The answer is short and sweet: RESULTS. Professional career coaching can help you to:
- Find a new job
- Improve leadership skills
- Create a healthier work-life balance
- Gain clarity and become more self-aware; you can learn more about yourself and your beliefs, perspectives, strengths, talents, values and passions
- Overcome inertia – Inertia can keep you stuck in a job you don’t enjoy, trying to justify the reasons you should stay
- Explore and discover the right career fit for you
- Develop your skills – Just as performing a job requires specific skills, finding a job also involves a certain skill set
Your coach will be there to monitor your progress, motivate you, and check in to make sure you meet your career objectives. Your coach will hold you responsible from week to week to ensure that you constantly take action. Commitment, accountability, and follow-through are some of the coaching process’s most precious elements.
A career coach will create a safe, supportive environment where you can be honest, acknowledge and work to overcome your fears, reflect on your past choices, share your dreams and goals, and focus on taking control of your future.
Having this expert in your corner can be a transformative experience, but that doesn’t mean he or she is an all-knowing wizard. The person you hire won’t know anything about you that you yourself do not tell him or her. For some reason, many people are surprised when they realise they’re expected to share where they are in their career and how they got there.
You’ll certainly get some tangible takeaways—maybe a new CV, cover letter tips, a networking plan, or some much needed structure in a very unstructured process—but be aware that many are less obvious. Expect lots of self-reflection. If all goes well, you’ll be leaving your meeting with a better sense of what your interests, skills, and values are, too.
It’s a good idea to update your CV before seeing your coach. This gives the coach a sense of who you are and helps him or her understand how you’re marketing yourself to potential employers. In addition, if you’re going to the coach for help with your CV, you’ll get a head start on the work you’ll be doing together.
By choosing to work with a career coach, you’re taking a leap into an exciting opportunity! Remember to keep an open mind and value the guidance of your career coach. Your coach will likely ask you to do things that are challenging or outside your comfort zone. For example, he or she might suggest a career path you had never considered. Or, your coach might tell you that your CV needs a complete overhaul, when you thought it was OK. You’ll probably be assigned homework and goals to complete, some of which may not be easy. This is all part of the career development process.
