Personal advisers
Connexions has been successful thanks to the work of Personal Advisers, or PAs as they’re known. PAs have a great deal of experience in helping and supporting young people and have been recruited from a wide range of backgrounds such as youth services, the careers service, counselling and the teaching profession. Connexions also brings together people that work for many other organisations such as schools, colleges, Health & Social Services, as well as a wide range of voluntary and community groups. By working together and listening to young people, they are able to draw on a wealth of knowledge and experience to offer whatever help, advice, support or information that is needed.
Young people sometimes just want to talk to someone independent who isn’t going to judge them or pass any opinion on their thoughts or feelings, whether it be about personal issues or simply looking for a course or a job. Whether it’s just a bit of advice and information that’s needed or real support to deal with a problem, PAs are there to help young people and those closest to them – their families.
Personal Advisers are passionate and enthusiastic practitioners who understand that in order to offer the best service, they need to really get to know the young people they are supporting. They can smooth a young person’s path through difficult choices and know what’s on offer to help them to move on to the next stage of their lives. Most PAs are professionally qualified in a specialist area such as careers guidance or youth work as well as having a PA Diploma.