5 Unrealistic Expectations I Had About Hiring a Career Coach

Many people have serious misconceptions about hiring a career coach.?

A lot of job seekers don’t grasp what the job entails and what to expect from career coaches.

The problem is, these misconceptions and unrealistic expectations can hurt your chance of utilizing career coaching to your best advantage.?

Also, those misunderstandings can often deter someone from hiring a career coach and getting the wonderful benefits that career coaching has to offer.

Making yourself aware of these myths and misconceptions should give you a clearer idea about what exactly career coaching is...and what it is not.

Here are 5 misconceptions and unrealistic expectations that I had before hiring a career coach myself.

1. Career Coaching Is Like Therapy

People often think that the services of a career coach are more or less like that of a therapist.

No surprise there, since both services involve a series of talking sessions with a seasoned specialist. These sessions are usually aimed at helping people improve a part of their lives.?

For therapy, the goal is to help improve a person's mental health.

However, a career coach is not a mental health adviser or a psychiatrist.

Dealing with your mental health is not a career coach’s job!

His (or her) job is to help you identify your career goals and support you in achieving them.

To be specific, a career coach:

• Helps you identify your core skills and career goals.
• Helps you find suitable employment opportunities.
• Provides feedback on your resume, CV, or cover letter.
• Helps you strategize and prepare for a successful job interview.

In short, career coaches can help with everything related to your professional life and career.?

Assisting someone with their mental health is not part of the job description.?

2. A Career Coach Has All the Answers

Most people think a career coach is an all-knowing being that has all the answers to their career problems at their fingertips.

Career coaches are not omniscient.?

While it's easy to assume a career coach has all the answers because they often have a wealth of relevant experience, in reality, no one person has all the answers - even the best coaches.

Yes, hiring a career coach gives you access to seasoned advice that makes it easier for you to make career decisions.

And even if they do not have the answers, a good career coach will work with you to help you discover the answers to your questions.

3. My Coach Is an Expert in Every Career Field

Many people believe that a career coach is an expert in every career field.

They think being a career coach means having expertise in everything about careers.

But it's not a practical and logical expectation.

A career coach is not an expert in every career field. And they don’t have to be.

The primary role of a career coach is to provide you with support and tailored career advice to help you identify needs and achieve goals.

Being an expert in all career fields has nothing to do with this role.

A career coach doesn't need to be an expert in engineering or medicine (or in any other professional field) to be able to give you the support you need to be successful in your dream career.

In short, while career coaches may not be an expert in every single career field, they have the expertise to help you succeed in any career field.

4. A Career Coach Will Solve All My Problems

Some people also think career coaches are like magicians that take away all career problems with a chant, wave of the wand, or snap of their fingers.

They think a career coach can help them achieve their goals overnight.?

But this simply isn’t how it works.

The scope of career coaching is a lot more comprehensive than many people think.

Career coaches follow a series of processes aimed at providing solutions to your career problems.

They brainstorm with you, identify your vision and your challenges, provide support, and guide you towards discovering and achieving your ideal work-life.

Career coaching is a step-by-step process.

If you hire a career coach with the assumption that the coach will instantly make everything better, you're likely to be disappointed.

Of course, a career coach will increase your chances of yielding results a hundredfold. But you need to understand that it’s going to take time, commitment, and cooperation from you.

5. The Career Coach Will Do Everything for Me

“I’ve hired a career coach; now all I need to do is sit back and wait for the interviews to roll in."

Is this what you're thinking?

Well…

I also thought the same thing when I hired a career coach.

I had wrongfully believed that a career coach’s job was to do all the hard work for me while I went about my day-to-day activities.?

I had assumed that paying for the services of a career coach was tantamount to an automatic change.

But I was wrong.

A career coach only acts in an advisory capacity!

That is, a career coach will not do everything for you.

They cannot force you to take action, and neither will they carry out actions on your behalf. Instead, they will guide you and point you in the right direction.?

Then you will also need to put in the work to overcome any obstacles and take action to obtain career success.

Key Takeaways?

At this point, you may have realized that you have had some misconceptions about career coaching.

A career coach is neither a shrink nor an expert in all career fields.

Also, a career coach does not have all the answers to your career problems. They do not have the ability to wave a wand and magically take the problems away.

And most importantly, a career coach will not do everything for you!

Instead, a coach guides you and helps you explore your options.

A career coach helps you understand your values, interests, and the type of career responsibilities you would enjoy.

They do all they can to facilitate success for you as per your career goals.