclose your situation to future employers, or practice talking about the incident at interview stage
• Explore your career ideas if you're at a career crossroads or thinking of changing your career
• Talk through any career plans or career ideas you have
• Explore any emotions that are hindering your progression, e.g. anxiety, shame, loss of confidence 
• Talk things through with you if you want to (or have to) leave nursing or healthcare

Limitations and managing expectations

If you're in the middle of an investigation or awaiting contact from the NMC, most employers will need to know an outcome before hiring you. Individuals are often hopeful that Career Coaches can offer advice on how to get around this, or even tell them which employers are more likely to hire them. The reality is that Career Coaches cannot help with this or offer any solutions.

If you're feeling particularly overwhelmed or distressed about your situation, we recommend seeking emotional support from counselling services (e.g. RCN counselling service) before you access Career Coaching. You can also explore helplines and listening services if there are long waiting times. Although Career Coaching can include exploring any negative emotions (e.g. anxiety, shame, lack of confidence) as part of the overall coaching process, this should not be the main concern. Speaking to a qualified counsellor or accessing emotional support will work well alongside Career Coaching and helping you to move forward. 

Preparing for your appointment

Please ensure you have read our page on Applying for jobs following investigation, dismissal, sanction or NMC referral. 

If you want to use the opportunity to explore a career move or career change, see the "I feel it's time for change or a new challenge" heading above.

Booking an appointment

To book a career coaching session, please contact RCN Direct to speak to an adviser. The adviser will ask you some questions about your situation and what you're looking for, and explore whether Career Coaching would be the right service for you at this time, and/or what you might need to do to prepare for your sessions.

If the adviser thinks that Career Coaching would not be suitable for you, they may be able to signpost you to resources or support that would be better placed to answer your query or issue, such as your regional office, the RCN Counselling Service.

Questionnaire 

Once you have booked your appointment, you will be sent a pre-appointment questionnaire which must be completed to secure your appointment. Without this the session will not go ahead. 

Our career resources for student and newly registered nurses include guidance on CV writing, job applications, supporting statements, interviews, and what to consider before taking your first job.

You may also want to see the RCN forums, RCN forum Facebook groups, RCN clinical topic pages, and the RCN career pathways resource.

Email feedback for CVs and supporting statements

RCN members can get feedback on CVs or supporting statements via e-mail.  Please see the "I'd like advice on my CV, covering letter or supporting statement" FAQ below.

Interview Coaching

If you have an interview and feel you'd benefit from interview coaching, you can book at appointment via RCN Direct. Please see the "I've been invited for an interview" FAQ above.

Career coaching

We also offer members one to one coaching over the telephone with a qualified Career Coach.

Common examples of how career coaching could help include:

• Giving you a safe space to talk about your current situation and your goals
• Exploring any ideas you have or talking through any decisions
• Exploring any fears, doubts, lack of confidence, low self esteem, etc.
• Helping you to identify your transferable skills
• Working through coaching exercises to identify your strengths, values, and which working environments might suit you
• Working through coaching exercises to identify any challenges or obstacles and explore how you might overcome them
• Supporting and empowering you to plan your next steps

Before booking a career coaching appointment

It’s important to remember that our Career Coaches can’t tell you what to do, advise you which jobs or clinical areas would be suitable for you, or suggest courses/roles/pathways for you.

If you are looking to discuss your career options during your coaching session, your first step should be to carry out some research and gather some ideas. If you don't know where to start, we recommend taking some time out to research up to 3 roles, or having a think about what you really enjoy, or which clinical areas interest you.

You may also want to browse or join the RCN's forums (and forum Facebook groups), clinical topics and career pathways resource for advice and inspiration, or see the "I need information about different roles" FAQ further below.

Useful resources

• RCN Career resources for student and newly registered nurses
• CV writing for student and newly registered nurses (including a sample CV and CV templates)
• Job applications and supporting statements (including advice, tutorials and samples)
• Interview skills and sample interview questions
• Being job ready (what to consider before taking your first job)
• RCN forums
• RCN clinical topics
• RCN Career pathway resource

Booking an appointment

Please contact RCN Direct to speak to an adviser about booking an appointment.

Commonly asked questions and queries

Career Coaches are often asked to give advice or information about issues that fall outside the scope of coaching.

If you are seeking advice on one of the issues below, you would not need a career coaching appointment.

Instead we've put together some links and information that will direct you to a more appropriate service or resource that can help.

If you have booked a Career Coaching session, or are looking to book one, please ensure you research any roles you're interested in before your session.

Career Coaches will not be able to give advice on roles, pathways or answer queries such as "How do I become a Practice Nurse," or "What courses do Advanced Nurse Practitioners need?"

RCN Career pathway resource

The RCN’s Nursing career resource has information about different roles and career pathways, including transferable skills, entry requirements, useful qualifications, case studies, videos, and more.

If you're a nurse, examples of roles covered include Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Practice Nurse, Practice Educator, Nurse lecturer, Research Nurse, District Nurse, Specialist Nurse, School Nurse, Telehealth Nurse, Continuing Healthcare Assessor, Care Home Manager, Ward Manager, and more.

If you're a nursing support worker, the resource covers roles like Assistant Practitioner, Nursing Associate, Research Practitioner, Cancer Navigator, Education Practitioner, Nurse Apprenticeship schemes and more.

RCN Forum Facebook groups

Each of our RCN forums relate to a different clinical area or specialism within healthcare, and are packed with useful information and resources. Every forum also has its own dedicated Facebook group, where you can connect, share, and chat to your peers working in that particular field or specialism, or ask for tips, insight, advice, recommendations etc. They may be able to advise you on skills needed, recommended courses, what the role is like, current job market, etc.

Ideas and inspiration

We have ideas on working within clinical roles, education roles, research roles and leadership roles too. Our page on work life balance has some ideas of more non-conventional nursing roles, roles with core hours, office based roles, and more.

Investigating Person Specifications 

To find out what kind of experience, skills, or qualifications are essential/desirable for a particular role, you can search for jobs and vacancies on websites such as NHS jobs, and examine the Selection Criteria and Person Specification for the roles you're interested in. This will tell you about the type of essential criteria or desirable criteria employers are asking for, and you will get an idea of what types of experience, skills, courses, or qualifications are expected.

It's important to note that criteria can vary from employer to employer so try and compare as many as you can to get a good, all round picture. For example one Practice Nurse vacancy may ask for a qualification in prescribing and experience in family planning, whereas another Practice Nurse vacancy may just ask for NMC registration and a willingness to nurse. 

General resources

• NHS Health Careers (Includes information and advice on different nursing roles and support roles)
• RCN Clinical topics: (Information and resources on several different clinical areas, including Public Health, Advanced Nursing, Mental health, Learning Disabilities, etc.)
• RCN Library (Our library staff may be able to assist you in your research)
• Prospects.ac.uk: What can you do with your Nursing degree? 

Country Specific resources:

• NIPEC (Career pathways and career planning for those in Northern Ireland)
• NHS Scotland NHS Careers (Scotland)
• Advanced Practice (Scotland)
• Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) : Careers (Wales)

If you need more help

If you get stuck, contact the RCN Careers Service for support, and we'll do our best to assist.

The RCN Careers Service can offer feedback and tailored advice on your CV and/or supporting statement as part of a job application. 

Feedback is provided by email and RCN members can access feedback twice within 12 months.  The guidance can be applied to future roles.  

CV writing

Advice on writing a CV can be found on our CV writing page, along with sample CVs, template CVs, and guidance on writing covering letters.

If you would like feedback on your CV, please ensure you have followed the advice on the CV writing page. Then you can send your CV to career.service@rcn.org.uk to receive feedback via email within 10 working days. Please include:

• your RCN membership number (or postcode)
• a brief of summary of your situation and goals for context
• Any job documents should be in a PDF or word format.  Photos will not be accepted. 

If there is a deadline involved, please advise us so that we can do our best to accommodate this.

Job applications and supporting statements

Advice on how to complete Job Applications and write Supporting Statements can be found on our Job Applications advice page, including a step by step video tutorial and a sample supporting statement.

If you would like feedback on your supporting statement, please ensure you have followed the advice on the Job Applications page first, and then send your statement to career.service@rcn.org.uk to receive feedback via email within 10 working days.  RCN members can access feedback twice within 12 months.  The guidance provided can be applied to future roles.   

Please include:

• your RCN membership number (or postcode)
• a brief of summary of your situation and goals for context
• the Person Specification and Job Description in a PDF or Word format only.  Photos/images will not be accepted. 

If there is a deadline involved, please advise us so that we can do our best to accommodate this.

Useful resources

• CV writing for nurses, midwives and nursing support workers (including CV templates and CV samples)
• CV writing for Student or Newly Qualified Nurses (including CV templates and CV samples)
• Covering letters
• How to write job applications and supporting statements (with sample supporting statements)

Career Coaches cannot give any advice on which courses or qualifications you need, so it would be your responsibility to research and investigate this.

See the RCN Careers advice on searching for courses. This includes how and where to look for courses, course search engines, CPD and learning opportunities, free courses, e-learning, and more. There is also advice on second registration, top up degrees, APEL, and Returning to Practice.

Course finder checklist

✔  Contact universities to ask for advice and information on courses, modules, and meeting your learning needs.

✔  Speak to your employer. You may also have an RCN Learning rep, Practice Development team, or Education Lead in your workplace.

✔  Each RCN forum has its own private Facebook group where you could ask your peers for advice, insight, and recommendations. Every forum also has its own RCN Professional Lead who you can contact for advice.

✔  Use your contacts and network to get insight and recommendations. 

✔ See the RCN's Clinical Topics which may have information about qualifications, courses, and frameworks.

HEE resources (England only)

• HEE (Health Education England) has information on over 100 programmes from planning and commissioning, to recruiting and developing healthcare staff in a range of healthcare and community settings, (e.g., apprenticeships, NHS 111, end of life care, occupational health, practice nursing, mental health, education, etc.). where you can find frameworks, initiatives, programmes, resources, contacts, and more.
• Contact your regional HEE team
• For primary care roles, contact your local HEE training hub  

Researching Person Specifications

If you want to know which course or qualifications to take in order to further your career, start examining job adverts for the type of roles you want, and look at the Selection Criteria and Person Specification.

Criteria may vary from employer to employer so try and compare as many as you can to get a good, all round picture of what you would be expected to meet. 

Contact prospective employers

Don't be afraid to contact prospective employers to arrange informal chats or informal visits, and ask about the types of courses or qualifications that are desirable for your target role. 

 

Career Coaches cannot offer any advice or answer any queries on funding.  There are lots of resources online that can help you however: 

• GOV.UK guidance on student finance
• GOV.UK guidance on funding postgraduate study
• Scholarships and bursaries
• RCN Foundation grants 

Alternatively, check whether your employer offers any support. 

Career Coaches cannot offer any information or advice on reference issues. Please refer to the RCN advice guidance on References. This includes instructions on how to contact RCN Direct if you have a dispute regarding a reference. 

If you are seeking courses or ways to refresh your skills, a Career Coach cannot offer any advice on this. 

Still have an active registration?

• If you have an active nursing registration but are not currently working in clinical practice, you can access the "Back to the Floor" training programme on the eLearning for Health platform to help you gain confidence before returning to the workplace.
• Contact Universities directly to see if you can pick up any modules
• Contact Practice Development teams to see if there are any initiatives running for refresher training in specific fields
• If you're in England, Find your local integrated care board (ICB) and contact directly - and NHS Wales health boards and trusts if you're in Wales.
• If you're in Scotland please see the National Education for Scotland (NES) website

Could Career Coaching help?

You may have already found some training, but have lost some confidence or feeling nervous about returning.

Our career coaches can help talk through making your transition back into work and nursing, help you to identify your strengths and values, and encourage you to make an action plan.

Career Coaches cannot offer any advice or answer any queries on disability discrimination, disclosing a disability, reasonable adjustments, or redeployment. For advice on this, please see the RCN advice guide on disability and reasonable adjustments. 

We would also recommend looking at the RCN Peer Support Service resources. This includes the Health Ability Passport Guidance to help you manage and negotiate reasonable adjustments with your employer, disability coaching, and a peer to peer support network.

Useful resources

• RCN Peer Support Service: Disability Coaching
• Scope: Access to Work grant scheme (If you do not know what adjustments you need, an Access to Work assessment can help.)