During the past year career coaching has helped me to fall back in love with my career. It has also helped me to build better habits and routines and craft a jump-out-of-bed exciting vision for my future.
If you’re not feeling satisfied in your career and want to make some positive changes then career coaching might be for you.
In this article I share my personal experiences with career coaching and give you an insiders perspective on how career coaching works.
What is career coaching?
A sports coach inspires and trains a team to win matches. Similarly a career coach is a professional who will inspire and train you to ‘win’ in your career, whatever that means for you.
In career coaching you meet with your coach regularly to work on your career. Your coach can provide accountability, honest feedback and a sounding board. They can challenge you to dig deeper and to do your best. They might also help you create a vision for your career, to set meaningful goals, and to create an action plan to achieve them.
My experience with career coaching
Looking back, I spent the first six years of my career checking off the boxes which I thought would lead to a successful and fulfilling career.
I followed my curiosity into a particular specialty of engineering. After gaining a few years of experience I had the opportunity to join dream company and took the leap. I checked off my masters degree and professional registration. Then, I published an industry papers and presented at a conference. With that milestone, six years into my career, I’d come to the end of the mental ‘career success’ checklist which I’d been working through since graduation.
I hope you’ll forgive me if this all sounds braggy. My point is that having achieved all of this, I still felt a nebulous dissatisfaction with my career that I couldn’t put my finger on. I’d hit so many goals. What was I missing? What did I do wrong? This feeling is what led me to trying career coaching.
Career coaching helped me to uncover what makes me light up in my life and career. My coach showed me how craft a vision that is big, ambitious and exciting. We unearthed fears that were holding me back. Then, we built a goal setting practice and cultivated good habits that would keep me moving forward.
Overall this first experience gave me inspiration to dream bigger. It also gave me a new set of tools to use in making those dreams reality.
What to expect when you hire a career coach
Before I tried career coaching I was intimidated and unsure what to expect. Here I’ll break down exactly how the process works.
How much does career coaching cost?
Career coaching is a paid service. A typical cost for career coaching is between $100-$300 per hour.
If your company offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) you may also have access to a career coach for free. To find out, contact the EAP provider and ask if your company’s plan covers any career coaching services.
What can a career coach help me with?
Career coaching will typically help you with the following broad topics:
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Discovery: uncovering your strengths, interests, values and what you want to get out of your career;
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Planning: setting career goals and creating a plan to get there, planning for difficult conversations or negotiations, working towards a promotion or lateral move;
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Job search support: professional branding, job search, interview and networking support;
Having an understand of which aspects of your career you would like to work on will help you to select a coach with the right experience.
How do I find a career coach?
Finding a coach is one of the most intimidating steps.
You can search for a career coach by asking a friend or colleague has used a career coach and had a good experience for a recommendation. You can also contact your company’s Employee Assistance Program to find out if they offer career coaching services. If these options aren’t available, you can search on google for ‘Career Coach in Your City‘.
Whichever option you choose look for a coach who has good reviews and recommendations and ask for an initial consultation. The initial consultation is free 15-30 minute call to determine if the coach is a good fit. You should be ready to talk about what you want to get out of coaching and can ask questions about their approach and experience. Don’t feel pressured to commit to sign up with the coach during the call.
After the call you can reflect on whether you like the coach’s personality and style. If you like them, that’s great! If you don’t feel comfortable talking to them it’s best to keep looking until you find a good fit.
What is a typical coaching session like?
The first meeting with your coach will usually be an orientation. They will explain how their coaching sessions work and will ask lots of questions to get to know you and your goals. The coach might ask you to fill out assessments to help them understand your strengths and interests. The coach will usually end the session by setting some homework.
Each following meeting usually starts out by reviewing the homework and discussing how you have progressed since the last meeting. Your coach might ask if there are any particular areas you want to focus on that day. You’ll then dig deep into the topic of discussion. At the end of the call your coach will set more homework for the next session.
How often do you meet with your coach?
You typically meet with a career coach fortnightly or monthly. The coaching might be for a fixed period (e.g. a 12 week program) or may be open ended.
How long is a typical coaching session?
A typical coaching session will be between 45 minutes and an hour.
What does the homework look like?
The homework will vary widely depending on your goals, but might include:
- Starting a journaling practice;
- Self reflection exercises;
- Finding a mentor;
- Asking colleagues and friends for 360 feedback;
- Taking action on your goals;
Is career coaching right for me?
Career coaching might be right for you if you are, feeling stuck or unfulfilled in your career, wanting to take your work to the next level, needing help to set meaningful short and long term goals, searching for a job or wanting to make a career change.
At the end of the day, you are the only person who can decide if career coaching is worth the investment. The most important thing is that you are ready to put in the work.
If career coaching is within your means and you think it might be for you, I encourage you to jump in and give it a go!
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