Feeling unsure about your future?
Career guidance to help you feel clear and confident about your next step.
You don’t have to have everything figured out right now.
Feeling unsure about your future?
Career guidance to help you feel clear and confident about your next step.
You don’t have to have everything figured out right now.
Student Career Guidance
Choosing your next step can feel overwhelming.
Understand what suits you and feel more confident about what comes next.
Is This You?
Whether you’re a student or a parent, you’re thinking about the future — but the questions you’re asking are often very different.
For Students
You’re thinking about your future, but you’re not sure what direction to take.
Perhaps you’re wondering:
- What career would suit me?
- What course should I choose?
- What if I make the wrong choice?
You want to understand yourself better and make decisions that feel right for you.
For Parents
You want to support your child, but you’re not always sure how.
Perhaps you’re wondering:
- Are they making the right choices?
- Should I be giving them more advice?
- How can I help without adding pressure?
You want to help them make informed decisions about their future.
What You'll Gain
For Students
Clear Direction
Find options that suit you.
Confident Decisions
Feel confident in the choices you make.
Practical Next Steps
Know what to do next.
For Parents
Peace of Mind
Know your child has support in making decisions about their future.
Better Conversations
Support your child without adding pressure or frustration.
Greater Clarity
See your child develop a clearer sense of direction.
The Stakes
Without the Right Support, Here’s What Often Happens…
Without clear guidance, students can end up choosing subjects or courses that don’t reflect their strengths or interests. They may miss opportunities they didn’t know existed or make decisions based on pressure rather than what genuinely suits them.
For parents, it can be difficult to watch your child struggle with uncertainty when you’re not sure how to help. Conversations about the future can become stressful and frustrating, leaving everyone feeling overwhelmed.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
With the right guidance, students can make clear, confident decisions—and parents can support them with greater reassurance and less stress.
My Approach
Every student is different. Rather than focusing only on subjects or careers, I begin by helping students better understand themselves. From there, we explore the options that genuinely suit them, helping them make informed decisions about their future.
Discover
We begin by exploring your strengths, interests, values and what matters most to you, helping you develop a clearer understanding of yourself.
Define
Together, we explore the options and directions that suit you.
Decide
You’ll identify the direction that feels right for you and leave with a practical plan for what comes next.
What Students and Parents Say
Choose Your Path
Guidance at Important Decision Points
Students are often asked to make important decisions about subjects, courses and their future before they feel fully ready.
The right guidance can bring clarity and help them make informed decisions about what comes next.
Subject Choice Guidance
For students in Transition Year and 5th Year
Helping students choose Leaving Cert subjects that suit them while keeping future options open.
Choosing Leaving Cert subjects can feel like a big decision. This focused guidance session helps students understand which subjects suit their strengths and interests, while considering how their choices may affect future study and career pathways.
- Are deciding which Leaving Cert subjects to choose
- Are unsure which subjects suit them
- Want to understand how subject choices connect to future pathways
- One dedicated guidance session (approximately 90 minutes)
- Exploration of interests, strengths and subject preferences
- Guidance on Leaving Cert subject choices
- Consideration of future course and career requirements
- Summary notes and relevant resources following the session
Leaving Cert Guidance
For students in 5th and 6th Year
Helping students understand themselves better and begin identifying career directions that may suit them.
This in-depth guidance session begins with understanding the student — their strengths, interests, values and motivations. From there, we identify promising career directions and explore relevant study and training pathways, helping the student develop a clearer sense of what to consider next.
- Are unsure what direction to take
- Feel overwhelmed by the number of options
- Want to better understand what suits them
- Want to begin exploring possible career directions
- One dedicated guidance session (approximately 2.5–3 hours)
- In-depth exploration of strengths, interests, values and motivations
- Identification of possible career directions
- Initial exploration of relevant study and training pathways
- Clear and practical next steps
- Summary notes and relevant resources following the session
Meet Maureen
For over 25 years, I have supported students and their families through important education and career decisions.
Every student is different. I take the time to understand each student’s strengths, interests and what matters to them before exploring possible pathways.
My role is not to tell students what they should do, but to help them understand themselves better so they can make informed decisions about their future.
Whether you’re a student feeling unsure about your next step or a parent looking for guidance and reassurance, my aim is to make the process feel clearer, calmer and more manageable.
Free Guides
Addressing Common Concerns
A Message to Students
“I don’t want to feel like I’ve failed if I don’t have it all figured out.”
You haven’t failed. Most students your age feel exactly the same way. You do not need to have everything figured out right now — that is why guidance and support can make such a difference.
“I’m worried my parents won’t agree with what I want to do.”
Part of what we do together is help you understand your choices clearly enough that you can explain them confidently. When you have a clearer sense of direction and a plan, those conversations often become much easier. And I can help you navigate that.
“What if I choose something and then change my mind?”
That’s why we explore Plan A and Plan B. Life changes—and that’s okay. The goal is to help you make an informed choice now, with the flexibility to adapt later if you need to.
A Message to Parents
“I don’t want to push my child in the wrong direction.”
You’re not alone in that worry. The beauty of career guidance is that it’s about helping your child discover what’s right for them. My role is to facilitate that discovery—not to push them toward any particular path. You’ll see them gain clarity on their own terms.
“We’ve tried talking about this, but it always ends in frustration.”
That’s incredibly common. Sometimes having an experienced, objective person asking the right questions can make all the difference. I create a space where students can explore their thoughts openly, and often that’s when they begin to feel clearer and more confident.
“Is this really worth the investment?”
Here’s how I see it: The cost of career guidance is a fraction of what you’d spend on even one year of university. If this helps your child choose the right path from the start—or avoid wasting time on the wrong one—it pays for itself many times over. Not to mention the reduction in stress for your whole family.
Frequently Asked Questions
Student Career Guidance is for students in Transition Year, 5th Year and 6th Year who would benefit from support with subject choices, career direction or decisions about what comes after school.
Subject Choice Guidance focuses on choosing Leaving Cert subjects, while Leaving Cert Guidance helps students better understand themselves and begin exploring career directions and pathways that may suit them.
Each session is centred on the individual student. We begin by exploring their strengths, interests and what matters to them, before looking at the subjects, career directions or pathways relevant to their stage.
The aim is for the student to leave with greater clarity and practical next steps.
Parents are welcome to join us at the beginning of the meeting to share any relevant information or concerns. The main part of the session is then with the student, giving them space to talk openly and explore their own ideas.
Parents can rejoin us towards the end, when we can discuss the key areas explored and the next steps together.
Meetings are available online via Google Meet or in person in Bantry, Co. Cork. You can choose whichever option works best for you.
For Subject Choice Guidance: Transition Year is a good time to begin, particularly as students start thinking about their Leaving Cert subject choices.
For Leaving Cert Guidance: Students can benefit from guidance during 5th or 6th Year. Starting earlier allows more time to reflect on possible career directions and explore what may suit them.
That’s completely normal. Career direction can develop and change as students learn more about themselves and the opportunities available to them.
The aim of guidance is not to make one perfect decision, but to help students make informed choices based on what they know about themselves now.
Yes. Leaving Cert Guidance is designed as a complete, in-depth session. If further support would be helpful afterwards, a follow-on session can be arranged to explore specific career pathways, CAO courses or other study options in greater detail.
Subject Choice Guidance – €195
Approximately 90 minutes
Leaving Cert Guidance – €395
Approximately 2.5–3 hours
Click the booking button for the guidance service that best suits your needs. From there, you can select a suitable date and time and complete your booking.
Still have questions?
If you’re unsure which guidance option is right, you’re welcome to get in touch.