One of the most vital decisions you’ll make in your lifetime is selecting a career. People who like motivating, inspiring, and assisting others may find careers in coaching. As the job market is receiving a growing demand of applicants, the need for career coaches increases. So, you need to have an understanding of how to become a career coach before you pursue this path to succeed.
There might be some misunderstandings about what career coaching entails. Being a coach doesn’t imply being a mentor or a trainer. It’s a coach’s responsibility to empower their client, listen to them, and ask them questions that drive them toward goal setting.
Career Coach: What Is It?
A career coach assists clients in deciding on the perfect job within the context of their life. They look at the values and the kind of life the client wants to lead. This starts with determining whether the client wants to move up the professional ladder, simply find a job, or pursue their calling. By assessing a client’s aspirations, a coach ensures that career decisions are sound. They continue to guide clients until they’re truly at ease with their next professional move.
Who could be your potential clients? Whether a student or a seasoned career professional, they’ll need guidance in constructing a fresh resume. More so in negotiating and answering job interview questions. Plus, they need help with deciding on next steps which leads them toward a career move or transition. Hence, you can have clients who are at any professional’s working career.
Needless to say, clients expect to receive individualized, professional guidance that’s suited to their target job. Moreover, professional counseling provides them with skills to improve. Certainly, they map out a clear route toward success. A coach provides the key to examining a client’s present job scenario and discovering strengths and shortcomings. Before thinking of how to become a career coach, one must identify the role of a career coach.
Career Coach Job Outlook and Salary
You may be more competent while looking for a career in this field if you’re more knowledgeable about employment trends. Hence, if you want to know how to become a career coach, you must be up to date with job prospects for years to come.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment in career coaching will increase by 8% from 2018 to 2028. This is faster than the average for all occupations.
Duties and Responsibilities of a Career Coach
When a client hires a career coach, it doesn’t just mean that the coach shows up to the client’s place of business and starts instructing them on what to do; you also need to make your client trust the coaching process. Therefore, be familiar with the following important functions of a career coach:
- Match a person’s skills and interests to available opportunities
- Facilitate career training programs for duties related to the individual’s job function
- Help them to become accustomed to their new position
- Analyze one’s career trajectory and its potential direction
- Determine professional objectives
- Capitalize on skills-building to boost the client’s stock
- Give a job application feedback
- Conduct confidential informative interviews
- Prepare for informational or employment interviews
- Write business correspondence
- Get ready to request a promotion
- Assess job offers and help with salary assessment
Above all, people skills are paramount for anyone interested in becoming a career coach. In addition to assisting clients with setting life objectives, they encourage their clients to honor work commitments and seek ways to get beyond obstacles. Because of this, there must be a healthy regard for confidentiality since career coaches become privy to their clients’ sensitive information.
How to Become a Career Coach
It’s not for everyone to pursue a career as a professional coach. There are those for whom it is a true calling and those for whom it’s not a befitting idea. Read on to find out if this fulfilling and difficult career is right for you.
Get the qualifications.
The labor market is undergoing significant change, and educated individuals will certainly be in more demand. Hence, earning a degree is the best option if you want to raise your quality of life and employment opportunities.
If you’re thinking about how to become a career coach, you could start with certifications, such as Professional Career Coach (PCC). In addition, there are courses such as, human resources management that encompass negotiation and collective bargaining, performance evaluation, risk management, and organizational theories and systems. These increase your reputation and confidence when assisting people with their careers.
Gain professional experience.
To get hired for almost any position, you must have relevant experience. Although this may vary per industry, having a broad grasp of how things run makes your transfer into the field much smoother. In particular, having first-hand experience in career coaching helps you demonstrate your suitability. When you see the impact that receiving unbiased career guidance can make, you’ll understand that hiring a career coach is a time and money-wise decision. Of course, clients prefer coaches that strengthen their knowledge and confidence.
Hone your skills.
If you believe that you have mastered your abilities, not so fast. Applying a talent to various situations and individuals is always something new to learn. Additionally, the workplace is continuously changing, so the problems you’re facing today may not exist tomorrow. You can start by improving your skills with an open mindset that you still have a lot to learn. One way to do this is to be prepared to take on new tasks, initiatives, and opportunities as they present themselves.
Build up your network.
A solid professional network may significantly influence a person’s access to their career and business prospects. Having strong professional connections may help you find promising employment or company opportunities as well as provide you with career assistance and direction, which can help you advance professionally overall.
You may join several national organizations and young professional networking groups to meet like-minded people. Show genuine interest after making an online or in-person connection in order to build rapport.
Study the market.
Coaches who were traditionally trained to work one-on-one and face-to-face with clients are now required to exhibit a greater approach. These include creativity, openness, online presence, and flexibility in order to deliver the desired value and quality of service. The advancement of technology and its impact on our daily lives are what drive the constant change in customer behavior.
You must get to know your clients to comprehend what they require: their problems, ideal solutions, and what they want to accomplish by working with someone like you. If you’re aware of this, you can help them better in their careers. Yes, it takes time and money; but it’s worthwhile. Hence, conduct market research to verify and improve your coaching services.
Seek new clients.
Without clients, no service could continue to thrive. They serve as the backbone of your professional career as a coach. It’s important to draw in new clients in addition to keeping your current ones. Therefore, acquiring new clients is key to increasing sales.
Advertise your services.
In today’s digital world, your internet presence as a business coach is important. Sure, you could be attending networking events and methodically building up a word-of-mouth local customer base. However, internet marketing is the best way to promote your career coaching services. What’s more beneficial is that these internet marketing strategies are simple, affordable, and straightforward to utilize. Thus, failing to take advantage of promoting your company online in this day and age would be unwise.
Online advertising may be quite helpful for promoting your coaching business if you have the funds for it. Additionally, even with a smaller budget, you may estimate the typical customer’s average deal size. This is why it’s important to know who your target market is.
You may utilize a variety of analytics services to discover more about your audience and focus just on your prospective customers.
According to the BLS, you’ll often be self-employed as a career coach, which means you’ll either operate from a home office or a rent office space. Professional organizations that identify their members on advertisements and websites, like the National Career Development Association or the Career Counselors Consortium, provide you with access to a client base.
Launch Your Own Career Coaching Business
Helping clients develop and fulfill objectives for finding a job or beginning a new career will make for a gratifying profession as a career coach. A career coach can mentor clients as they apply for jobs and practice for interviews. Moreover, they can assist clients with exploring their career options as well as writing resumes.
A career coaching job is perfect for you if you enjoy helping others in making career decisions. Make sure you are ready to seek the advanced degrees and professional certifications necessary for success. Want to achieve your goal? Browse through our interesting career advice articles and lead the path to success.
