Alan Beckett
Managing Director

Alan Beckett has spent a lifetime in career and life guidance counselling, helping young people and adults in making the appropriate decisions to lead fulfilling lives and careers. Alan has expertise in guiding the whole range of students including the gifted, those with special requirements from severe mental and physical issues, the dyslexic and those with behavioural and motivational concerns across the globe.    Further Information....

Moira Beckett
Director & Coordinator of Schools Within & Outside Europe

Moira is a professional career adviser with a Post Graduate Diploma in Career Guidance awarded by the University of Kent at Canterbury. Moira is also a member of the Institute of Career Guidance and has extensive experience of working with students of all abilities and dispositions – in the UK and Internationally. In particular Moira specialises in UK higher education entry and is currently working with a college that recently sent 52 students to Oxbridge.

Madzy de Nooij
Director Europe and South East Asia

Madzy de Nooij was born in Holland and is based in Brussels. She has a BA in educational psychology. Madzy has 15 years of experience with students at International and American Schools. She is a qualified career counsellor, mainly working in Europe and South East Asia. In her function as director of Step One she is co-responsible for programme development, marketing and sales.

Olwen Parkinson

Olwen is a highly qualified and experienced careers guidance practitioner with a Diploma in Career Guidance and has worked with students with all dispositions and in many different circumstances. Olwen has many years experience of working in the international community throughout Europe and the Middle East. Olwen gained a BA (Hons) in Sociology and Education from the University of Wales and as a mature student was awarded a post-graduate qualification in Educational Guidance and Counselling from the University of Southampton.

Carol Hollier

Carol graduated from Stirling University with a BSc Hons degree in Psychology and from Warwick University with an MSc in European Cultural Policy. The Post Graduate Diploma in Careers Guidance and Diploma in Careers Guidance qualifications part 1 and 2 were gained at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland and Scottish Borders Careers.

Carol has worked as a Careers Adviser in the UK for 9 years within schools and colleges in Scotland and England. During this time she has supported young people to career plan and progress in to further and higher education. She has also mentored trainee careers adviser on work experience and assessed new careers advisers across all competencies in the second part of their qualification.

Alice Janssen
Associate

Alice is of Dutch nationality and is based in Prague. She has a BA in educational psychology. Alice has many years of experience in counselling and individual support. Alice has been working with Step One for many years, undertaking a significant amount of test administration for the company as well as career guidance interviewing throughout Europe.

Alison Tyler

Alison Tyler is a registered practitioner with the Institute of Career Guidance, working with all age ranges facing a range of life issues. Her qualifications include a BSc (Hons) in Psychology, MBA, Post Graduate Diploma in Career Guidance and the British Psychological Society Level A Certificate of Competence in Occupational Testing. Alison has worked with Schools, Colleges, Universities and Private Business. Recent developments in her work are linked to the impact of globalization, towards career guidance at a distance via telephone and the internet.

Karin Quigley-Draxler

Karin is Austrian and based in Vienna. She holds an MA and a teaching certificate in French and German from the University of Graz and is a psychotherapist licensed in Austria. She has worked for many years in international schools as a teacher, counsellor and university adviser and is now offering her services in English, French, and German in her private practice for psychotherapy, coaching and university advising in Vienna. She also conducts presentations and workshops such as: what to do after High School, communication, culture shock, and other related topics.

Karin administers tests and holds feedback interviews for the company in Vienna. Through Step One Austria, Karin is offering Step One products to Austrian schools.

Janet Duncan

Janet first started work as a local authority careers adviser in 1975 and now has more than 30 years experience of working with clients of all ages and abilities, both within the public and the private sector. In addition to her work with clients, Janet has extensive experience as a manager, trainer and coach of fellow professionals. She has undertaken a wide range of professional development programmes, has achieved the BPS Level A in Occupational Testing, and is a qualified Morrisby and Euro/InterQuest practitioner.

Since setting up her own business in 2006, Janet now combines her work as a Step One Associate with her role as an assessor for the Investors in People business quality award.

Viral Doshi
Associate

Viral has the Indian nationality and is based in Mumbai. Next to his work as a director of a technical company, Viral has been involved in career guidance for many years and is one of our experts on American Universities. Through Step One India, Viral will be seeking to provide career guidance services to schools throughout the sub-continent.

Carolyn Comfort

Carolyn is American and is based in Paris. She has a BA Major in Psychology and a MA in Speech and Language Pathology. Carolyn has many years of experience with international students at many different schools. She is fluent in French. Since 2001 Carolyn has been Step One’s representative in Paris.

Bryn Jenkins

Bryn was formerly the college counsellor at Marymount School Rome and previously taught at St George’s, Rome.
In 2005, Bryn became Step One’s Rome Associate and will represent the company in that City and that region of Italy.
For Bryn’s walking tours of Rome see: www.walkinrome.it

Mandie Dawson

Mandie has worked within a marketing and sales environment all her working life - within Media and educational promotion dealing with fine art and guidance services.

Jill Redston
Administration and PA

Jill originally trained as a teacher, and has worked mostly in education or with people all her working life. Other jobs have included being a Children’s Aid Adoption Worker in Canada, a School Librarian and a School Careers Co-ordinator.
She trained as a Careers Adviser in 1990 and worked as a school based careers adviser with clients from 13 to 18 across the ability range. One main interest during this time was in writing careers materials for young people to use in schools. These experiences led to a senior role in the team, and to eventually becoming one of the company’s training officers with responsibility for training company staff in all areas of careers work.
Since retiring, she has done some careers consultancy work, mainly writing careers materials for use in schools and colleges.

Albert Hudspeth
Associate

Headmaster for twenty seven years in secondary schools throughout the UK and overseas. His career has included ten years as County Secretary of the NAHT; sixteen years in membership of HMC and latterly, three years as General Secretary of COBISEC. He specialises in elite staff recruitment; leadership and management consultancy and pre-inspections. He has produced numerous publications and articles on education and sport and was made an Honorary Fellow of the College of Preceptors in 1983.

Marian Riedel
Associate

Marian Riedel (BA, PGCE, MA) is based in Hong Kong. She was born in Canada, trained as a teacher in the UK, a counsellor in Canada and completed her Masters Degree in the USA. She began her professional teaching career in Japan and has currently been working in Hong Kong for over ten years as an international school teacher, administrator, and most recently a counsellor. Her expertise is in secondary through to university graduates, specialising in assisting students to make clear connections between their sense of self, academic ability and goals, aptitude, global educational options and career aspirations.

In her role as Director of her own company, Future Solutions Now, Marian works with individual students, their families, and organizations applying her experience and understanding of the pressures and stresses that families in Asia are facing when it comes to global educational opportunities and career choices.

As an associate of Step One, she administers Step One tests, holds feedback interviews and provides support for schools as well as professionals who are keen to learn more about the services offered by Step One.

Karina Wheeler

Karina graduated from Roehampton University with a BSc Hons degree in Sociology and Drama, subsequently gaining the Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Guidance from Reading University.

Karina has worked as a Careers Adviser in the UK for the past 12 years. She has developed high levels of guidance skills and has worked in a variety of educational environments such as Schools, Sixth Form Colleges , Further Education Colleges and a University.

Karina has also been involved in new initiatives whilst taking on lead roles both within Higher Education and as a Lead Community Careers Adviser within Connexions. Her work has also involved mentoring and assessing newly qualified Careers Advisers.

Mary Lee

Mary Lee has 2 Masters Degrees: from the University of Missouri at Columbia (History) and Developmental Psychology from the University of Geneva. Mary Lee has international teaching experience at the International School of Geneva and Webster University, Geneva and in addition to working with Step One, Mary Lee runs her own University Guidance Counselling consultancy from Geneva, where by utilising her 40 years of international education, she provides services for individuals seeking university placements world-wide. Mary Lee is fluent in English, German and French.

Hilary Nickell

Hilary is a professionally qualified careers adviser, trainer and author with specialist knowledge of the use of the Internet . He spent five years providing careers guidance to eight European Schools with a senior regional information role, before starting his own business mediating high quality web-based resources for schools and colleges. Other passions include Fair Trade and Retreat Guiding!

Shaun Bowen

Shaun is responsible for the majority of the design work on the Step One website you are viewing now.

He holds a diploma in Graphic Design and has many years experience in website design and maintenance.