Job searching? Need a little help? If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like working with a job coach or career coach, here’s what you need to know about working with the professional that can help you land your dream job.

What It’s Like Working With A Job Coach: Do I Need A Career Coach?

Job Coach Definition

A job coach or career coach is a professional that has expertise in the process of pivoting into a new career utilizing mindset shifts and technical strategies to reach the goal of their client. 

What a Career Coach Does

The career coach partners with a client to assess what their specific needs are as related to a career change. The need may be a promotion or a pivot to an entirely new industry.  The coach and client work together to identify how to bridge the gap between where the job seeker is now to where they want to be. They will help overcome blindspots and challenges by creating a safe space to overcome limiting beliefs, inner critics, and ask empowering questions to gain clarity on core issues. 

This could include:

🌱working on confidence in interviews

🌱creating a cohesive picture of past work experience and its relevance to a future role

🌱how to reach out to hiring managers and recruiters effectively

🌱craft together a narrative and marketing materials such as a resume and LinkedIn profile

Related Article: What is a Career Coach and Why Did I Become One?

What It’s Like Working With A Job Coach: Do I Need A Career Coach?

What a Career Coach Does Not Do

A coach cannot guarantee a certain outcome and is not a therapist or healthcare provider. (If your coach feels that there are other areas that you could use support around, you may be referred to another professional.) A coach does not tell you an answer, though they will ask targeted questions to help you arrive at the answer best suited for you.

Who Employs A Career Coach?

People who hire career coaches are professionals who:

🌱have been thinking of making a career change and want guidance to reach the goal as quickly as possible.

🌱are interested in how they can craft a compelling work history with a background that may be looked at as unconventional or that may not seem relevant on the surface in a new industry.

🌱 aren’t sure that they can pull off a new title or are worthy of a promotion.

🌱want to be more prepared in personal branding, networking, interviewing, or negotiating.

🌱need support and accountability in making a career transition.

🌱want to gain clarity and confidence in themselves and in the job search process.

🌱desire support as they come up against roadblocks in your search.

🌱need accountability along the way so they no longer procrastinate.

Can a Career Coach help if you don’t know what you want?

Job coaches can help clients clarify their true calling and what they value. This includes not only salary or time off but also work/life balance, mission, and culture. Through guided reflection, a career coach can help professionals narrow down on realistic titles that match their interests and needs.

What Is A Good Job Coach?

A good career coach allows the job seeker to set the goal and supports them through what can be a stressful and emotional process. A coach will help navigate the inner obstacles that often hold professionals from making lasting change including: overcoming limiting beliefs, working with their inner critic, gain clarity on core desires, build confidence, and address core fears. They will help create actionable plans suited for them. Career coaches can also provide strategic expertise around how to stand out and position themselves for target opportunities.

How Do You Pick The Right Career Coach?

You should check the credentials and experience of any coach before you agree to work with them. Career coaches are not licensed by any governing body. However, there are organizations that certify a coach to ensure that they have had proper training such as the International Coaching Federation. A career coach can be certified after formal training. In addition to the background of the coach, you also should make sure that their style or delivery of services works for you by having a consultation with them first to see if they are a good fit for you. 

How long will coaching take and how much will it cost?

Coaching packages vary widely from offerings ranging from one hour to packages that last up to 6 months, meeting weekly or biweekly. Based on the level of expertise, a coach typically ranges from $100/hr to $500/hr. Many coaches offer all-inclusive programs that can cost up to $5,000.

Why you should hire a career coach

The right career coach can help you do the inner work to remove blocks you may have that are actually holding you back in your job search. In addition, they can help shortcut your job search by providing the most effective tips and strategies to use in any job market to help you stand out. Career coaching also offers accountability and support which is often needed when achieving a goal such as a career transition. No article or video from your search engine can do that.

Let’s review a case study of how career coaching helped a career transitioner.

Case Study: How I Landed My Dream Job in 2 Months

Meet Matthew.  He was unfulfilled in his position unloading trucks for Home Depot. He also knew he had a lot of potentials that wasn’t being utilized AND he wasn’t making the salary that he wanted to support a future family and his mom when she was older.

“My Trajectory Needed To Be Different.”

Matthew decided to get a Master’s degree and after graduating, he quit his job because he thought his new degree would speak for itself. He started applying for jobs. “About 300 to 400 on all the online job sites. I was pumping and dumping.” As the rejections started to pile up, Matthew started to feel very discouraged. He had updated his resume, researched the keywords to use in describing himself and his dream roles, and upgraded his cover letters but had nothing to show for it.

Related Article: Cover Letter Tip: Stop Writing ‘Dear Hiring Manager’ and Write This Instead

Time For An Expert

Matthew came across the Happily Hired Formula program geared towards professionals on the hunt for a career change by helping take the guesswork out of the process and getting into the right headspace to put the steps into action.  He was dubious at first, “Is this too good to be true?”  But he admitted that he was desperate and running out of money without work. He looked at the program and decided to go for it when he saw the transparency and tangibility that coaching with former recruiter, Emily Liou, offered.

The Happily Hired Formula

“The advice was immediately applicable and the expertise was there. Sometimes the hardest part of securing the dream job is knowing what to ask and HHF covered it all.” Matthew also credits the support and accountability that career coaching provided. He admitted that while you could try to DIY the process, having a coach and other job seekers sharing their experiences and nudging you forward toward your dream was invaluable.

The Happily Hired Formula

So where is Matthew now?

After only 2 months of enrolling in HHF, he secured a position with Cummings Diesel as a Senior Supply Chain Planner and Process Owner. He makes $50,000 more than in his previous job, has a flexible schedule with time off encouraged, and even has access to furthering his education. “I’m like WOW! This is a big jump.” Now all he has to think about is where the future is taking him next. He is excited that he has lifetime access to the HHF program so that he can continue to dream big when it comes to his career.

Matthew’s advice?

“Everyone is marketable if you know how to do it. HHF teaches you the how.”

Related Article: Case Study: Using Mindset + A 30-60-90 Day Plan to Land a Dream Job

What It’s Like Working With A Job Coach: Do I Need A Career Coach?

 

Emily Liou and her team believe that everyone can land their dream job. Want to find out more about how you can wake up happier on Mondays? Whether you like to work at your own pace or have a group to hold you accountable, there’s a Happily Hired job search program to shortcut your job search today.

 

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