My professional development
Welcome to your online hub for professional development. Use our prompt questions to guide you to the resources you need to gain professional recognition and/or develop your career.
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This free online event series for Student Services professionals in higher education offers a range of strategies and approaches designed to support wellbeing and growth to navigate the ever-changing sector. Join us over three events throughout the 2025/26 academic year to gain practical tools to care for yourself, foster a supportive team culture and take proactive and strategic steps to shape your professional development.
Supporting yourself, your colleagues and your future: shaping your professional development
Student Services professionals play a vital role in supporting student wellbeing, inclusion and success, often within emotionally demanding roles and increasingly constrained systems and funding. It can often be difficult to find the time to focus on personal career development.
In the first part of this session, Tessa Harrison (Executive Search Consultant and Leadership Coach) provides a reflective and practical approach to career development that recognises the realities of Student Services work and the values that underpin it. Drawing on experience as a senior higher education leader, Tessa will explore how Student Services professionals can prepare for career development and job search in ways that are realistic, sustainable and aligned with their professional identity and career aspirations. The first part will help delegates identify what has consistently motivated and sustained them in their work, clarify the skills they carry across roles and institutions, and understand how this experience is perceived in recruitment and career conversations. By grounding career development in values, contribution and capability, participants will be better equipped to take confident, purposeful next steps in their careers.
In the second part of the session, Fiona Lennoxsmith (Advance HE), draws on her experience as a professional services leader who progressed through an organisation, alongside her career coaching lens, to support participants in making sense of their contribution and impact. Using the Framework for Leading in Higher Education, the session focuses on how leadership is expressed through everyday work, and how this connects to organisational need and career direction. Delegates will reflect on the work they're doing now, the strengths and values that shape it, and how this contribution is experienced beyond their immediate role. The emphasis is on using clearer understanding of impact as a basis for shaping career aspirations and engaging more confidently with decisions about development and direction over time.
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