Chances of getting a job as a career consultant are poor because:
- few people are willing to pay for careers advice
- few organisations hire full-time career consultants, and there is low turnover of staff
- organisations tend to only employ career consultants when there are industrial issues such as staff redundancies and retention problems
- careers advisors in schools often combine part-time work in this role with work as a subject teacher.
Twenty five percent of career consultants work part time.
According to the Census, 585 career consultants worked in New Zealand in 2018.
Types of employers vary
Career consultants may work for government or private organisations, such as:
- Work and Income
- schools, and tertiary education providers
- job training and recruitment agencies
- independent career counselling and coaching agencies.
Some career consultants work on contract for:
- vocational rehabilitation agencies such as Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and Workbridge
- organisations that provide Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) where staff can access support at their employer's cost
- large organisations and corporate clients.
Fifteen percent of career consultants are self-employed.
