How can you start your own career counseling business?

There is often a fine line between coaching and counseling and I make it a point to tell my clients I am not a counselor (therapist). However, I use my 25-years in corporate America and my experience getting laid off to help my clients work through the trauma of losing their jobs and to see how they can get their career back on track to be better than ever.

Know your stuff. I have almost 30 years of retained executive search experience. I have worked with literally thousands of senior executives--from interviewing them to providing them mentorship. Can I say I am an expert on executive career coaching? I would never claim absolute expertise. However, I can say that having worked with thousands of senior executives I have observed the progression of thousands of careers...and from that I've been able to derive empirical knowledge of how a successful career tracks.

These are sensible steps and work on paper. What it doesn't always address is the deeper emotional topics you'll inevitably encounter whilst being a "Career Counsellor". Often the person seeking help wants to change careers for reasons other than money, and these are tied to deeper issues they want help with, not just about LinkedIn, Resumes (CV) or interview tips. There's also an aspect not often mention which is clients expecting a magic one potion solves all solution. "Tell me my dream job, and somehow get it for me", without wanting to do any self reflection. Career counselling starter packs would do well to consider those sides too.

In my experience, career counselling is more than a business. It's a combination of both Arts and Science. After years of experience in the Higher Ed. career counselling (mostly volunteering), I can confidently say that it's imperative for a counsellor to be informative and inquisitive enough to ask all the right questions. It's important to look into the situation from your client's perspective, be able to explore all the relevant determinants and then advise for the best outcome. The equally important trait is empathy. Young people are on the journey of exploring the world and sometimes even make mistakes, the career counsellor should consider all these little pieces of information and hard facts when helping out with career choice.

Before claiming you offer career counseling, make sure you know the certifications or credentials necessary to actually engage in counseling. Career counseling is much different than career coaching, although both have great value! There are professional organizations that explain the differences between career counseling and career coaching - so do your research prior to claiming you offer career counseling.

These are some simple steps that I have done to build my personal brand as a career practitioner in Vietnam using the social medi and internet. 1/ Choose a niche that you are confident in the career field. For example, I am good at resume review and job search for young people. 2/ Choose a social media channel that you want to focus on. If you like writing, you may have a blog and FB page and LinkedIn. If you are good at video, you can use Youtube or Tiktok and Instagram. 3/ Consistently share your thought to public in channels you chose. You should try to share daily or at least a few times weekly. 4/ Join in different community / group related to the topics that you are interested.

Gena offered great advice regarding the legal and ethical qualifications of being a career 'counselor.' I established my consulting business 13 years ago and marketed my brand as a 'coaching, consulting, and training' entity even though I have a Master's degree in human services counseling. Aspiring career counselors should first research and connect with established career counselors to understand the difference.

I love the quote, “Be branded or be stranded.” A great to get clear on your brand values is to ask yourself, what top 5 qualities would you want your potential or future clients to say about you? It helps to clarify the qualities you would like your brand to represent. Also, as a startup entrepreneur, don't spend too much time or money on your brand. Have a simple site with who you are and what you sell. Spend more time and effort getting sales to validate your offer. Then, as your business grows, you can invest more in branding.

This is something I have given a lot of thought to in developing my business and practice. When I started this work over 15 years ago I was hired as a Career Counselor at a college and then over time, they moved everyone over to being a coach as well as the other universities and colleges where I worked. I have an MA in counseling with a specialization in career development, but my title is coach until I go through a licensure process and focus on the counseling aspect. It's been very informative to read everyone's contributions. Thank you.

Certamente é importante ter os aspectos legais definidos. Mas recomendo que antes de você se preocupar com isso, que você comece a atender pessoas, da forma que for possível, para perceber como será sua demanda e necessidade. Comece consolidando seu faturamento e ent?o terá no??o de quais despesas fixas com contador, impostos, sala, assinatura de plataformas e aplicativos que usará. N?o é a parte legal que torna você um mentor ou conselheiro. Apenas comece a tenha clientes o mais rápido possível e ent?o vá criando os custos fixos durante o processo.

Yes, get out there and launch your business and offer into the world! From my experience, many entrepreneurs don't do this because they fear rejection! A significant first step is to list 100 people you know - from family members to former coworkers, etc. Reach out to the to let them know about your business and your offer, and ask them to share your offer with someone who can benefit from your service. It starts a ripple effect of great energy, and you get support from people at the beginning.

A strategy to enhance your business as a career counselor is contributing to articles like this. This showcases your expertise and aids potential clients who could become interested in your services.

Reach out to your network of former associates, peers, and managers to educate them on your busines sand how you can help them. Much of your business in the early days will come from people you worked with in the past. Be certain to genuinely keep in touch with them and add value to to them consistently.

Esse foi um dos maiores desafios que encontrei e ainda é. Quando eu trabalhava no mundo corporativo, n?o tinha a no??o do que significava ter uma estrutura em torno do seu trabalho. Quando decidir ser mentor, pensava que bastava ter conhecimento e habilidade técnica e os clientes viriam. Foi somente ent?o que descobri que eu precisava fazer marketing do meu servi?o e eu n?o sabia fazer isso. Ent?o, saiba que, por melhor que você seja tecnicamente, uma parte importante do seu trabalho será aprender a fazer marketing e se expor. Se você tem dificuldade com isso ou você aprende ou procure um sócio que te ajude neste processo.

Uma das maiores fontes de frustra??o é se comparar com outros profissionais do seu segmento, querendo oferecer os mesmos servi?os e ter o mesmo resultado que os outros. Fazemos isso porque somos inseguros. Ao invés disso invista no que é o seu ponto mais forte. O que você faz melhor, com resultados reconhecidos. Somente depois você deve pensar em expandir seu negócio. N?o no come?o.

Like Chaim Shapiro said above, "Make sure you understand career counseling before you start seeing clients." You need to help clients succeed, and one way to do this is by ensuring that you understand career counseling before you start offering career counseling services to clients. When you understand career counseling and focus on helping clients succeed, it is very common that they would also refer other clients to you. This is how I've landed most of the projects I worked on in the past few weeks. Help clients succeed, and they will help your business grow. Prioritize updating your knowledge and researching to find more ways to boost the quality of your career counseling services to help clients achieve their goals.

Finding your niche is key! Reliable word of mouth among one strong cohort is way more valuable than constantly seeking new clients from every possible group. In finding your niche, you hone your specialised skills and really become a unique service provider.

Use your own experience in all your marketing and promotional materials. This includes your website, social media profiles, and other platforms you use to engage with potential clients. Emphasize the depth and breadth of your understanding of career development, job markets, and the challenges individuals face at various career stages. Build your program based on your background, knowledge, and career experience.

Are you thinking of launching your own coaching or services business? That's wonderful! There are a LOT of moving parts for you to consider as outlined in this article. It is not a 'field of dreams' where once you build it, your audience will flock to you. Take it from me, I know. It's about understanding the problems you solve so you can identify your target audience. It's about creating a compelling offer that provides a solution and then it's about outreach. How do you attract and convert prospects into clients. It's about having a proven sales framework to help you present your offer as a solution. Finally, it's about the delivery of your services. Is it worth it. Absolutely. Well worth your time to work with someone to guide you.