What the F**k is Career Coaching anyway?
In my experience, people don’t know what to expect when they start to look for Career Coaching support, most people, just know that they need some sort of support.
Coaching in general can be hard to define and make ‘tangible’. The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines coaching as:
“Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
That covers quite a lot…..!
In my experience, Career Coaching straddles directive and non-directive coaching and very much depends on what you are looking for. You are unique, you have unique goals, and these career goals all sit within a wider ‘system’ – ie: the rest of your life! In my experience, it is hard to look at just your career in isolation from everything else, but my main function is to help you get clarity on what you want to achieve from engaging with me as a career coach.
The directive piece is what people commonly associate with Career Coaching. I help you with your CV, LinkedIn Profile, Interview Perp, Job Search Strategy, Changing Career Path, Pitching Yourself, etc. All of these components are tangible and require a level of skill, training and knowledge. These are the directive inputs.
The non-directive side is a little less tangible but are usually the most impactful. I have had a number of career coaching clients who had initially come for more directive inputs, but we have actually spent a lot more time on areas outside of that.
The type of non-directive work I commonly do with clients includes:
- Getting clear on your own values and how that can inform your career decisions
- Reframing your current role in the context of your wider life
- Identifying and overcoming what is holding you back from achieving your full potential
- Figuring out why you feel ‘stuck’ in your current career path
- Getting clarity on what really motivates you
- Overcoming confidence issues after an event like redundancy, bullying, or similar
So – what the F**K is Career Coaching anyway!? It is whatever you need it to be and my role is to help you figure that out in the first instance and support you as you work toward it. Whatever ‘it’ may be.
My first step is always a complimentary Chemistry Meeting where we figure out if we can work together. If this is something of interest, CLICK HERE to book in some time and we can spend some time figuring out your overall goals and how I can support.
Want to know a bit more about me and Possible Coaching – CLICK HERE!
Paul Smyth, Coach and Founder of Possible.ie
#careercoaching