The Challenges of Moving From Pro Bono Career Coach to Paid Professional

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Stefanie McGary, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

After a nearly 20-year career in Human Resources, I made the decision to leave the corporate world to start my own consulting firm. As I was working toward completing my Certification as a Career Coach, I gladly volunteered my services to a number of family and friends who were experiencing job changes. The sessions were both good practice as I started my new business, and also a way to give something helpful back to a few close associates. After I completed my certification and launched my new firm, I began receiving more inquiries from friends, acquaintances, and potential clients. Though I had anticipated many of the challenges I would experience, I was somewhat surprised at the difficulty of moving my coaching efforts from a voluntary offering to a paid service.

Challenge # 1 – People Won’t Recognize You as a Trained Professional

We’ve all been in a difficult career position at one point or another. Whether we were looking for a new opportunity or trying to decide whether a new career path was the best course of action. Perhaps we discussed our thoughts and opinions with those closest to us – family, friends, and colleagues. And perhaps because of this, we feel as though we can manage and navigate the career search process independently. Career Coaching is still a relatively new field, and while we are used to turning to a professional for medical needs, people aren’t yet sold on the idea of turning to a trained professional during the job search process.

Challenge # 2 – People Won’t Want to Pay You for Your Services

And while there will be people who do recognize the value of seeking the advice and services of a Human Resources Professional, those same people seem surprised that you charge a fee for your time and feedback. In fact, I have been shocked at the number of people who are startled that along with my services comes an hourly billing charge. I’m not sure if this has to do with my specific industry, or if people simply expect something for nothing. But I for one would not even think of asking my neighbor’s accountant to do my taxes at no charge or my friend’s brother the lawyer to complete my Will without expecting a bill.

Challenge # 3 – It’s Hard to Say No When Your Entire Career Has Been About Helping People

When you’ve spent your entire career doing all that you can to try to help people identify and achieve their true career dreams, you are somewhat programmed to want to always say yes to requests for assistance. After all, it’s what you’ve chosen and been trained to do for a living. But as difficult as it is, the time comes when you will have to stop giving your services away for free. You have spent your time and money to complete your education and training and to develop your professional skills. The time and efforts that you provide as a professional have value, and you deserve to be paid for your services.

Making the transition from pro bono coach to paid professional hasn’t always been a smooth ride. Many of the early calls I received were from “friends of friends” who had told them what I was doing and encouraged them to contact me. Unfortunately, many of these acquaintances felt that since we had a friend in common, I should offer my services at no charge. And while I greatly appreciated all of the referrals that came my way, as a struggling new business owner, I was simply in no position to offer my services for free. And in the end, I unfortunately had a few relationships that soured somewhat as a result. Starting any new business has its own unique hurdles and challenges, many of which are expected, and many that are not. But once it all comes together, and you are finally making a living doing something that you love, all of the challenges of finding and securing clients who are willing to pay for your services begins to fade away.