Career Coaching – What it means?
When we look at the career of an individual from a development perspective, it’s extremely important to look at their alignment to the roles they undertake. Each individual has a unique set of values, strengths, personalities as well as preferences that have come from their past personal and professional experiences.
The Role Of A Career Coach
A Career Coach is a professional Coach who is experienced in supporting clients through their life processes by designing interventions for a smooth transition from one role to another or re-entering the workforce after a long period of absence. A career coach works with individuals to tackle their toughest career challenges so that they achieve their highest career aspirations.
Career Coaching Process – What Does It Look Like?
Career Coaching being a niche for Professional Coaches, it does not work very differently than any other Coaching process for individuals. The skills you acquire as a Professional Coach catalyses the thought process of the client to create awareness as well as being able to facilitate the process of accountability.
As an Expat Career Coach and Cultural Expert, I support my client who is searching for or transitioning into a new role while integrating into a cultural setting. Specifically for Career Coaching, there are other elements that must be considered when working with individual clients such as understanding their underlying values, needs and strengths, motivations and key drivers as well as how those attributes match to their target career progression they are gearing towards.
When Career Coaching Clients obtain clarity in terms of ‘who’ they are versus ‘what’ they want to be, their professional branding is reflected through their Profiles. I also work with my clients to come up with their development plan jointly through a reflective process as that will allow them to reach influencers in organisations as well as be able to share their vision and smart goals as they move forward.
Career Coaching Process – Emotions Can Be High
Getting the clients to work towards creating their professional profile is one thing. What is extremely crucial and not usually visible on the surface in my Career Coaching clients is the emotional part of their career transition. For instance, many job seekers are insecure about how to start applying for jobs depending on the norms of the country in which they reside, others maybe even devastated from the layoff during the pandemic or may find themselves struggling to get a job in a new culture due to their spouse who received an international assignment.
After being out of work, it is always hard to “get back into it”. Apart from the fact that you really might need to find work, being laid off can leave you feeling depressed, anxious, and doubting yourself and your ability to secure another job. That is why, before jumping into your next round of job hunting, it is important to prepare.
When clients come to me for support after being laid off, we take some time to really acknowledge and accept the difficult situation they are in. Through coaching, people move from helplessness to a state of real understanding, compassion, and ultimately empowerment that propels them to move forward.
Results From Career Coaching
Many of my clients come in looking for quick answers and solutions to their job situations. Most of them have walked away with more than a transaction. They describe this process as a journey and not just a task to be finalised as soon as possible. Coaching really enables reflections so most of them walk away learning more about who they are and are mostly more aligned towards who they want to be.
Getting clarity is what most clients walk away with after our sessions because they have a better understanding of who they are and what directions they need to take in order to achieve their goals.
Clients get their self-confidence boosted through their ability to identify what really matters to them and what defines them as an individual. Also, by having a clear understanding of what is truly important and meaningful for them, they feel more confident and empowered to take action as well setting the right priorities that they know will work for them. This overall confidence enhanced their self-esteem which in turn improved their presentation as a professional.
Some Reflective questions to become more motivated in your Career.
Consider answering some of the categorised questions below to identify some areas where your motivation in your Career needs a boost:
Fundamental
- What’s most important now?
- Who do I want to become?
- What resources do I have?
- What kind of support do I need to achieve my goal?
Time
- What time of the day is the most energising for me?
Area Of Development
- What is your job search area where you would like to be more successful than you currently are? (e.g. interview / compensation negotiation / networking)
- What could I do to expect more success in that area?
Environment
- What could I do to enrich my job search environment?
- What could I do to better something that I do not enjoy doing? (e.g., if you don’t enjoy networking, what could you do to improve the environment when having to do this activity? E.g., reading a book, listening to music).
Accountability
- Who do I trust to hold me accountable for the best version of myself?
- On a scale from 0-10, how motivated are you at the moment to tailor your resume in a way that is aligned to the job description?
- (When you are >5, meet your basic needs (e.g., sleep, relax, etc.) Reserve your power for the things that matter first!
Career Coaching – The Conclusion
Coaching is extremely powerful no matter what you specialise in. Career Coaching in particular enables our clients to identify their passion in what they do and allows them to move forward in that direction. The focus and attention the clients get from a Career Coach are very valuable and the process becomes more like a journey to self-discovery with respect to what they want to do for their living and beyond.
This article was originally published on igniteglobal.online.
