The list of reasons to hire a career coach is as long as the number of people with careers. Everyone has their own story, their own issues and obstacles, and their own needs.
However, hiring a coach can give you distinct advantages in a number of areas that many of us could benefit from in our job searching and career paths.
When should you consider getting a coach?
- You’ve been job searching for a while with no luck.
Many a job seeker is making mistakes they don’t even realize. Sometimes it’s a resume problem. Sometimes it’s how you’re coming across in interviews. Sometimes you’re not marketing yourself well online.
If you’ve been searching with no luck and you’ve already tried some changes that aren’t working, it’s time to call in an expert to diagnose the problem and give you a solution that WILL work.
- You are transitioning to a new career.
A coach with experience in the field you want to enter is the perfect resource to help you market and present yourself to potential employers. They can help you decide how to present your experience in a way that makes sense and appeals to hiring managers in that arena.
- You have a difficult situation in your past that you have no idea how to talk about with potential employers.
Did you get fired? That can be enough to turn employers off from you. A coach can help you craft an explanation that makes potential employers feel much better about you, no matter what your situation may have been.
- You need personalized, custom advice for you.
You’ve read everything there is to read and watched every video you know of and you still don’t know what to do. That’s common. No blog articles or YouTube videos can possibly cover every possible circumstance.
When you need to know what to do in YOUR situation, your best bet is to hire a coach who focuses on you and your situation. They can offer customized advice that’s exactly the right thing for you to do.
- You’re in a hurry.
When you’re looking for a solution to a problem, it almost always takes more time to do it yourself than if you contact an expert. Doing your own taxes could take days, but a qualified accountant could get it done in a few hours—and get you a bigger refund. You may be able to lay your own floor tile, but it could take weeks. Hire an expert and it gets done in days—and you’ll be amazed at how great it looks.
It’s no different when it comes to finding (and evaluating) career advice. Someone who’s been around the coaching block a few times can quickly see what the issue is and what the best solution will be—and they can give you tips for the best way to implement them in your situation.
- You haven’t job searched in a while (or interviewed) and you need to practice.
A career coach who specializes in interview coaching is an amazing resource for you. Think about the difference it will make when you try out your interview answers on an expert before you try them in a high-stakes interview. They will help you tailor your answers so they sell you for the job.
- You’re competing for a big promotion.
A coach can help you tailor your pitch for a promotion as easily as they can help you with an interview. And, if you aren’t as smooth at office politics as you’d like to be, you can go over what’s going on with your coach and get some good, objective advice.
- You need confidence.
Just by itself, having a solution or a plan will give you confidence. But also, getting an unbiased, realistic opinion of how you stack up can do wonders for your sense of value, self-worth, and confidence moving forward.
I’d love to work with you as your career or interview coach.
Find out more about my special offer for personal 1:1 coaching or my group coaching membership that meets online Thursday evenings at 7:00pm CST!