How Does the Career Coaching Process Work?
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
Confucius
We - the coach match specialists here at Noomii - have helped thousands of people find a career coach and it's no surprise we get so many requests when you consider how much time people spend at a job they hate - or even worse, don't have (i.e. they're unemployed).
So the job (pun intended) of a career coach is to help you find a job - but not just any job - a job you love. A career coach does this by offering a range of services. On one end of the spectrum is the personal development side of career coaching that helps you answer the big questions in life such "what are you passionate about?", "What do you really want to do?" and "What career legacy do you want to leave behind?" On the other end of the career coaching spectrum are the technical job searching services such as resume writing, preparing for interviews, and developing job searching skills.
Let's take a closer look at both ends of the career coaching spectrum of services.
How Does a Career Coach Help You Uncover What Your Ideal Career or Job Is?
Some people seem to be given the gift of direction and purpose at a very young age. They are driven to become astronauts, entrepreneurs, doctors, scientists or teachers. And they forge their path with great speed and determination.
But what if you don't have that sense of career conviction and focus? What if you've found yourself in a so-so career because, well, you're good at it? Or what if you've climbed the ranks by working hard and now that you have the title, fancy office and VIP parking spot, you're asking yourself what's next? Or what if you are done your undergrad and now you're wondering what the heck you're supposed to do with your life?
Then, career coaching is a good start!
A career coach will help you uncover your ideal career or job. I use the word "uncover" deliberately because the belief that many career coaches hold is that the source for your career happiness is there, within you, like the seeds inside an apple. The job of the career coach is to help you uncover those seeds and to plant them.
How? By taking you on a journey of self-discovery and introspection.
There are plenty of career discovery books out there, but what's missing is a human to guide you along, giving you honest feedback, listening not just to your words but to your emotions.
Career coaching typically consists of a series of one-on-one sessions between you and your coach, usually lasting 45 to 60 minutes each. Most clients meet with their career coach once a week, although some clients meet every two weeks or even just once a month.
In the first one or two sessions, your career coach will usually acquire information about your career goals and life ambitions. Many coaches will also give you a number of assessments in the form of questionnaires, surveys, and other tools to help you identify your strengths, values, and the things that give you meaning and purpose. The primary goal of these initial sessions is to give you, the client, absolute clarity about what you want to achieve, and then help you develop a personalized career plan.
At the end of each session, your coach will ask you to commit to take action before the next session. These will generally consist of specific actions which you and your coach have identified as being the most important things you can possibly do to move closer to meeting your career objectives. Your coach may even challenge you to take action that moves you outside of your comfort zone.
From week to week, your coach will hold you accountable to make sure you’re constantly taking action. Commitment, accountability, and follow-through are some of the most valuable components of the coaching process, and they are a big reason why people who work with a career coach experience progress and career growth.
After You Uncover Your Ideal Job, How Does a Career Coach Help You Get The Job?
Okay great, you now know that you want a service-oriented job that gives you the opportunity to be constantly building relationships with customers. Or maybe you know that even though you are shy and quiet, you want to play a leadership role in a technology company that is nerdy and data driven.
You still need to land that job.
You need to put together job search documents such as resumes, cover letters and online profiles that accurately reflects who you are, what you want and the value you bring to employers. You also need to know where to search for jobs, how to interview well and how to do salary negotiations.
It's no surprise that the career coaches that excel at the technical side of job searching have backgrounds in human resources (HR), career counseling, personal branding, technical writing, public speaking and other related fields. They've often been on the other side of the hiring equation and can leverage their past experience and skills to help you land your dream job in record time.
This article was written by Stephan Wiedner, co-founder and "Head Coach" at Noomii.com.
