FIVE REASONS YOU NEED A CAREER COACH
A career coach is different than an executive coach. The former helps you:
1. Identify your interests, strengths (knowledge, skills and talents).
2. Identify the sectors, organizations and roles that are of interest to you and would be interested in you.
3. Craft a compelling resume and internet presence.
4. Develop and implement an effective networking campaign.
5. Capture full value from informational meeting.
6. Manage job interviews that result in offers.
7. Negotiate employment contracts.
8. Integrate successfully into your new organization (onboard).
9. Deal with issues that may arise in your new role (performance reviews, a new boss, difficult colleagues, etc.
The latter is more focused on helping you become more effective in your role and organization.
When do you need a career coach?
You don’t know what to do next.
You are aimlessly searching LinkedIn and other posting sites and feel there are jobs you can do but aren’t sure if you want to do them. A coach can help you identify possibilities that might be a departure from your past experience or that you haven’t considered.
You are applying to anything and everything with no results.
You are applying to dozens of posting with no results. You are doing some networking; however, it is not producing results either. You are spread an inch deep and a mile wide. You are doing some networking; however, it is not producing results either.
You are not confident that your resume is compelling.
You are not confident that your resume is reflecting your experience and attributes in a compelling manner. You wonder if it is getting through candidate tracking systems and screens.
Your networking is not productive.
Your networking is limited to your circle of friends and acquaintances. You are not able to connect/meet with people in the sectors, organizations and roles that are of interest to you.
You are not getting past the interview stage.
You get some interviews, but they do not lead to job offers. You are uncomfortable in interviews and not “selling” yourself effectively. You do not project self confidence and assuredness. You are surprised and unprepared for some of the questions you are asked and are often caught off guard. When asked if you have any questions, you do not have any meaningful ones at hand. You do not know what to do at the end of the interview and how to follow up. When the organization does not move to the next steps, they said they would you do not know what to do.
You don’t know how to evaluate a job offer.
If you get a job offer, you don’t know if it reflects your market value and is equitable. You would like to negotiate some changes but don’t know how.
You don’t know how to manage the first couple of months in your new role/organization.
You are not sure how to manage your “onboarding” to ensure that you build a solid foundation for success.
You don’t have a resource to manage issues that may arise.
You may have an early performance review that you are not prepare for and respond to. You get a new boss who was not involved in your hiring and are unsure as to how to build a relationship with them. You are having problems with a colleague and don’t know what to do.
If these are some of the challenges you face now or could face in the future you should consider a career coach.