A career coach provides a specific process for you to explore your interests, skills, possibilities, and opportunities. A career coach then works with you to identify challenges and to create your strategies.
How is that different?
- A career counselor works with pre-determined tools and processes to figure out what you should do and how you should do it. They give you advice.
- A career advisor or consultant analyses your skills and the job market, then gives you a plan to use.
- A trainer teaches specific skills for work you will do in the future.
- A career coach recognizes you know yourself best and you are your own best expert. If appropriate for you, a career coach may incorporate the use of one or more assessments; which assessment(s) are determined by what serves you best. A career coach may explore what training or consulting will serve you and may schedule that separately themselves or with other professionals. Most significantly, a career coach empowers you to discover your own answers and choose your own course of action.
A real career coach has completed coach training. Before engaging a career coach, ask them if they are a member of the International Coach Federation because that will tell you they have completed coaching certification and are qualified to coach.
