Career path and turning points 

Bella’s career began as a Therapeutic Counsellor, moving across countries where she delved into HR consultancy before finding her true calling in CDP in Canada. Her career turning points include seeing careers professionals perform their job at the University of Leeds in 2006, being hired on-the-spot in the UAE - A testament to her skills and passion,  a chance to work in Canada that shaped her seminal career development practice and doing outplacement work, which has been a constant intellectual challenge and growth. 

Bella shares;

“My work spans across 3 continents and 3 sectors of industry: Higher/Further Education, HR Consultancy and publicly funded services.   I began working as a CDP (Career Development Professional) at the University of Leeds. I initially trained as a Therapeutic Counsellor but moved to the UAE in 2008, where western ideas of Counselling/psychological services were not recognised.  I had to pivot, so I was lucky to find a role in HR consultancy in Dubai, providing lots of psychometric testing services connected with careers (for recruitment and leadership programmes).  In 2012, I moved to Canada where I ended up working as a CDP in publicly funded employment service.  I transferred over to teaching CDP’s in Canada in 2021 and after moving back to the UK in 2022, I returned to client work, this time, in outplacement services.  I’ve spent a lifetime learning how to understand the psychological motivation for why people do things – careers are full of decisions that I’m curious to know more about.”

Challenges and triumphs

Life’s challenges were learning opportunities for Bella. She gained her undergrad degree aged 35 by attending night school for 5 years, then completed her Master’s degree in 2023, aged 50. She has also learned to transition between cultures.

"Transition both in living and working internationally in 2 completely different cultures has given me knowledge and empathy to help internationally trained professionals in transition.”

Bella recalls her more recent achievement to support the Career Development profession;

“Setting up the #SoMuchMoreThanTalkingAboutJobs campaign with Katherine Jennick was an achievement of which I am very proud.  Knowing we reached so many CDPs around the world to offer them a way to help them share their story was truly awesome.  It is still being used by CDPs to communicate who they are and what they do today.” 

Current role 

Bella’s current role is multifaceted; she undertakes career consulting, from career analysis and decision making to personal brand management and job search strategy; designs and delivers workshops, producing engaging material to motivate performance in career planning; and focuses on ethical practice, “Diversity in contribution of voice and thought is key to enrichment and self-understanding.”

Personal motivation and work philosophy 

Bella’s drive stems from her desire to provide what she lacked – supportive, practical help in career decision-making. Her work philosophy is powerful; 

“The Client knows more about their career and/or job than I ever will. My job is to learn all I can to help them actively problem solve though their next career transition.” 

Role models  

Bella’s role models range from Dr. Clair Souter (who she met at University of Leeds Career Centre) to Liane Hambly, CDP Thought Leader, and careers greats like Dr. Siobhan Neary. Bella recalls her other role models including Gillian Johnston CCDP,  Jenny Ide (former Managing Partner of Arabian Assessment & Development Centre, Dubai), Howard Penney (former Program Manager at The Career Foundation, Toronto),  Katherine Jennick RCDP,  Debbie Dymock RCDP, Ken Roberts, Wendy Patton and Mary McMahon. 

Bella describes a day as;

“Being present at termination meetings to discuss service options for outplacement services.  I then meet with professional and Executive level clients and assess career development and/or job search needs.  I discuss and help build personal branding across their communication portfolio, coaching on resumes, LinkedIn, networking, job search strategy, interview performance, salary negotiation and onboarding.  I build a workable action plan to help them reconnect to the labour market as soon as possible."

"I also design and deliver webinars on job search topics to clients across Canada.  Advocacy and promotion of CDPs and the global careers community is something which I am strongly connected to and active with on LinkedIn”. 

Industry Outlook and Future Aspirations 

Bella’s insight into the future is clear: 

“Much is to be done to encourage new talent into the industry. We must learn from others, confidently communicate our positive impact, and stay ahead of the technological curve.” 

Her key learnings include valuing wisdom, avoiding complacency, and embracing technology. Her advice to new CDPs is;