Happy new year everyone, I am at a bit of a career crossroads after a successful few years and was hoping to get some advice as to how to work out what the next step for me should be. In summary, I am now a senior manager at a Big 4 Transaction Services outfit after three years at another Big 4 consultancy and two years as a manager at my current place of work. I have enjoyed quick promotion, and although I am happy with my progress (I am 28), I do not see myself staying in consulting for the long term.Being single and with no mortgage I would be prepared to take a short term hit in salary if I moved into a new line of work if I saw more of a long term future in it and was therefore hoping for some advice as to where I might go to hopefully explore alternative career options with someone in the know (rather than a bonus driven headhunter / recruiter).Has anyone used career coaches / mentors or something similar that they would recommend? In essence I would like to discuss potential industry and banking options etc... to try and work out whether I would enjoy various roles and potential industry career paths etc...Any advice appreciated, ThanksCC

In this day and age you can't afford to be too choosy. Generally you take what's available, which is not necessarily what you want.Coaches/mentors on the other hand just take your money. I'm skeptical as to the so-called quality of their advice. How do you know you're not just paying a semi-retired snake oil salesman for a load of general guff about "matching your career to your interests" and that sort of useless, inactionable armchair advice? They'll make all sorts of unjustified assumptions about you and give you "advice" that is limited to their own view of the world.And besides, this shouldn't really be too much of a difficult decision - should it??

I couldnt disagree more with previous poster.There are some good ones out there, do your research and have a go. But you'll need to do some soul searching.

Chris - I haven&apos;t got personal experience of using career coaches, so can&apos;t comment explicitly on the value that can be derived from going down this route.However I can recommend that you speak with Janie Links, who is a career coach I&apos;ve known for the best part of a decade. In previous roles Janie has recruited in the strategy consulting space, has placed consultants into industry, worked as a recruiter at Google and as a careers advisor at London Business School. For a period Janie also provided CV advice to Top-Consultant readers and I know from reader feedback that her advice was always well received.You can find details at:<a href=http://www.highcalibrepeople.com/coaching.html>http://www.highcalibrepeople.com/coaching</a>Janie&apos;s very approachable and knowledgeable, so I hope she can give you a better idea of what might be gained by going down this route.Best of luckTony RestellTop-Consultant.com

Thanks for your advice, I will contact Janie this week, her experience looks very applicable to my situation. I am also interested in finding a careers coach / consultant /advisor who has &apos;been there and done that&apos; so to speak. Someone who could look at my experience and ambition and tell me, &apos;if you are looking at x, you need to enjoy y&apos; or &apos;the implication of x would open doors in y in a few years time&apos; etc....Does anyone know of an exec career path advisory service (besides recruiters that might have a different agenda) that I could contact? Thanks in advance, much appreciated. CC