About Us
A service for parents of school and college leavers, in particular those not going to university, who want to invest in their young person’s future career. Practical advice on all options including apprenticeships, higher education diplomas and help with making strong applications including speculative ones, securing interviews, preparing for and passing interviews to secure job offers.
Michael Stockwell
Founder of Career Lift Off
The Vision Behind Career Lift-Off
About Career Lift Off
Inspired by Michael Stockwell, a careers guidance and development professional based in Basingstoke, Career Lift-Off aims to do just that for young people. This means helping plan a career that they are matched to and practical help to plan the steps required towards their career goal.
Michael Stockwell has an MA and other post-graduate qualifications in teaching, careers guidance, cognitive behavioural psychology and is a registered test-user with the British Psychological Society.
Michael’s career acumen includes a strong awareness that young people often complete sixth form college or school sixth form and don’t have any career ideas or goals. Sixth form may have been fun socially and worthwhile through studying interesting subjects, but upon leaving college it can be a question of starting out afresh on career planning. He also encounters an increasing number of school/college leavers who decide not to go on to full-time university; they have worries about the cost and the commitment needed to commit to three years of further study.
Michael’s career acumen includes a strong awareness that young people often complete sixth form college or school sixth form and don’t have any career ideas or goals. Sixth form may have been fun socially and worthwhile through studying interesting subjects, but upon leaving college it can be a question of starting out afresh on career planning. He also encounters an increasing number of school/college leavers who decide not to go on to full-time university; they have worries about the cost and the commitment needed to commit to three years of further study.
Guiding Futures, Building Confidence
Guiding Young Careers
Michael delivers careers advice and guidance to young people in schools and colleges across the South of England and his private work is more focused on assisting young people to achieve their goals. Many young people leaving school or college may have had only one short contact with a career's professional to date. In Michael’s opinion this sells them short in being able to plan their futures.
How Michael Helps Young People Succeed
As an experienced careers guidance and development professional who is registered with the Career Development Institute, Michael helps young people to plan confidently for careers they are matched to and assists them to get there. Effective career planning can lead to mental wellbeing, happiness and higher lifetime earnings.
Michael in his free time
You will catch him watching Basingstoke Town FC at home games on a Saturday or sometimes playing golf with friends or playing table tennis at Queens Club, Basingstoke. You might sometimes see him at the Anvil or Haymarket in Basingstoke enjoying gigs and theatre or out walking in local countryside with family members.
Michael’s Expertise and Unique Approach
He has exceptional skills in engagement with students of all personalities and backgrounds and is also skilled at ensuring young people who have SEND can engage with and gain from his services. His wide network of contacts amongst employers, apprenticeship providers, colleges and universities give him the opportunity to advise young people on a wide range of opportunities and he enables them to learn the skills to build up their networks with employers, contact hiring decision-makers and make successful applications for jobs.
What Sets Michael Apart
Five key words that set Michael apart in his professional work are insightful, intuitive, warm and solution-focused. He was a secondary school teacher teaching up to A Level in his first career with subsequent career experience in sales, publishing and project development in the voluntary sector along the way to becoming a careers professional. He has also worked extensively with adults in careers advice and guidance, workplace placements, job retention support and delivering workshops for executives in career transition. What motivates him is the importance of young people being able to make the best of themselves in future careers.