About Us
Who are we?
Career Smart are the first, and only UK career consultancy that specialises in empowering young adults aged 18 to 25 who are struggling to find their career path. We understand the unique challenges faced by this demographic, such as a lack of work experience, limited networking opportunities, and a rapidly changing job market. Our team of experienced coaches works one-on-one with each client to help them identify their strengths, set achievable career goals, and develop a personalized action plan for success.
We offer an eight week 1-2-1 program designed to help young adults identify a suitable career path, and educate them on all the intricacies of the modern, competitive, and complex world of work, allowing them to realise their potential.
Our proven method combines practical advice and support with real-world experience and expert insights. We help our clients:
- Explore their interests, skills, and values to find a career that is a good fit for them
- Build a perfectly optimised CV and professional online presence
- Develop effective job search strategies and prepare for job interviews
- Navigate a complex job market and understand industry trends and job requirements
- Build a professional network and make connections in their desired field
We believe that every young adult deserves the opportunity to find a fulfilling and meaningful career, and we are dedicated to helping them achieve their goals. With Career Smart, they’ll have a trusted partner who will support and guide them every step of the way.
Investing in our services will not only benefit the individual, but also society as a whole by creating a more productive and satisfied workforce. Our clients will gain the skills and confidence they need to succeed and realise their potential.
What is our vision?
The UK currently has just under 7 million 18 – 25 year old’s, with 12.5% of them being classified as NEET (not in education, employment or training). That’s 850,000 young adults who are at risk of being left behind. For us at Career Smart, this is unacceptable.
Chances are, if you reading this, you will know someone in this situation, or be in that situation yourself – whether that be directly with a friend, or even indirectly with a friends older child.
Not knowing what you want to do for a career, and how to achieve it, can be very damaging on your mental health. This, combined with societal pressures to understand your life’s direction and pursue it quickly, can be extremely distressing and emotionally challenging for lots of people.
As a result, we formed Career Smart with the aim of giving all young adults the positive motivation, guidance and support when selecting and starting their career. The UK’s current employment system is heavily biased towards people with experience, and although we are unable to change that ourselves, we aim to help you become the best you can be, and realise your potential.
Founders Story
The founding principles of Career Smart were established back in the late 2000’s, when our founder and CEO, Mike Smith, didn’t have much of an idea as to where he wanted to take his life – both personally and professionally. He had an average academic track-record, combined with an inability to commit to any crucial higher-educational decisions.
After several years of flitting from one low-skilled job to the next, coupled with lengthy periods of unemployment, he decided to follow the advice of a family friend, and pursue a “real career” in Sales. Mike took to it like a duck to water.
Within a handful of years, he’d secured promotion three times, and was now managing and training a very successful UK-wide sales and recruitment team, ultimately holding a senior management position at Director level.
Motivating, mentoring and coaching quickly became Mike’s passion.
Following his 10 years of employment, Mike decided to set out on his own and create an engineering recruitment business. The business was successful in it’s own right, however within a few years he soon found himself yearning to return to something more coaching centric.
Surprisingly, Mike noticed there was a distinct lack of career advice and coaching services being offered to young adults’ after leaving the education system. The UK has approximately 6 million 18 to 25 year olds, and he was keen to understand why such a vital demographic was not able to access the career support it required, especially at such a crucial stage of life. After all, these people are the UK’s future leaders.
Following 9 months of specialist course and program development, and utilising his two most successful career qualities – Coaching and Recruitment – Career Smart was born.