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How To Work With A Career Coach

3 Important Steps

 

So, you found yourself a career coach…well done in taking that first big step in accelerating your career goals.

A job of a career coach is to elevate your current situation, find gaps that are holding you back from achieving your career objectives; whether it be a career change, new job, or growth and development. The gaps could be minor, such as a small resume rewrite, or they can be more of a challenge, such as presenting and selling yourself in an interview.

A good career coach will analyse your whole process
from a holistic point of view and find the areas
that need most improvement. It can be one, two or all areas. 

So, you know what is required from the coaches’ end, but what is required from yours? Here is how you can maximise and get the most out of your coaching session(s) to get the best results. After all, this is your career and money, so it is in your best interest to invest the same (if not more) energy into your sessions.

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Step 1.

Be as honest as possible. Holding back information will not help you. With the right career consultant/mentor, you should feel comfortable (in a judge free zone) to be as open and honest as you can. If you get nervous during job interviews and are unable to answer questions due to mind blanks then don’t stress, it is natural. Chances are your coach would have heard it all. Do not feel embarrassed or unsure if you should disclose certain information. The more your coach knows, the easier it will be for them to provide you with the best suited coaching needed.

Step 2.

Trust the process. Your coach may give you some information that may make you feel uncomfortable or a little unsure about. You may not have practised certain methods before and may feel a little like a fish out of water. However, because you are not putting in place proposed methods it may perhaps be why you are not getting the results you are seeking. Of course, question your coach and ask why and how their methods can help.

Once they explain this to you, it will also help put your mind at ease
and allow you to feel comfortable in trusting their teachings.

A career coach should be up to date with the way recruitment, growth, companies, and management work. They would know that LinkedIn is one of the strongest tools out there for networking and getting seen ahead of your competition. Where once a resume was all you needed to look sharp, now a whole new plethora of social media accounts are in play. If your career coach is telling you to update your socials and be more present online, don’t feel unsettled or shy by this. You still need to be you and can present yourself as authentic and honest, taking some bold steps, such as networking online (which may feel awkward for those who have not done so in the past). Again, trust the process.

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Step 3.

Give it time. No career coach is a miracle worker. They cannot go inside the head of every hiring manager, company leaders or business owners. They can pass the tools and educate you on how to improve your odds in landing that job or getting that promotion. The rest is up to you applying it and giving it the time it deserves. Nothing happens overnight. However, we can say that the odds are, without a coach you may need to apply to 50 jobs before you get an offer, but with a coach it may be as low as 20. So, you are indeed reaching your goals sooner, more effectively and efficiently regardless. Please do keep in mind, though, that this does not mean that as soon as your session with the coach is over you should expect a job offer the very next day.

In short, these three steps are key – be open and honest, trust the process, and give it the time it deserves to work. As long as you are working together (not against) with the coach and implement the advice provided you should be seeing results sooner than later.

Not sure how to find the right career coach for yourself? Then read our blog – How To Find The Right Career Coach. If you are wondering how we, My Career Angels, can help you and become your coaches and mentors, we invite you to visit our site and check out our services – we work with customers in Resume Rewrites, LinkedIn Refresh, Interview Skills and even tailor individual needs with Bespoke Services which can include us writing your resume, job search coaching and mixing and matching our other services to suit your very specific needs.

My Career Angels

“If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.”

— Erica Jong

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