What can a career coach help you with?

At some point in your career, you might feel ready to throw in the proverbial towel. Maybe you’ve hit a dead end, no longer find your work fulfilling, or just feel like it's time to move on. Perhaps you’ve started to look for a new job, but your interviews haven't gone anywhere or you’ve gotten no responses to your resume submissions. What should you do? 

If you’re stuck in your career, you may benefit from hiring a career coach. What can a career coach help with? They can provide guidance, support, and expertise to help you achieve your professional goals. Sound good? Read on to learn the ins and outs of working with a career coach to get your career back on track.

What is a career coach?

A career coach isn’t someone who stands by your desk and orders you to do ten pushups. They are your professional partner, providing support and advice on a range of job search or career issues. They also provide accountability when taking the steps necessary to move to the next phase of your career, ensuring that you stay focused and on-task. 

Because your career path is different from anyone else’s, a career coach provides an individual approach to suit each client, whether it’s through a thorough examination of your skills, figuring out ways to move you up the ladder in your current company, or helping you reroute your career to find something brand new that brings you more fulfillment and purpose. Ultimately, a career coach assists you in finding the perfect job where you can flourish. 

So what can a career coach help with?

• Setting short-term and long-term career goals

• Refining your resume and improving your professional networking profiles

• Helping you navigate the job search

• Preparing you for interviews

• Coaching you through accepting a job offer and negotiating salary

What does a career coach help you do?

“Career coaching” itself casts a wide net, encompassing various industries, career stages, and objectives. Ultimately, a career coach aims to empower individuals to maximize their potential, pursue fulfilling careers, and achieve long-term success in their chosen fields. 

Here are three areas where career coaches can make a difference in your professional life:  

1. Transitioning to a new career

Say you’ve been plugging away in the same industry (or position) for years, but you're feeling unfulfilled and eager for a change. Career coaches can help you explore alternative career paths, assess your transferable skills, and create a strategic plan for transitioning to a new field that aligns with your interests and goals.

2. Advancing in your current role

Perhaps you’ve been doing well in your current role for several years, and now you're ready to take the next step on the corporate ladder. A career coach can provide personalized guidance on developing leadership skills, navigating office politics, and positioning yourself for promotions within your organization.

3. Achieving work-life balance

Balancing career aspirations with personal responsibilities and well-being is a common challenge many professionals face. A career coach can help you identify priorities, set boundaries, and develop strategies for achieving a harmonious work-life balance that supports your overall happiness and success.

What is a career coach qualified to do?

Working with a career coach can be as general or specific as you like, depending on your requirements. Being a career coach also comes with its own specific set of professional and personal qualifications. 

In general, you can expect a career coach to be:

• An excellent communicator

• Committed to their clients’ professional development

• Willing to provide an individualized career plan

• Able to assist clients in developing strong habits and commitment to positive changes

• Ideally certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) or a similar professional organization

Career coaches often have a background in human resources or recruiting. This makes them particularly adept at aligning your skills with your desired job, especially any skills that might be harder to define or don’t specifically correspond with a job description. A good career coach is responsible for helping you decide what job experience and skills are relevant, and position both your resume and LinkedIn profile to get noticed by hiring managers. They help you find and harness your professional "brand."

What are the benefits of career coaching?

With both tangible and intangible benefits, working with a career coach can significantly impact your professional trajectory. No matter what the stage of your career, a career coach can provide you with several key benefits.

Improve clarity and direction

A career coach can help you gain clarity about your career goals, strengths, and values, enabling you to develop a deeper understanding of what you want to achieve in your professional life, make informed decisions, and chart a clear path forward.

Develop skills

Whether it's strengthening your communication skills, mastering time management, or honing leadership abilities, a career coach can provide personalized guidance and resources to help you develop essential skills for career success.

Gain self-awareness and confidence

A career coach can walk you through self-assessment exercises, feedback, and reflection to help you gain deeper self-awareness, develop more confidence, and identify your strengths, skills, and areas that need development.

Enhance communication skills

Career coaches help you develop the skills needed to build constructive professional relationships, grow your network, and seize opportunities for growth and advancement.

Overcome obstacles and challenges

During your career, you’ll likely be faced with a myriad of challenges or setbacks. A career coach can serve as an advisor and advocate, offering encouragement, perspective, and strategies to overcome obstacles and reach your goals.

Provide accountability and motivation

It’s easy to lose focus or motivation when working toward your goals. A career coach can provide the accountability and motivation you need to stay focused, committed, and on track toward achieving your career aspirations, ensuring consistent progress and momentum.

How to decide when you need a career coach?

Hiring a career coach is an important decision and will require effort, commitment, and, yes, money. It’s never a bad idea, but there are times when a career coach’s service could be especially helpful. 

You might consider hiring a career coach in these circumstances:

• If you’re burned out. Even if you’re happy in your job, you might need advice to manage your time or find the right work-life balance.

• If it's been a while since you've searched for a job. You might need help updating your resume and LinkedIn profile or navigating the online application process.

• If you hate your job. If you’re working in a position that makes you unhappy, for whatever reason, a career coach can help you figure out what you need to do to find a better position.

• If your company’s values don’t match your own. If your manager is difficult or you have toxic coworkers, no time-management or breathing exercises will be enough. A career coach can help you determine when it's time to say "bye-bye” to a bad work situation.

• When you feel like you’re underperforming. If you need to improve job-related skills such as communication, organization, or administration, a career coach can guide you in finding opportunities to build those skills.

Don’t wait until you’re desperate to find a new job, because then you’ll be more likely to grab the first opportunity that presents itself. But you also want to be sure that you’re ready to put in the work. A career coach isn’t the Oracle at Delphi—they aren’t all-knowing and don’t have magic powers. If you’re not ready to do the self-reflection needed to examine your strengths and areas that need improvement, you won’t get much out of the coaching relationship. You have to be ready to do the work.

How do you find the right career coach?

As with any professional relationship, the best place to start is by asking people in your professional network for referrals—word of mouth is always the best advertising. If that’s not a possibility, consider searching online or through social media sites.

Other avenues for finding career coaches include:

• Create an advertisement on LinkedIn, which will allow you to receive pitches from career coaches.

• Search the International Coaching Federation (ICF), which is one of the organizations that provide professional certification to its coaches.

• Attend professional development seminars or conferences, either for a referral or a match-up with a career coach, if that service is being offered.

How to know if it’s a good coaching match

You don’t have to work with the first career coach who comes along. You’ll be developing a professional relationship with this person, so it’s important to make sure that their approach is compatible with yours. 

Here are some essential factors to consider when selecting a career coach: 

• Credentials and experience. Seek out career coaches with relevant credentials, such as certifications from recognized coaching organizations like the ICF, as well as a track record of success and experience working with clients in your industry or field.

• Compatibility and chemistry. Take the time to assess whether the coach's style, approach, and personality resonate with you and align with your preferences and values.

• Specialization and expertise. Consider whether the career coach specializes in areas relevant to your specific goals and needs, such as career transitions, executive coaching, entrepreneurship, or work-life balance.

• Coaching process. Learn about the coach's methodology and approach to ensure it aligns with your preferences and learning style, as well as session frequency, duration, and communication channels to establish a clear framework for the coaching relationship.

Is a career coach worth it?

At some point, you'll likely ask yourself, "Is working with a career coach worth the cost and effort?" While you're the only person who can answer that question, consider these potential payoffs:

• Learning what skills you need to succeed. Career coaches can educate you about the concrete skills you need in the workplace, which is especially valuable if you haven’t job hunted for a while or want to change careers.

• Boosting your confidence. Working with a career coach can help you deal with the challenges you might face in the workplace and set goals for growth. With every achievement, you’ll boost your confidence, which sets you up for future success.

• Saving time and energy in your job search. Don’t spin your wheels with tools and job search methods that aren’t helping you. A career coach can make sure you have an effective, outstanding resume that highlights your relevant skills, and provide you with expert interview advice. This will help you catch the eye of a hiring manager and increase your chances of landing the job.

• Networking more effectively. A good career coach can teach you how to interact with other professionals in your industry, and help you get the most out of that one-on-one time.

The bottom line is that you spend a good portion of your life at work. If you’re looking to make a change, move up in your career, develop your skills, or land a new (and better) position, a career coach can help with building your confidence, developing a more positive attitude, and providing the help you need to get to where you want to be.

Looking for a new career? Check out career.io’s Career Assessment tool, which will analyze your current career and provide expert advice to take the next step toward success.

Key takeaways

1. A career coach can help with providing guidance, support, and expertise to help you achieve your professional goals.

2. Examples of career coaching include assistance with career transitions, advancement in current roles, entrepreneurship, and achieving work-life balance.

3. Benefits of career coaching include improving clarity and direction, gaining accountability and motivation, enhancing skill development, increasing confidence, and achieving work-life balance.