My name is Michael Robinson and I set up Beguided Careers with the guiding principles of offering expert and impartial face-to-face careers and educational advice and counselling to clients of all ages and from all backgrounds.

It is based on a gentle, thought provoking and intuitive interviewing technique supported by a deep and thorough core of knowledge and access to a wide range of resources and materials, and at the core of the process is the interview itself and the opportunity this offers for a deep and supportive dialogue that will meet the personal needs of each client.

I am a qualified Careers Adviser with 20 years experience and I started in 1988 with the Kent Careers Service following my professional post-graduate training at the Kent College for the Careers Service.  For the past 13 years I have worked for Highsted and Borden Grammar Schools in Sittingbourne, Kent, to provide expert and impartial guidance to both schools, to organise work experience and to assist with work related learning.

My areas of expertise include working with clients of all ages from young people at school to graduates and adults.  In particular I provide in depth assistance to clients seeking a career change or who need redundancy counselling in these economically challenging times.

I have in the course of my work developed contacts with many hundreds of employers in Kent and I have also personally visited a wide range of institutions such as the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst; the Royal Marines Training and Selection Centre at Lympstone in Devon; the London Stock Exchange and the Corporation of Lloyds in London; the Kent Police Training College; HM Customs and Excise; the Law Society; and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

I have also developed close links with many universities and have personally visited more than 45 in England enabling me to get a particular insight into the nature and qualities these institutions have and into the admissions processes they operate.  This detailed knowledge is especially valuable to clients applying to the highly selective universities including Oxford and Cambridge.

I have a commitment to excellence and to the reading and research necessary to give my clients the very best careers advice and guidance available.  I include within this the wider economic and social factors that are driving the future career opportunities in this country and the responses made to the challenges of the current recession, which will be with us for the foreseeable future.