Colleges, high schools, social service agencies, HR departments, recruiting agencies, and independent businesses hire career coaches. Additionally, many create private businesses as coaches with career coaching as a niche area.
If you are interested in finding a job as a career coach it makes sense to research the opportunities. Review what the requirements are to apply for different positions and learn all you can about the responsibilities.
If you want to start your own business as a coach, find out what others have done, what works best, and what it really takes to be successful. Explore business planning and marketing. Talk with your network and find out where there is interest, who can provide referrals, and what the recommendations are for a successful career coaching business.
In either case, chances are that common denominators exist to prepare for the role of career coach. For example, areas of subject matter expertise will be required in a job, and as an independent coach the subject matter expertise is foundational to long term success. Additionally, coach training or coaching certification is likely to be requested or required in a job and as an independent coach it demonstrates credibility. In both cases the training is foundational to your effectiveness as a coach.
