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What Does A Career Coach Do?

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As you build your coaching practice, an important early step is defining your coaching niche. One coaching niche to consider is a mindset coach, so what does a Career Coach do? Today we’re breaking down what it means to coach someone in their career and why you might want to consider it as your coaching specialty.

If this is a niche you’re interested in exploring for yourself or possibly hiring, this post is for you!

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What does a career coach do?

A career coach is one that guides clients through career changes and challenges. This type of coach will often help clients see the bigger picture of their career trajectory and more deeply understand their career satisfaction along the way. While sometimes this role will simply be helping clients successfully get hired for a new job, there will also be cases of helping clients pivot their career path entirely.

Which techniques might a career coach use?

Like any coach, a career coach has many tools in their arsenal that they will use to help their clients maximize successful outcomes. This type of coach may explore a values exercise with clients unsure of what they want from their career, or perhaps for those contemplating a new career altogether.

Another tool they may use is journal prompts; questions meant to evoke a thoughtful internal exploration. These questions allow the client to spend some time processing their emotions, desires, and current life direction in order to uncover insights that will help them discover how to move forward.

All coaches, no matter the topic, will also help clients lay out an action plan (often using SMART goals) so that there is a clear path from where the client is now to their desired outcome.

3 benefits of working with a career coach

Find a new job

Whether you are over your current job or simply looking for an invigorating change, a career coach will help clients throughout a job search. In the beginning stages, a coach will help a client clarify what they want out of their next role and help outline non-negotiables. After the client knows what they want to pursue, they may give feedback on resumes and cover letters to help the client represent themselves accurately and positively.

As the job search builds some momentum, the coach may help their client identify expected interview questions and prep with some mock interviews. A coach also won’t let the client skip steps like researching the company before the interview and sending thank you notes afterwards.

Switch career paths

Changing to a new career can feel so scary that many people never make the move to the career that would bring them more joy and fulfillment. A coach will help the client through this process to remove the fear and layout a clear path to get the client to where they want to be.

Much of this process will be an exploration of the client’s passions and top skills to uncover which career paths may be a good fit for the client. From there a coach may encourage the client to set up informational interviews with professionals in the chosen field to better understand the day-to-day.

Lastly, a coach will help a client explore their options so the client can evaluate if additional education or training is necessary to obtain this new career path.

Gain job satisfaction

A client may not be ready to move on from their current role or might just be feeling that they are in a slump. This is an important element for any career coach to be able to assist with. In this situation, a career coach will bring light to not only how a client is feeling but also why they are feeling that way. Uncovering the underlying causes will aid in defining action steps to improve the situation.

A coach also acts as a sounding board in this situation (even more than others) to give the client a chance to feel hard in a confidential setting as they may not have this opportunity within the walls of their organization.

Interested in working with a career coach?

If you have an interest in working with a career coach to improve your career trajectory, check out our available coaches in our directory.

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