Cathy Liska 
Career coaching is a profession that serves those preparing for and launching their career, people reinventing themselves, ambitious individuals advancing their careers, and many in transition. Often the interest in and passion for career coach training are a result of personal experiences. Roles that often feed in to career coaching certification include HR, recruiting, high school or college counselor, and social services to name just a few.
When offering career coaching it makes sense to have both process expertise in coaching and subject matter expertise in terms of careers.
- Process expertise as a coach is the outcome of training and then fully developing program offerings.
- Subject matter expertise is both experience and training in areas including resume writing, interviewing, negotiating, skill development planning, job search strategies, and career path strategizing.
The combination of process and subject matter expertise is valuable in career coaching because the work calls for both. For example, the coaching engagement will often involve a combination of services – consulting, training, and coaching. Alternatively, subject matter expertise serves the coaching process because the coach will know what to explore and what to ask questions about for creating awareness.
Career coaching means different things to different people. There are various components to career including career planning, career advancement, and career transition so be intentional with training, consulting, and coaching services.
