What Does A Career Coach Do?
Have you ever been in a career situation where you felt stuck or dissatisfied with your job, position, or remuneration?
“I observed that I had worked for over ten years but was still in the same position. Luckily for me, I worked in a company where the remuneration was not bad. But I thought to myself that if I had advanced very well in my career, I should be earning more, probably not in my current organization but in a position where I’d be proud of it. ” says Agunwah M.T., a Tender and Bill Professional. It’s in situations like this that you need the intervention of a career coach to help you identify where you are, where you want to be, and how you will get there.
A career coach helps you achieve your career goals, no matter how big they are. Oftentimes, people can’t get the kinds of jobs they want on their own. They need seasoned career experts who have succeeded in helping other professionals with career planning, career transitions, landing new roles in top-tier companies, and having successful interviews that separate them from the pack.
From landing your first job as a fresh graduate to career transitions, career changes, or landing executive roles and negotiating higher and better remuneration packages, career coaches will guide you through it all to help you get your desired result.
Key Takeaways
- Career coaches serve as the link between where you are now and your career aspirations and goals.
- From job search to identifying career goals, reviewing resumes to strategic positioning, career coaches help people get unstuck on their career paths.
- The cost of hiring a career coach is dependent on the region, session, your goals, and the coach’s level of expertise.
What Are the Benefits of Having A Career Coach?
A C-suite executive says, “One of the biggest benefits has been expanding both my professional and personal network.”
Another professional says working with a career coach has helped to increase her earning power and hiring appeal, in addition to building and nurturing the right relationships with mentors and sponsors, which are catalysts for career advancement.
More career benefits…
Career coaches open your eyes to the value you have. You may not have a clear grasp of the value you bring to your employer, but they can help you evaluate your skills and your contribution. Because of their expertise, they can help you assess your competencies and determine what you are worth in the job marketplace. This will help you negotiate a salary that is commensurate with your skills, abilities, and experience.
For example, Dr. Adeola Olubamiji, a career coach excitedly shared about her clients’ success in landing a new role with higher pay. “This particular person went from earning 50K per year to a whopping 135K (all in). After a couple of sessions, skill mapping, resume branding, pep talk, and two job negotiations, we accepted Costco’s offer”, she wrote.
A coach also helps you gain clarity about where you are in your career trajectory. They can help you review your long-term and short-term career goals and help you figure out the necessary steps you need to take to achieve them.
Furthermore, the interview stage is one of the most stressful and difficult parts of landing the job of your dreams. During job interviews, you may be asked questions that throw you off balance or questions you didn’t expect. Career coaches adequately prepare you for job interviews. Great preparation and familiarity with interviewing styles and techniques give you an edge over your competition. A career coach helps you with strategies to ace this stage.
How Much Does Career Coaching Cost?
Information from job sites shows that the cost of career coaching, first of all, depends on the region. Another key factor that influences the cost of coaching is dependent on the outcome you are seeking. Are you a recent graduate or seeking an executive role? For recent graduates, it may vary in comparison to professionals looking to transition from one industry to another or seeking executive roles.
In general, the cost of hiring a career coach ranges between $75 and $150 per session. A session could take anything from 30 minutes to an hour. For highly in-demand occupations or specialty roles, expect to pay between $200 and $250.
What Are Some of the Strategies That Career Coaches Use to Coach Their Clients?
Emma Louise Elsey, an ICF business partner, explains that there is no one size fits all strategy for career coaching. However, here are some strategies career coaches use for their clients.
A Personal SWOT Analysis Technique
Elsey puts forward that this technique helps clients assess their strengths, e.g., what they are very good at. And Erin Ewart, a career coach who helps social sector professionals find and land jobs they love, says that “understanding what you’re best at is crucial to finding a job that will be the best fit for you as well as effectively communicating what you can bring to a role.”
The weaknesses are also identified, e.g., what areas clients avoid because of a lack of confidence or competence. Elsey encourages that areas of weakness can be improved through training and delegation. Other parts of this technique involve identifying the opportunities and threats to a client’s career goals.
The GROW technique
Mathy Lisika Minsede, coach and author of “Quit and Change Your Job,” a career change book, swears by this technique. She says it’s a technique that is easy to follow and produces quick results that come naturally. GROW is an acronym that stands for ‘goal, reality, options, and will’. It starts with asking what the client wants, what the current situation is, the options available and the steps they will take. Minsede says that while the SWOT method helps you think more deeply about your career goals, the GROW analysis gives you more clarity and makes you take action.
The Ten Values Approach
Elsey says people become unhappy in their jobs when they choose careers that do not align with their values. With the ten-values strategy, clients can look beyond their job status and other superficial benchmarks to find roles that they will find fulfilling.
Because navigating a career path is not easy, career coaches provide clients with effective strategies that enable them to achieve their career goals with less stress and in a shorter amount of time.
Leadership Development Training
Did you know that 58% of current managers have never received management training? Furthermore, 98% of managers feel that more management training is required. This is why career coaches often train their clients on how to delegate effectively, how to hire star employees, and much more. This is why we designed our suite of courses to help employees develop their leadership skills and advance their careers.
Final Thoughts on Career Coaches
Getting yourself a career coach is definitely a worthwhile endeavour. When we want to get better at a sport or lifting weights, we get ourselves a coach or personal trainer. When we want to get better at playing an instrument, we enlist the help of a music teacher. Why not start looking at your career with the same serious that we look at our hobbies?
You can begin on your journey towards self-improvement by taking our course on Building Your Personal Annual Plan
