Commonly asked questions about Job Search Coaching 

What is coaching? 

Coaching is a targeted, relatively new human improvement process that focuses completely on you. As your coach, I am your equal partner who assists you to improve and grow in your personal discovery as the means to achieve your specific goals. I help you focus and succeed on executing the actions necessary to achieve your goals in a timely manner. Coaching typically begins with a personal interview to assess your current opportunities and challenges, define the scope of our relationship, identify priorities for action, and establish desired outcomes. During subsequent coaching sessions I’ll check in with you on our agenda, review what’s been accomplished, and discuss the results. Between scheduled coaching sessions, you will be asked to complete specific actions that support the achievement of your personally prioritized goals. I will provide additional resources in the form of relevant articles, checklists, assessments, or models, to support your thinking and actions.

You hire a coach to achieve your business, career, personal, family and any other type of goals you may want to achieve much more effectively, efficiently, completely, with more fun, and in less time than any other human improvement processes. Coaches assist you to overcome obstacles and fears, focus on solutions, have someone to bounce ideas off, discover how you can improve, accomplish more than you thought possible, and achieve balance in your personal, work and family lives. Professional athletes and top executives stay at the top of their game with the help of a coach. That extra support can make all the difference in the world because you take yourself more seriously. You take more effective and focused actions immediately and stop putting up with what is dragging you down. You create momentum so it's easier to improve your quality of life.

Career coaches specialize in assisting clients to discover and attain the career or income position that is ideally suited to them. This may mean a radical career change or making some improvements in your current work scenario, or anything in between. I start by discovering what motivates and drives you through the use of the most appropriate tools for you – such as assessments. We then determine what changes are necessary in order for you to feel fulfilled with your life work. This may mean a job change, company change, industry change or simply some adjustments to your current position. Lastly, we create a career map to guide you along your quest. As a career coach, I utilize various techniques to help you differentiate yourself in the marketplace so that others can appreciate your unique contributions. I also teach you unconventional methods to find and land your ideal job, which is probably not publicly advertised.

The role of the coach is to provide objective assessment and observations that foster your enhanced self-awareness and awareness of others, practice astute listening in order to garner a full understanding of your circumstances, be a sounding board in support of possibility thinking and thoughtful planning and decision making, champion opportunities and potential, encourage challenges in line you’re your personal strengths and aspirations, foster the shifts in thinking that reveal fresh perspectives, challenge blind spots in order to illuminate new possibilities, and support the creation of alternative scenarios. Finally, the coach maintains professional boundaries in the coaching relationship, including confidentiality, and adheres to the coaching profession’s code of ethics.

The role of the individual is to create the coaching agenda based on personally meaningful coachable goals, utilize assessment and observations to enhance self-awareness and awareness of others, envision personal and/or organizational success, assume full responsibility for personal decisions and actions, utilize the coaching process to promote possibility thinking and fresh perspectives, take courageous action in alignment with personal goals and aspirations, engage big picture thinking and problem solving skills, and utilize the tools, concepts, models and principles provided by the coach to engage in effective forward actions.

To determine if you could benefit from coaching, start by summarizing what you would expect to accomplish in coaching. When someone has a fairly clear idea of the desired outcome, a coaching partnership can be a useful tool for developing a strategy for how to achieve that outcome with greater ease. Since coaching is a partnership, also ask yourself if you find it valuable to collaborate, to have another viewpoint and to be asked to consider new perspectives. Also, ask yourself if you are ready to make the financial commitment and devote the time and energy to making real changes in your work or life. If the answer to these questions is yes, then coaching is a beneficial way for you to grow and develop.

What can you expect to pay for coaching? Individual coaching fees are typically between $250 - $400 per month. Most clients work with their coach for a 3-6 month period, but I only require a monthly commitment. Depending on your budget, a group coaching scenario might be more appropriate. This typically costs between $99 - $175 per month.

The value of the goals you achieve will greatly exceed what you pay for coaching. In fact, coaching clients have found that the value of the goals they achieve through coaching are inevitably priceless. There are also other, hidden benefits of coaching, such as enhanced thinking and decision-making skills, improved productivity, stronger self-confidence and better relationships.

Professional coaching is a distinct service that focuses on an individual’s life as it relates to goal setting, outcome creation and personal change management. In an effort to understand what a coach is, it can be helpful to distinguish coaching from other professions that provide personal or organizational support.

Therapy. Coaching is not therapy. We don't work on "issues" or get into the past or deal much with understanding human behavior. We leave that up to the client to know and figure out while we help them move forward and set personal and professional goals that will give them the life they really want.

Consulting. Coaching is a form of consulting. But the coach stays with the client to help implement the new skills, changes and goals to make sure they really happen.

Athletic Development. Coaching includes several principles from sports coaching, like teamwork, going for the goal, being your best. But unlike sports coaching, most professional coaching is not competition or win/lose based. We strengthen the client's skills vs. help them beat the other team. It's win/win.

Best friend. A best friend is wonderful to have. But is your best friend a professional who you will trust to advise you on the most important aspects of your life and/or business? Your best friend and/or family member can be very supportive, but they might have their own agenda for you and find it difficult to be objective. Have a best friend and a coach.