Hawthorn, Maguire and Haughton (2002) quoted in Maguire (2004) found that the main reason for accessing guidance services was work related, to either improve chances of career progression or of getting a job. The evaluation of the Adult Guidance Pilots also found that the main reasons for seeking guidance were work related (Tyers et al., 2003). The caller survey and the learndirect management information show that callers used the learndirect guidance service for a range of reasons. The management information indicated that careers advice was the most common reason for calling, and changing career was the most commonly cited reason among caller survey respondents.
3.4.1 Why do callers ring?
LLAs reported some specific examples of the reasons why callers might use the service. However, almost all emphasised that there was not a typical caller or reason for calling the service.
‘Some people call who have had a career and want to move to other work, and want help communicating that they want a lower paying job to employers and that they are still motivated and committed.’
Lifelong Learning Advisor
‘Common problems are returning to work after having children and they want a part- time position, they want help explaining their gap in work and working through the skills they have gained as a parent. Another common problem is people wanting to move out of their current careers/change jobs and work through how to re-plan a way forward.’
Lifelong Learning Advisor Advisors record the reasons users have for calling in the management information; more than one reason per caller can be recorded. Table 3.6 presents the data. Table 3.6: Reasons for calling learndirect
Action planners All callers
No % No % To talk about… Careers advice 8,743 63 35,645 77 Action planning 5,956 43 6,437 14 Course search 4,000 29 21,548 47 Qualifications 2,428 17 9,214 20 CV Support 1,415 10 2,090 5 Funding 1,073 8 3,917 8 Interview preparation 346 2 625 1 Labour market Information 317 2 395 1
Base 13,887 46,331
Source: learndirect MI, 1 August 2006, NB Multi-code responses
Looking at all the callers, close to half wanted help with a course search and two in ten wanted some advice about qualifications. Few callers wished to discuss funding, job interview preparation or labour market information, although analysis of the caller survey shows that service users value and expect local labour market information within their call (section 4.2.5).
These proportions are largely reflected amongst the action planners, although there are some noticeable differences. Fewer action planners were interested in help with
finding a course and a slightly higher proportion sought help with the preparation of their CV. It is not clear from the management information whether the reasons callers telephone the service are what the guidance session has focused on. This is a
particular concern given earlier advisor comments that callers do not always know what to expect from guidance services (section 3.1.3) and this information could be captured in the management information.
The categories used by learndirect advisors to record callers’ reasons for using the service might be more usefully structured. For example, local labour market information is a category against which advisors can attribute a reason for calling. However, labour market information is more likely to be embedded within the guidance session rather than being a main reason for calling.
Other reasons why callers might ring could include wanting to change career, or to find work and these are not currently captured by the management information.
Needing a change
The caller survey asked respondents which of a number of broad statements best reflected their reasons for calling learndirect.
■ The need for a change was the most frequently cited reason for calling, cited by one-third of all callers (34 per cent).
■ Nearly one-fifth (18 per cent) indicated that they wanted to explore their options within the same career elsewhere.
■ 14 per cent suggested that they wanted to find out about using their experience in a different type of work.
■ Women were more likely than men to be looking to return to work after having children or looking after another person (20 per cent of women compared to five per cent of men).
■ Men were more likely than women to have reported that they called due to facing redundancy or having been made redundant (12 per cent compared to six per cent). ■ Older respondents were also considerably more likely to cite redundancy as the
reason for calling the service (21 per cent compared to nine per cent of the total population).
Work related courses
Respondents to the caller survey were asked which of a number of aspects of work or learning they expected to receive advice or guidance about. Of these, the most
commonly indicated areas were courses to do with a current or future job and advice and guidance related to careers (Table 3.7). Section 4.3.1 explores the extent to which callers received the advice they sought.
Table 3.7: Advice sought
Advice sought %
Courses to do with a job/future job 42 Careers guidance or advice 39 Studying for qualifications 25 Help to improve your skills 24 Help with finding a job 23 Finding about sources of funding
for training or studying
18 Help to improve your CV 12 Preparation for job interviews 7 Childcare provision 2
Source: learndirect caller survey, *N= 1,001, NB: multi-response question and therefore responses do not sum to 100.
As discussed earlier, a caller’s initial reasons for calling may differ from what is covered in the content of the call. One advisor described how individuals’ initial reasons for calling the guidance service can differ from the subject matter that callers need to discuss:
‘It [the reason for calling] will often be for a course. However, after probing you find that they don’t necessarily know what they want or how the course will help them achieve what they want.’
learndirect Information Advisor Further to the analysis in section 3.1.3 there is some evidence from the interviews with advisors to suggest that users of the service have not always formulated exact
questions or know what they want to find out about prior to their call. This suggests callers are not always able to articulate that they need guidance. For example:
‘Some callers phone for another reason and IA or LAs probe and find that guidance might be more appropriate for them. Some people phone and know that they want guidance.’
Lifelong Learning Advisor
‘They don’t ask for guidance but they may say they want some help – they don’t know what to do.’
Learning Advisor Although most callers to the guidance service have a guidance enquiry even if they cannot articulate it very clearly, five per cent of respondents to the caller survey indicated that their reason for calling was that ‘they had not been actively seeking careers
advice but had been offered it by an advisor’. Although low, this proportion may support
the perception among some advisors that some callers do not want or need guidance. While the majority of callers phone learndirect actively seeking some form of support, a small minority of demand for guidance is created within the service from callers using other learndirect services.