Statement of Service

This statement briefly outlines the facilities and services available to you as customers of C2 at The Careers Group University of London.

INTRODUCTION
The Careers Group’s mission is to enable you to maintain job satisfaction throughout your working life and C2 supports this by providing products and services that are quality assured and aim to:

• Help individuals to develop, implement and maintain career management skills
• Help organisations, institutions and academic staff to help you to develop these skills
• Help employers recruit, retain and develop employees

WHO CAN USE C2 AND WHAT CAN WE OFFER ?
We are a not for profit but fee-charging service and our services are available to all customers. You do not have to be a graduate of the University of London.

Concessionary rates for most of our services are available to customers receiving Job Seekers’ Allowance. Please contact the Consultancy Administrator for further details.

C2’s services include access to group or one-to-one information, advice and guidance, and access to The Careers Group central library and IT resources.

Recent graduates of our subscribing colleges can access selected services through joining GradClub, which entitles them to discounted fees for the first two years after graduation. Details are given in the GradClub leaflet which you can pick up in any of our Careers Services or view here

Current students of institutions subscribing to The Careers Group receive free careers services via their institution. For details, please see the full statement of service for The Careers Group, University of London.

WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT?
All staff in C2 will:

• work to the Matrix quality standards framework for information, advice and guidance;
• abide by the Code of Practice of the professional body for university careers services, the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) which guarantees a service which is impartial, confidential, transparent, accessible;
• operate within the Principles of Coherent IAG Service Delivery which cover information, advice and guidance services to adults nationally;
• operate within the Code of Practice of the body created by government to monitor standards in universities: the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA);
• follow the AGCAS and University Equal Opportunities policies.

You will meet staff who are approachable, experienced, trained, and committed to helping you. You are welcome to ask for further details about how we ensure our staff are competent. You will receive unbiased information and impartial, realistic advice in a Service that is confidential, transparent, accessible and geared to your individual needs and circumstances.

Career guidance is an ongoing process that helps you to explore your options and make choices. Our approach to guidance means that you can gain the skills and insights needed to manage your own career.

By making use of the services and expertise available, you will be better able to understand your capabilities, become better informed about the career choices open to you and be better equipped to take the next steps towards rewarding and satisfying careers.

USING THE SERVICE
Contact details and core opening times are available here. While the Service is open, you may (as appropriate) consult the literature, obtain expert help to track down other information, use the IT resources, and arrange to see a Careers Adviser. You will usually be able to see someone within five working days though this will vary at busy times of year.

As a responsible user of the service, you will be expected to honour all bookings for consultations and workshops, use computer facilities only for careers purposes and complete client feedback questionnaires when requested to do so. You are also expected to treat staff and other users with respect; those who fail to do so will have their use of the service terminated.

Client feedback is essential in trying to improve any organisation and we will from time to time ask for your reaction to some aspect of the service, usually by means of a questionnaire but we are always interested in other comments and reaction. Your views are important to us in planning future provision so we hope you will respond fully when we seek client input. Your comments will be confidential unless you decide otherwise. We will endeavour to tell you how our provision has changed as a result of your feedback.

IF THINGS GO WRONG
Even in the best of organisations (and we really do try to be the best!) things can go wrong. Maybe something isn’t as good as it might be with our arrangements, or maybe there was an aspect to one of our services that didn’t match your expectations. Whatever the problem, or suggestion or good idea, we really do want to hear about it so that we can try to improve the service offered.
So, please, if you have any suggestions, good ideas, constructive comments, complaints (even compliments)…talk to us. Here’s how to get in touch

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Accepting an appointment with a Careers Consultant or making a booking for a group session means that you accept our terms and conditions (available here). If you have any queries about our terms and conditions, please raise these before you book an appointment.

CONFIDENTIALITY
All our work with clients is confidential. Feedback, reports etc are always provided directly to the client and information (other than anonymous statistics) is not made public.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
As a member of AGCAS and of the University of London, The Careers Group is committed to promoting equality of access and treatment in education, employment, training and guidance, regardless of race, religion, sex, disability, marital status, social class, age or sexual preference. Forms of unlawful direct and indirect discrimination or unequal treatment or unethical behaviour will be challenged.

CODES AND POLICIES
The Careers Group’s work is governed by professional ethical codes expressed in a number of documents. Please ask if you wish to see any of them:

• Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations of the University of London
• College and University Equal Opportunities Policies
• AGCAS (Association of Graduate Careers Advisers) Code of Good Practice on Guidance
• Principles of Coherent IAG Service Delivery
• Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Code of Practice: Section 8: Careers Education Information and Guidance
• The Careers Group Complaints Procedure

If you would like a copy of this document in another format, please ask.