About me

Career summary

I worked in higher education careers and employability for 30 years providing careers guidance and education to undergraduate and postgraduate students across the whole range of academic subjects, as well as early career researchers and other staff.

For several years, I worked for and then led C2 Consultancy — a team within the University of London providing coaching, training, professional development, outplacement and other consultancy to a range of external organisations.

I established the Research Unit of The Careers Group from scratch. I successfully bid for, directed and delivered a 3-year, multi-partner research project investigating the use of Careers Registration which has influenced HE careers and employability practice in the UK and internationally.

I served six years as AGCAS Learning Director, driving the strategic direction of learning and professional development for a national professional association — oversaw the transition of the training and conference portfolio to online delivery during the Covid pandemic.

I obtained a professional diploma in careers education and guidance way back in 2001.

A few achievements

Co-designed and served as lead tutor on the online module Strategic Approaches to Careers & Employability in Higher Education.

Researched, designed and created online training on inclusive interviewing practice along with guides to inclusive selection.

Completely re-designed the recruitment process for careers consultants at The Careers Group to provide a more structured assessment framework at each stage, better instructions for recruiters and increased consistency in candidate marking. This involved consultation with senior managers and other stakeholders across the organisation.

Played a key role in the Trailblazer group to establish an apprenticeship framework for Career Development Professionals and then persuaded Warwick University to become a training provider.

Designed and project managed the first careers and employability Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) which attracted over 80,000 active participants from around the world.

Lead trainer on the AGCAS Guidance Skills (Advanced) course for careers professionals for over 10 years. Completely transforming the content and delivery of the course.

On behalf of the British Medical Association Member Services team, conducted structured focus groups with doctors to draw out their concerns and identify ideas for new products and services to be provided by BMJ Learning. Collated and analysed the results in order to produce prioritised recommendations and initial specifications.

Advised on the setting up of an internal careers service at Guy’s & St Thomas’s NHS Trust and provided training and mentoring to staff undertaking NVQ qualifications in careers work.

Facilitated away days for careers service teams at Bristol and Edinburgh universities to enable them to examine options for establishing clearer quality assurance and continuing professional development mechanisms within the service.

Provided consultancy for Fitch Ratings on the establishment of a graduate recruitment programme. Liaised with key managers in the firm to gain a clear understanding of their organisational needs. Recommended recruitment marketing strategies and designed the selection process.

Facilitated the IT services team at the University of London in a workshop to learn lessons from a major service failure.

Designed and delivered Chartered Management Institute level 3 and level 5 qualifications on behalf of the University of London Training and Development Department.

Publications

Christie, F., Gilworth, B., Thambar, N., & Winter, D. (2024). Continuity and change in higher education careers services in England [Application/pdf]. In M. Stewart (Ed.), A History of the Careers Services in the UK from 1999 (pp. 36–49). Lulu.com. https://doi.org/10.23634/MMU.00632047.01833175

Winter, D. (2023). A framework for analysing careers and employability learning outcomes. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 51(1), 15–25. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.5103

Winter, D. (2023). Supporting employability. In L. Amrane-Cooper, D. Baume, S. Brown, S. Hatzipanagos, P. Powell, S. Sherman, & A. Tait (Eds.), Online and Distance Education for a Connected World (pp. 64–94). UCL Press. https://www.uclpress.co.uk/collections/open-access/products/215287

Winter, D., & Yates, J. (2021). The (faltering) renaissance of theory in higher education careers practice. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 46(1), 10–17. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4603

Winter, D. (2018). The rise of the practitioner-researcher: How big data and evidence-based practice requires practitioners with a research mindset. In C. Burke & F. Christie (Eds.), Graduate Careers in Context: Research, policy and practice (pp. 167–178). Routledge.

Hooley, T., Bright, J., & Winter, D. (2016). You’re Hired! Job Hunting Online: The Complete Guide. Trotman.

Brammar, L., & Winter, D. (2015). ‘I’ve been astounded by some of the insights gleaned from this course’: Lessons learnt from the world’s first careers and employability MOOC by both instructors and participants. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 34(1), 22–31. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.3405

Bright, J., Earl, J., & Winter, D. (2014). How to Write a Brilliant CV: What employers want to see and how to write it (5th edition). Pearson Education Limited.

Bright, J., Earl, J., & Winter, D. (2013). Brilliant Graduate CV: How to get your first CV to the top of the pile (1st edition). Pearson.

Winter, D. (2012). Narrative techniques in reflective practice. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 28(1), 21–27. https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.2804

Other sites

Hall of Mirrors — a site about reflection and the reflective process

Fundamental Human Needs — an attempt to develop a periodic table of human needs based on evolutionary information theory

Mindfulness Pathways — a self-directed travel guide to mindfulness and reflective contemplation

Questioning Art — a collection of my artworks

Wintry Thinking — an intermittent blog where I share my half-formed ideas on whatever is obsessing me at the moment

Careers – in Theory — a blog on career development theory

I am not...

This David Winter (although I do share an interest in Personal Construct Theory).

This David A. Winter (who did some really interesting stuff on human movement)

This David Winter (who made miniature cottages)

This David Winter (who was Head of Religious Broadcasting for the BBC in the eighties)

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