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“What is a Career Coach, and how do I know if I need one?"
"I’m a little lost on what I want my next move to be professionally or if I'm even on the right path. I’m not actively trying to leave my current job and can’t figure out if it's too early to start working with a Career Coach. Where exactly do I start?”
Welcome to Ask a Coach. I’m Marnie, a Career Contessa Coach. In this advice column, I’ll answer the most common questions we get in career coaching sessions here at Career Contessa.
Topics will range from job search tactics and negotiations to career development and career fulfillment. Have a burning question you want to see answered? Send it my way! Looking to have a coaching session of your own? Check out our rockstar list of coaches.
Table of Contents
When to Seek a Career Coach
When You Can't Plot Your Next Career Move
This point in your career path is an opportune time to work with a Career Coach! The fact that you’re not sure where you want to go next, but you’re not actively in the throes of a job search, means you have the time to really dive deep into what makes sense for your future without the urgency of needing a new role ASAP.
When You're in "Career Limbo"
When people are in this more “limbo” period, career coaches can be especially helpful to provide clarity and accountability around the career pathing process to ensure you stay on track even without the natural sense of urgency that comes from a full job search.
When You're Burned Out + Need Support
In general, there is no wrong time to start working with a Career Coach. Some people will start working with a coach once they’ve exhausted their individual efforts in the job search, while others prefer to enlist the help of an expert before they even begin their job hunt.
A Career Coach can help with more than just a job search, and everyone’s experience is unique to their concerns. The structure of the career coaching experience will look very different based on each individual coach.
Before we dive into how to find a career coach, let’s start with the basics:
What is a Career Coach?
A Career Coach is someone who provides career advice and general guidance as it relates to professional growth. While there is no required certification to become a Career Coach, most coaches move into the field after several years in the professional world.
Their prior work experience serves as their initial credentials. Each Career Coach brings their own unique qualifications, but a few common paths to becoming a career coach include:
- Recruiting
- Human resources
- People management
- General leadership roles
What Can I Cover With a Career Coach?
Similar to the varied professional experience of any Career Coach, the areas of expertise can vary greatly from person to person. If you’re unsure if a Career Coach can handle what you need, you’ll often have the option to do a free consultation call before booking.
This is where you can address your specific requests and concerns (more on that next). For a high-level understanding, below are the focus areas of the coaches here at Career Contessa.
- Job Search Strategy
- Resume + Cover Letter Review
- Interview Prep + Mock Interviews
- Career Transition Strategy
- Career Exploration
- Industry Insight
- Goal Setting
- Career Growth Strategy
- Performance Review Preparation + Promotion
- Negotiation
- Networking Strategy
- Personal Branding
- LinkedIn Profile Optimization
- Skill Development Strategy
- Management + Leadership Training
- Public Speaking + Presentations
Hopefully, this helps paint the picture of what you can dive into during your first Career Coaching session. Now, let’s move into the next step in the process: how to actually find a Coach that fits your needs and work style:
1. Get Clear on Your Goals and Your Biggest Obstacles.
Instead of saying, “I need help getting a job,” list specific aspects of the job search you are having issues tackling alone. Here are a few examples of more specific goals as they relate to job searching:
- I’d like to feel confident in my career path and get clear on what I want for my next role.
- I’d like to increase my interview rate in my job search. I’ve been hustling on applying to so many new jobs, but I’m either getting ghosted or receiving automated rejection emails.
- I’d like to get a professional perspective on how to negotiate my job offers, specifically as it relates to my salary requirements and when in the interview process I should bring it up.
2. Ask Your Network for Any Recommendations
Once you have a sense of how you’re looking to get support, you can start exploring coaches who have experience with your specific situation.
Much like everything in 2023, the best recommendations normally come from word of mouth. This means friends, family members, or trusted colleagues could be a great place to start. Has anyone in your life gone through a similar process and worked with someone that was helpful? If so, odds are they could be a worthwhile coach for you to look into.
In this process, you don’t have to be too hung up on the nitty-gritty details of your situation. Don’t compare your experience to your friends or family members. For example, if your sister was in the job search process for a tech role and you’re looking to explore moving into fashion, connecting with your sister's coach could still be of value. The coach most likely has job search-related tactics that apply to multiple industries. They might also have connections to other coaches who specialize in fashion.
As a Coach, I personally had a consult call with a referral from a previous client. After I learned what this new client would be looking to focus on, I realized they would be a better fit with a colleague of mine who has more direct industry experience.
I referred this person to another coach because I knew it would better fit both the client and coach. All this to say, if you don’t have a personal connection that’s gone through coaching, don’t stress as there are countless other avenues to explore!
3. Lean on Brands and Resources You Already Trust
As Career Coaching continues to grow in popularity, you may notice that many of your favorite business websites already have Career Coaches working as contributors and thought leaders.
For example, if you really love Harvard Business Review, simply search “Harvard Business Review Career Coach.” See if there are any articles that list recommended coaches. For an even better result, find a Harvard Business Review article by a coach and consider reaching out directly. If an article written by a coach really speaks to you or helps give you more clarity in your career planning process, there's a strong chance the author could be the right coach for you.
For this reason, we started the "Hire a Mentor" program at Career Contessa. There was a strong interest from our community to have a personalized service for all things related to career coaching. If you're interested in working with coaches we’ve personally vetted, you can check out our full directory for the "Hire a Mentor" program here.
As a Career Coach listed in the directory, I can confirm there’s often a natural fit between readers of Career Contessa content and the coaches since we share a common passion for professional development.
4. Be Open in Your First Conversation
If you’ve ever gone to therapy, or done any kind of 1:1 session, you probably already appreciate the importance of compatibility. This is the key to making the experience really worthwhile.
It’s natural to have a preference regarding how you do your best work and how you prefer to receive objective feedback. To ensure you’re setting yourself up for success, try to get clear on the type of support you’re looking for before you have a consultation call with a potential coach.
When you’re totally new to coaching, it’s natural not to know exactly what you need—and that’s okay. But if you have a specific way you’d like the sessions to go, voice your preferences as soon as possible. This way, you’re sure to find the right Career Coach for you.
To help give you more ideas on handling your first conversation with your potential coach, I’ve tapped one of our most seasoned Career Contessa Coaches, Josilin Torrano.
Below are Josilin’s favorite questions she’s heard clients ask in their initial consultations:
- How can you help me stay accountable for my career goals?
- Here’s what I’ve been doing thus far…do you see any gaps in my current process?
- These are the specific career goals I am struggling with…have you had success coaching clients who have also faced these challenges?
- What would a multiple-session plan look like if we were to partner together?
5. Prepare to Invest Time In Your Growth
Once you’ve found a Career Coach that’s right for you, the real (and exciting) work begins! As you prepare to either start focusing on this new area of growth or get more strategic with your approach, the time required to make progress will often exceed your 1:1 sessions.
While your Career Coach can help you find clarity and make an actionable plan, the follow-up steps will most likely be done on your own time. Going into coaching knowing that you may have some “professional homework” helps you plan your schedule accordingly, and it also helps ensure that you really get the most out of your coaching experience.
If you can't make time for additional work within your current role or daily schedule, I recommend waiting to work with a coach until you can give the experience your full effort. If you’re in this space right now, and you’re still craving more direction, you could do a one-off session with a coach to get more clarity on your career goals rather than ongoing sessions.
You could also start to follow more career-specific content on social media or even tune in to career-oriented podcasts. The Career Contessa Podcast covers topics like career change, resume building, and interview skills, which has been helpful for people who want to learn more about these topics without the commitment of a Career Coach.
Until Next Time!
Thank you for taking the time to read this week’s Ask a Coach column! I hope this provided clarity around what it can mean to work with a Career Coach and how you can find one for your professional goals. If you have any additional questions on Career Coaching, would like to submit a question for a future column, or simply have feedback, don’t hesitate to reach out.
