Are you fresh out of college, with a degree in something that you have no idea how to use in real life? Or maybe you’re someone who already started a career, but you’re in a job where you feel no passion or drive, and you want out.
Finding a career coach can really help you figure out what kind of career you want based on your passions, interests, and strengths. Anyone can hire a career coach, whether you’re a recent graduate or someone who is looking for a career change.
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What Is A Career Coach?
A career coach is someone who coaches individuals and supports them in their career progression. They use a solution-oriented approach, creating plans and objectives to help their clients reach their potential goals.
They will also assist you if you feel you have no path. Furthermore, they will get to know you, find out your interests and strengths, and help you find a career that is suited to you.
They usually operate their services through skype or phone calls, so they can reach a wider client base.
If You Are Experiencing Any Of The Following, You May Benefit From Hiring A Life Coach
As mentioned earlier, there is no one set of circumstances that make you eligible to hire a life coach. They can assist people of all ages, in all stages of life and their career. Below are a few scenarios where individuals may benefit from a life coach.
- There aren’t any signs of moving up the career ladder in your place of work: You lack the skills and confidence to progress in your current career.
- You have been settling for second best: You were desperate for a job after receiving countless rejections, and you’re in a career that you settled for years ago that has not been fulfilling you.
- You need objective advice from a third party: Counting on your friends and family for advice is great. But they already have an impression of you, and you may have some dreams and ambitions that you’ve never told anybody. In this instance, a career coach has a clean slate when they meet you, and will hold no opinions on your personality.
- You feel anxious about your future: You may be feeling bouts of nervousness about what your future holds. This is applicable to recent graduates and people who are in established careers they don’t feel fulfilled in. This could mean it’s time for a career coach to step in, to help you understand yourself better and help you eliminate bad habits in your job.
- You have no idea what to do next: This last point refers to feeling somewhat lost. You may have a job and know you want to do something different, but have no idea what that is, or how you’d take the steps to get there. On the other side of this point, you may have only just graduated and had no idea what steps to take to reach your career goal. This could begin to affect your confidence and self-esteem. A career coach can intervene here, and help put you on the right track to a happy career.
How To Find A Career Coach
Finding a career coach can be overwhelming, as a basic google search can produce hundreds of results. You can narrow down your search by asking yourself a few questions.
What kind of person do you work best with? Are you more on the sensitive side, responding best when someone encourages you with positivity and praise?
Maybe you respond best to tough love and straight-to-the-point action. If you are not sure, think back to your parents, teachers, mentors, etc. Think of anyone who really helped you at any point in life, and think about what kind of personality suits you best.
You may be wondering how you can find that out online, but there are several ways you can do this. You can read reviews from other clients, as they are bound to say whether their coach was ‘kind’ and ‘supportive’ or whether they ‘kicked my butt into gear’.
Both approaches are great, but which one would you respond best to? Likewise, you can also look at some work these coaches have done, as most will have a website or a blog of some kind, where their personality will shine through.
Who is best suited for your situation? Many coaches, who have been practicing for a while, have experience in a number of fields and with a number of people in different situations. However, some will specialize in certain areas.
For example, some may narrow their clients down to women who want a career in the media, some may specialize in recent graduates and will help them find a career path from scratch.
Again, you can find all this information from their reviews and online files. So, think about your situation, and find someone who has experience in that field.
How much are you willing to spend? It is no secret that career coaches do not necessarily come cheap, and fees can range quite a bit, depending on how much experience certain coaches have.
If working with someone who is highly qualified and has a lot of experience is important to you, it may be wise to spend the extra money to ensure you are getting a pristine service.
However, if your budget won’t allow you to spend too much, but you still want some advice, it may be worth spending less on someone who isn’t as expensive, just so you can dip your toes into the field and see what it’s all about.
There are many websites online that will provide you with a list of mentors and coaches that are all fully vetted and qualified and of varying prices.
Check out https://www.themuse.com/coaching. This website can help you find a coach that suits your needs, and there are a variety of prices to choose from.
Final Thoughts
Changing careers, or finding one, to begin with, can be overwhelming and scary. Advice from your loved ones is great, but there are factors there that can lead to subjective advice.
Reaching out and finding a career coach will enable you to have a point of view that is completely objective.
Career coaches, no matter what their experience level, have studied to be in their profession, so they will be able to offer professional advice and guidance in order for you to reach your goals and ensure you take the right steps to be happy in your career.
We are experienced professionals who provide valuable guidance, helping people explore their passions, talents, and potential career paths which is fulfilling.