I have often been asked how to coach people to find a new career. But new career coaching can be a tough gig as there are rarely quick fixes and easy answers. So, it’s important that we manage expectations up front (but inspire our clients too!) to ensure they have a great coaching experience. Here’s what you need to say to make sure that happens!
The following article was contributed by: http://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/
Coaching someone to find a new career or vocation can feel daunting, especially in these times of “Live your Passion!” when people’s expectations are so high. We’re surrounded by the culture of “Do work you love, and you’ll never work again”.
But, There Are Two Big Issues I Commonly See With Clients Who Want New Career Coaching:
• People are unhappy in their lives, and think that a *new* and meaningful job or career will ‘fix’ how they feel. (But an underlying internal feelings/self-esteem/life-meaning issue doesn’t generally get resolved by changing our external circumstances).
• Clients often think that a few coaching sessions will ‘deliver’ them their ‘ideal’ new career. Hey presto! (But finding the perfect job or career often takes a lot more work, effort and time than people expect).
It’s important that we manage these expectations up front.
So, These Are The 9 Key Things You Need To Say To Your New Career Coaching Clients:
1. It’s going to take TIME, effort and a lot of soul-searching! They may be lucky and find the right career/job in one session, but it’s unlikely. First there will be hard work. There will be coaching sessions, exploratory homework and actions like online research, informational interviews and volunteering. They need to identify basic job requirements like hours and flexibility, the type of people they want to work with, pay levels etc. And there will also be self-work – to explore past dreams and passions, strengths and weaknesses, career values, what they will and won’t accept in their work, to identify skills they want to use and develop, the type of culture they want to work in and more.
2. Look within. The ‘Perfect’ job is not magically going to make them feel better if they are fundamentally dissatisfied with their life. We’ll also work to discover who they really are and what they want from life. Because, as we all know, even if the ‘perfect’ job or career pays well, uses their gifts, is 5 minutes from home, gives them 6 weeks off a year and helps people – it’s not going to ‘fix’ their unhappiness (although it may mask the underlying problems for a while).
