Having a professional career coach may help you gain new perspectives on your career and boost your confidence. What’s more, a career coach may result in improved productivity and satisfaction with life and work.
As executive recruiter and career coach with over 20 years of experience, I highly recommend coaching in the early years of college or immediately post-college, though career coaching can be beneficial for any stage of a person’s career. Likewise, career coach and former CNN correspondent Gina London says anyone who is struggling from some aspect of their career can benefit from having a coach’s guide.
This being said, here are 2 benefits you get from having a career coach.
1. An Objective Perspective On Your Career
It’s helpful to have friends and family help you with your career, but because they’ve known you for a good amount of your lifetime, their advice can be slightly subjective. With a career coach, you’ll be getting a completely objective perspective. Coaching, after all, involves in-depth career research and complex psychological theory – both of which require objectivity.
Case in point, by giving my perspective I helped one of my clients advance in their job search very rapidly by breaking down barriers they did not know existed:
A recent client couldn’t break the pattern of just submitting resumes to online job postings. After some discussion, he revealed that, because his parents both had very dominant personalities, it was his tendency to withdraw a little and hold back on his daily actions. He struggled with being assertive, being reluctant to ask for help and discouraged when faced with the prospect of being rejected. He had to be encouraged to develop the confidence that is needed for career networking. He had the skills and experience but lacked the motivation to expand his horizons and broaden his career. By encouraging him to network, attend industry association meetings, expand existing relationships he obtained a job offer, exceeding his expectations within 2 weeks.
2. Measurable Progress
A coach doesn’t just listen to your concerns. Rather, they give you tools, tips, and techniques to help you attain measurable results. This is what makes a career coach different from any other type of mentor: they don’t just give you advice based on their own life experiences they discuss with you how to grow your career, provide you tools to expand your horizons and motivate you to excel in your career. Tracking results at each stage.