Everything you wanted to know about career coaching …
… but were afraid to ask!
Thinking about career coaching?
Wondering what it is and how it might benefit you?
Don’t know where to start?
Here’s what you need to know:
‘Career coaching is one or a series of collaborative conversations with a trained professional who operates within an ethical code. The process is grounded in evidenced-based coaching approaches, incorporating theories and tools, and career theory and aims to lead to a positive outcome for the client regarding their career decision work, and/or personal fulfilment.’ (Useful definition taken from Julia Yates, The Career Coaching Handbook, Routledge, 2014, p.2)
Career coaching is for anyone who wants unbiased, professional support to think and act on career-related matters.
Career coaching is action-focused, solution-focused and future-focused. Career coaching presumes a desire to take positive steps, whether to improve on a good situation or to address a bad one. It doesn’t assume any particular direction of travel or ambition. It doesn’t presume there’s a problem that needs fixing, although it can help identify and address problems. In fact, the only assumption it makes is that you want something to be better.
Always look for a qualified career coach who is validated by a relevant professional body, subscribes to their Code of Ethics, and commits to Continuing Professional Development. In the UK, the the CDI’s Professional Register is a good place to start.
Some coaches have specific areas of expertise or focus, and others offer more general services. I focus mainly on career redesign at 50+ (see more below). Other coaches specialise in supporting other age ranges, career stages or demographics, such as care leavers, female executives or neurodiverse clients. Some are especially expert in, for example, interview coaching or CV writing, or in accessing or leaving particular professions.
There will be a career coach whose specialism, experience, outlook and interests, both as a coach and beyond, will be a good fit for you. Invest time in finding the right person. Most career coaches offer an initial discussion (often called a ‘discovery call’) without cost or commitment because research shows that the coach/client relationship is a key determinant of a successful coaching outcome. You can talk to more than one coach to find a good fit. Ask questions.
Coaches also vary in their approaches and methodologies. For example, some will use more tests and assessments, others will work primarily through dialogue. Use your discovery call to find out what’s on offer and if it matches your preferred style.
Professional, validated training enables a career coach to adopt a variety of approaches adapted from other therapeutic disciplines, according to the nature of the client and their career question. There is not a single approach or structure within which all clients need to fit. The client is at the centre.
Codes of Ethics, to say nothing of best practice, require that we always work in your best interests. So, we won’t take on clients where we don’t think we are well placed to support them, or where there is a conflict of interests. But we are also well networked, so will be able to recommend other coaches that might suit you better.
It’s important that you go into career coaching with the right expectations. It will be very different from the careers advisory service that you may have experienced at school or in further or higher education, particularly if you are accessing services in your mid or later career.
You will set the goals and you will do the work. You will get out what you put in. Your coach can only take you so far. Think about coaching in sports - the coach coaches and the athlete plays. That’s how it works here, too.
As Julia Yates puts it: person-centred coaching (which is prevalent in career coaching and is what I do) ‘acknowledges that individuals are best-placed to solve their own problems, and assumes that they have the resources and capabilities to do so. […] The role of the coach is therefore a facilitative one, aiming to enable clients to work out their own opinions and identify their own best solutions.’ (The Career Coaching Toolkit, Routledge, 2019, p.4)
Coaching works best when there is honest, open dialogue in both directions. You may be surprised by the extent to which you are asked to share your thoughts and feelings, stories and information. Your coach is there to challenge you, your thinking and your assumptions, and to offer observations that might not always be comfortable to hear in order to support you towards your goals. They will ask questions which you may be reluctant to answer and will need you to be honest and forthcoming, However, this all happens in a safe, confidential, supportive environment, without judgement or comeback. In return, you should provide ongoing feedback to your coach about your experience of the coaching and the extent to which it is or isn’t meeting your needs. All good coaches will want to hear how it’s feeling for you and to be given the opportunity to make adjustments as the coaching progresses.
Where do I fit in this picture?
I specialise in supporting clients to rethink and redesign their careers at 50+. The advantage of this specialism, for you, is that I am thinking about career decision-making at 50+ all of the time. It’s the main focus of my reading and my writing, my blog here and my LinkedIn posts. I look at everything through this lens, so I am constantly gathering information and insights to inform my practice in this specific domain.
I support you at the stage of thinking about the fundamentals: I help you (first) to look around at your life and the world, not just in one direction but in several. What is it that you want now and in the future? What role does or could work play in that picture? What do you want work to deliver?
A successful outcome might be that you become clear about what you want – even if it’s just a direction of travel rather than a specific role or occupation – and about the steps you need to take. And that you start taking those steps.
In the words of a recent client:
[Rachel’s] coaching is for people who are thinking about doing something different, but who are not sure what they want to do, and it’s not as simple as applying for another job. As the client, you work through your feelings, not just about your current job but also your past decisions and future possibilities.
In the words of another client:
Rachel didn't act as a careers advisor (and made it clear that was not the case), which allowed our discussion to focus on my wider thoughts and feelings rather than looking at just finding my next job. She posed some interesting and challenging questions and then allowed me to answer without her steering the conversation in a particular direction.
And another:
I was not expecting to focus so much on my life outside of work and the impact that has. The work we did on the different stages of life was brilliant and really helped me to see opportunities now and in the future. It helped me to reflect on the fact that careers are no longer linear - they are much more interesting than that!
Anything else you want to know? Just get in touch