Customer satisfaction with career guidance: a literature review

This paper reports on the findings from a review of the literature relating to customer satisfaction with career guidance services. The review finds that reported levels of satisfaction with career guidance are typically high (ranging between 70-89%). However, it also reveals that there are challenges in measuring customer satisfaction in a consistent way and questions around the extent to which customer satisfaction correlates with other desirable outcomes of career guidance, such as career management skills and progression to further learning and work. The review sets out a model of factors that influence customer satisfaction which includes the individual and their expectations, the context in which the service is delivered, how the service is delivered and how the interaction is followed up. At present, there is little hard evidence suggesting a clear link between customer satisfaction and the other two outcomes that the National Careers Service is interested in (career management skills and progression).