About Me and marcr.net
About marcr.net
I have built this site mainly around the professional section and with specific purposes in mind. Unfortunately I don’t have a feedback or comments section because I don’t have the time to attend to this properly at the moment. If you have a specific comment or request, feel free to send me a message below.
Visual representations are central on marcr.net
When talking to candidates for the OCR level 6 in Career Guidance Qualification, I noticed a lack of visual representations of the different career theories and related theories online. Often, a picture says more than a hundred words, particularly for more visual learners. Because of the many graphics, it’s best to use marcr.net on a laptop, desktop or tablet with larger screen. It’s very difficult to impossible to make the graphics required come across well on a phone or small tablet.
One stop resource base for the level 6 OCR qualification in career guidance – especially Unit 3
Even though I offer quite a good list of resources in house, students often don’t have access to an academic library. This means resources to reference and use are relatively scarce for some theories. Academic resources are scarcer still. Even though I don’t have the time to offer in depth information for the main and other career theories, my aim was to offer a one stop resource base for students on the OCR Career Guidance qualifications as well as the post graduate qualifications offered by universities.
Stepstone for further research
Alongside that, I think it’s important for level 4, 6 and 7 candidates to do their own thinking and research to help them make up their own mind about the theories. With marcr.net I hope to offer a starting point for further research, especially by adding some questions and resources at the bottom of every page. I also hope that the theory section of the website will enthuse some students in seeing theory as something interesting and even exciting to explore to help their practice. Theory really doesn’t need to be boring!
Services I offer
My main work at the moment consists of offering career guidance to young people in education. As a student or pupil there are quite a few moments where you need to make important decisions which can be ‘sliding door’ moments in your life. I specifically like supporting people in those situations and help them discover their next step for themselves. I relish working with people of all ages.
I am also developing support for those planning retirement, which is another important moment of change that, with careful planning and good decision making, can mean a next exciting stage in your life that can be fulfilling and enjoyable. At the same time, retirement can feel like a daunting period of change, but I can support you in discovering how this can be a valuable moment to re-assess, re-connect to yourself and a moment to grab new opportunities and discover new interests and activities.
Another aspect to the support I offer consists of my assessment work for budding career professionals who are studying towards the level 6 Qualification in Career Guidance and level 7 Qualifications offered at universities. I am a qualified assessor with a keen interest in the profession and I am always keen to support those setting out on this exciting journey.
I am also always keen to support those who want to develop their practice through reflective discussion and supervision for career professionals. I strongly believe in a collaborative approach to working in career guidance and motivating conversations with peers and those in related professions. Often finding out what others do can open up new ways of looking at your work and can offer moments of refreshment of practice.
Writing for careers and especially using graphic design for career guidance, are a specific interest of mine, as you can tell from the many examples on this website. I am always exploring new ways of using graphic design in a career guidance context both within career guidance interventions with clients and for developing career guidance practice and development. Good basic design can help get a key concept or idea across much more efficiently and more pleasantly. All the graphics on this website are created by me and attributed where possible and needed. Feel free to download and use my graphics where possible, but please ask for my permission.
A little bit about me
I am career professional with a postgraduate diploma in career guidance as well as a postgraduate certificate in guidance and counselling in education, in addition to a university degree. I have completed the NCQ 4 LDSS as the practical component to the postgraduate Qualification in Career Guidance (QCG).
I mostly work in West Dorset in the South West of England and started working here in 2004, when a lot of the support was still offered by Connexions. Apart from working mainly with young people in secondary education, I have also supported adults who were under threat of redundancy, to help them manage the situation and to look for positive outcomes with them. Others I have supported with their career change, using CV writing as an exploratory tool as well as a motivator.
A bit more about myself:
I have a lot of different experiences others haven’t had, so sometimes I have some unique insights and understanding about other people’s situations and possibilities. I have experience of a variety of professional, cultural and social backgrounds in both a national and international context, which has given me a rich background to build on in my work with clients. This has also strengthened my non-judgmental approach to my work and it has further increased my understanding of clients’ different perspectives and backgrounds. Of course everyone is different and I fully realise other people have their own unique experiences.
Even though it doesn’t apply as much to career guidance or career counselling, as opposed to counselling therapy, but finding out your adviser resonates well with you and what you require, maximises the effectiveness of the support you get. Of course, a lot of this will become apparent during a personal meeting. I hope I’ve given you enough information for you to make a decision on how I can help, but in case I haven’t, please don’t hesitate to contact me.