Telstra Life & Career – FAQ

1. What is Life & Career?
2. Am I eligible for Life & Career Program?
3. Can I defer the commencement of my Life & Career Program?
4. What does Life & Career cost me?
5. How is Life & Career different from TJP?
6. I am quite happy to be leaving Telstra, is the Life & Career Program still relevant to me?
7. I not interested in all the “Life” stuff, what if I just want to concentrate on job search, or if I’m only I’m interested in retiring and maybe some volunteer work?
8. Why would I select Life & Career instead of taking the $4,500 payment in lieu of assistance?
9. What are your results?
10. What is the duration of my program?
11. Can I purchase your services with my payout?
12. How many points do I get and how do I get more if I need them?
13. How is Life & Career different from EAP?
14. Sounds like a great service! How do I start?
15. Where can I get more information?
   

1. What is Life & Career?

Life & Career is a highly effective and personal change management program that aims to support you in moving to the next step in your life post-Telstra.

You will work with an individual Adviser to assess your current situation from both a career and life perspective to assist you in setting achievable short term and long term goals. We will then deliver a tailored program to help you reach the next step in your life whether that might be, such as:
  a new permanent job
  interim or long term contracting/consulting
  retirement or semi-retirement
  small business
  a move to a regional location
  a new career direction or maybe further study

In addition we can refer you to further financial assistance, health and image consultants, and further support and advice to make the change a whole lot easier to manage. Based on a points allocation, you select the services and support that are most important to you and we deliver accordingly.

Life & Career is not just about a new job or "counseling" through change, it's a practical and results focused program to help you make the most of the opportunities that career change can present.





2. Am I eligible for Life & Career Program?

Hudson is happy to provide the Life & Career service to anyone. Telstra as the client determines eligibility. At this stage, if you are on individual contract (AWA or Common Law) you are eligible to elect and access the Life & Career Program. EA employees are not eligible without special permission from Telstra.


3. Can I defer the commencement of my Life & Career Program?

Yes. If you choose the Life & Career service you can commence at any time and you can put your program on hold too. We do recommend that you attend your first meeting soon after leaving Telstra so you can meet your Adviser, be introduced to some of the assessment exercises and know who to contact if you need support or have questions. You can then put your program on hold for as long as required. If you would like to defer your commencement (or put your program on hold) for some time (ie 2 months plus), please keep in contact with us from time to time so we keep your account active.


4. What does Life & Career cost me?

Nothing. Telstra pays for the Life & Career service in addition to your redundancy payments to assist in your transition process. So, there is no cost to you.


5. How is Life & Career different from TJP?

TJP initially focuses on redeploying you within Telstra. Given the current environment of change at Telstra, you will need to evaluate the likelihood of you securing another role within the organisation.

Life & Career will also equip you with best practice job search skills to maximise your chances of securing the right role in the external market as quickly as possible.

One of the major benefits of Life & Career is that it allows you to take a clean break from Telstra and access the external job market immediately. You will need to consider the benefit of waiting out the redeployment period and losing momentum in the outside market.

The Life & Career Program will also put you in close contact with the Hudson recruitment business (Australia’s largest recruiter) and link you to other recruiters so you can have better access to experts in your discipline and industry. In fact, Telstra has requested that agencies on its recruitment panel (ie companies that recruit into Telstra) provide a higher level of service to participants who approach them through the Life & Career process for jobs with other companies. Companies on the panel include generalists that recruit in multiple disciplines or specialists in IT.


6. I am quite happy to be leaving Telstra, is the Life & Career Program still relevant to me?

Absolutely. Life & Career is not about counselling and dealing with trauma. It is very much about using change as a catalyst for a better future and grasping opportunities it may present. The first part of the Life & Career process is about Change Management. In your case, that will be a very short step, but we can still work with you to assess what you do next and then put together a plan of action to help you get there. There is only so long you can play golf/fish/sit on the beach – what comes after that?!

Your program is tailored to your individual requirements, outcomes, transition style and needs.


7. I’m not interested in all the “Life” stuff, what if I just want to concentrate on job search, or if I’m only interested in retiring and maybe some volunteer work?

When we discuss people’s future, it is very difficult to generalise what people might want to get out of a service like Life & Career. If you take away only one thing, it’s that the service is tailored to what you want to get out of it. At your first meeting, you will discuss your requirements with your Career Adviser, and you can decide which parts of the program are applicable to you. If you don’t know what you want to do next and which services you should choose, we can support you through that too!


8. Why would I select Life & Career instead of taking the $4,500 payment in lieu of assistance?

In some cases, we recommend that you do choose the cash payment in lieu of transition assistance.

In cases where you are well advanced in securing a new role (eg to interview stage) or have an existing small business to transition to (eg a family business), a cash payment represents a windfall gain that is a very attractive proposition.

However, while “cash is king” it will not help you secure a new job any faster and does not give you any skills in how to do so. $4,500 (before tax) is less than one month’s salary. If you think that Hudson can help you secure a new role a month quicker than you otherwise would (and we believe we can substantially reduce your job search time), then taking the Life & Career Program is a very cost effective investment in your long term future.


9. What are your results?

Of the candidates we work with who are seeking full time employment, over 80% secure their next full time role within three months of commencing the program, about half the time without transition support and less again for candidates aged over 45 with no support. By six months, our success increases to about 95%.


10. What is the duration of my program?

The duration of your program will depend on your level of seniority and need. Most of our participants secure their next role within about 3 months. The shortest of our programs are also 3 months. In addition, because many candidates secure roles in much less than 3 months, it means that we can extend our services in other cases.

At the end of your “official” program, if required we will continue to support you. However, as you will have already completed all the relevant job search modules (eg resume advice, interview practice, applications) it will be a case of applying the strategy during your program and consulting with your Adviser. For example, this might mean discussing individual applications rather than repeating in-depth interview practice.

Our aim, frankly, is to get you working or up and running in your next life phase as quickly as possible. It is in no one’s interests to have you in our facilities and on our programs long term. We will work with you to get you into a new role (or whatever your desired outcome might be) as soon as possible.


11. Can I purchase your services with my payout?

The Life & Career service is a special product developed exclusively for Telstra employees. It is also provided at a corporate rate (although we don’t discuss our confidential payment terms) given the volume of candidates we are working with. Therefore, you cannot purchase the full Life & Career Program as a “retail” candidate. However, you can choose to purchase components of the service (eg Self Assessment, Job Search Skills, Small Business etc) as a retail customer. The cost of this service will vary according to your selection and the duration of support required. At a minimum, a retail service costs about $1,000, and increases depending on the time spent with the Advisers and services required.



12. How many points do I get and how do I get more if I need them?

The amount of points allocated is determined by your level of seniority within Telstra (and the associated cost of your program). At an absolute minimum, you will have enough points for a full traditional Job Search program consisting of Job Search Skills (resume preparation, interview skills, application letters, business research, recruitment advice etc), use of our office facilities for 3 months, financial advice and 1 on 1 coaching from a dedicated Career Adviser for 3 months.

However, if you choose, you can “swap” these services – eg Job Search for Small Business, Office facilities for a Health Check. More senior participants are allocated extra points so you can select more services without foregoing others.

The points ensure that we provide you with only those services that are most important to you and most relevant to your situation and desired outcome. Your Adviser will assist you in choosing the most relevant services so you won’t actually need more points than you are allocated.


13. How is Life & Career different from EAP?

Generally, EAP is utilised for critical incident debriefing. In the overwhelming majority of cases, a career change event is not a “critical incident”. Hudson specialises in supporting people through career change and we can assist in the early stages of change management (emotional support, coaching on communicating change to others) and then add practical support in helping you to achieve the next stage in your life. Life & Career is not about counselling, it’s about helping you make the most of the opportunity that career change presents.

EAP is a core service in support of Life & Career. It is available at all times to candidates undertaking the Life & Career program through Telstra’s EAP supplier, Davison Trahaire, on referral from Hudson or via Telstra HR. Access to EAP does not require additional payment or use of further points.


14. Sounds like a great service! How do I start?

Normally, once you advise your Manager that you would like to use the Life & Career service, they will fill out an online authority form (click here) to formally allow you to commence. This means that Hudson sometimes initiates contact with candidates that we have not dealt with previously.

In other cases, where candidates have contacted Hudson, or attended a presentation on the Life & Career service, we have already commenced a relationship with the candidate and the authorisation “officially” commences the service.


15. Where can I get more information?

As noted, it is very hard to generalise on how Life & Career might work for you. For more information, please visit the office in your State to meet with an Adviser to discuss your individual needs. We can meet with you on an individual basis or with your colleagues if required. For more general information, please check the website at http://lifeandcareer.hudson.com or via the link from the Telstra intranet. If you have any further questions of the Life & Career Services, please contact Alastair Ingham on (03) 9623 6728.