How Can a Coach Help Me Advance My Career?

AMOCO Corporation, now part of British Petroleum, did an evaluation of coaching over a ten-year period.  The investigators reported that “compared to other AMOCO managers, coaching participants consistently demonstrated improved performance, increased ratings of potential for advancement and 50% higher average salary increases.  Moreover, the participants themselves attributed these results directly to the coaching they had received.”

The research on the value of coaching is clear – Fortune Magazine cites an average 600% return on investment.  How is coaching so much more powerful than other options?  Because instead of telling you, a coach helps you find your own answers.

What exactly can a career coach do to help?
·      Partner with you so you clearly define your goals.
·      Provide assessments and debrief them.
·      Help you explore your opportunities.
·      Support you upgrading your resume.
·      Support you in defining challenges and strategies to move past them.
·      Assist you with identifying resources.
·      Facilitate you evaluating your skills gaps.
·      Assist your planning of how to upgrade skills.
·      Practice soft skills with you in conversations.
·      Co-create inventories, self-assessments, priority lists, and more.
·      Explore options for finding opportunities, advancing your current career, or planning a transition.
·      Practice interviewing.
·      Practice negotiating.
·      Plan your onboarding.
·      Support your efficacy as you start in a new role.

How do you find a career coach?
·      Start by defining what is important:
o   A coach who is certified and/or credentialed to ensure they know what they are doing.
o   A coach who is a member of the International Coaching Federation and therefore accountable to the Code of Ethics.
o   A coach who understands you, your career, and your ideal.
·      Check with coach training organizations.
·      Consider coaching firms.
·      Ask your network.
·      Interview three or more prospective coaches.
·      Choose a coach that you connect with – rapport is the number one indicator of success.

Investing in yourself by engaging a coach is smart.  As defined by the International Coaching Federation, “Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”