Are you looking to make a change to your work life? Has having children changed your priorities or resulted in you stopping work?

Perhaps you just want advice on how to better manage your time, whatever it is, Charlotte Brown, 36, from Leyton, is on a mission to help you find career happiness.

After 10 years in human resources she completed a masters in career coaching at the University of East London in Stratford.

She has spent the last two years developing her own private practice Kaleidoscope Careers, offering one-to-one sessions and specialising on women. Now she is hosting her first group event at the Host of Leyton, in the High Road, so I spoke to her to find out more...

What is the best bit of advice you think you can give someone?

Be honest, explore and reflect. Spend time career planning. People spend more time planning their yearly holiday than they do on planning their career. We are so influenced so much by media and other people’s expectations about what ‘success’ is that we get confused about what we really want at work and end up in jobs that don’t make us happy.

As a coach I spend time with people stripping back who they are; we explore their values, strengths, priorities and skills. We talk about what they want to leave behind from their last job and what they want to actually do. When you make career decisions that are intrinsically motivated they are going to stick and give you the most satisfaction.

What is the most common problem people have?

Women wanting to change career are the most frequent clients. They are professional, talented women who spent their 20s working hard and climbing the career ladder, they then have children in their 30s and realise their previous job just doesn’t fit in with having a young family. They want to find work that is meaningful and challenging but that offers work-life balance.

What would you say to someone thinking about a career change?

You can’t rush a career change, I tell clients that the average time it takes to make a career change is two years. There are lots of low risk things people can do to get the ball rolling. I suggest to start identifying areas that interest you, ask someone you know in that field for coffee to find out more and don’t rely only on the internet for your job opportunities. The best network you have is your own network, start speaking to friends/ex colleagues about what you want to do and they might thing of you next time a job opportunity arises. Do a day shadowing someone in a role you are interested in to get the real insight into their working day. Be creative, be brave.

Does your advice differ a lot between people are on and later on in their career, or are their similar issues?

Career theory suggests people want different things from their careers at different life stages. In their 20s they want challenge and to achieve. In their mid-life they are looking for balance with either family or leisure activities, and in the later life stages it becomes really important for people to feel like their work is authentic to who they are. 

Why is your focus predominantly on women?

I have to admit I sometimes get a raised eyebrow when I tell people I’m running career workshops just for women. However from my time studying career coaching I know that women’s career needs are unique and require specific support. Men’s careers tend to be quite linear, women often step back or change careers and different presumptions are made by employers.

The workplace has changed a lot for women over the last generation. From 1970 to 2013 women’s employment has risen 43 per cent but women face career barriers men, in general, don’t.

There are lots of thoughts and explanations about this; ‘opting’ out is often suggested in the last few years, that women are by choice not aiming for the highest levels professionally but it’s definitely more complex than that.

Compared to men’s career paths women’s are much more disjointed. One reason for this is motherhood, although employers’ responses play a part. It starts in pregnancy, once a women has told her employer she’s expecting, research found women describe a growing invisibility at work as a valuable member of the team.

After maternity leave 40 per cent return part time or in more junior roles and 24 per cent who plan to return can’t seem to make it fit with family responsibilities, due to lack of childcare options or lack of flexibility on the employer’s part. In this case women often lose touch with colleagues and the day to day workings of their organisation. They feel isolated, become less confident in their professional capability, strengths and skills that are still there but not used in the same way since becoming a mother.

But it’s not all about logistics and childcare and networking that women need extra support with. Managers generally perceive that women workers will probably suffer from work and home conflicts more than men. They tend to receive lower pay, fewer benefits, less training and are overlooked for promotion.

Host of Leyton, 658 High Road Leyton, E10 6JP, Saturday, April 22. Details: 07969 958 079, kaleidoscopecareers.uk