Did you know a record number of Americans, 47.4 million, voluntarily quit their jobs last year? Or that 22 million Americans lost their jobs in the first half of 2020?
In the wake of those statistics, it’s easy to see many of us are struggling in our careers right now. And that’s where a career and transition coach can help.
Here are 5 specific areas where career coaches can help you.
1. Career and transition coaches help you discover a new career path.
It’s typical to think of reaching out to a career coach when you’ve have recently lost a job and are looking for another position. But we also work with individuals who are dissatisfied in their current career, position or industry.
For years, Karen Sheehe, one of our career coaches, was in that group. As an engineering graduate of Penn State, she worked as a registered professional engineer. But many of those years were spent feeling stressed and unsatisfied.
It was only after working with a career coach that a new pathway emerged for Karen, leading her to pursue certifications in human resources, and training in career and retirement coaching.
The Process
Every career coach handles this step a little differently. For many clients, we focus on a career exploration process that starts with an assessment, typically the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator Career Report or the Strong Interest Inventory Report.
These reports reveal how your personality can affect your career. It also suggests jobs that may be a good fit, which provides a pathway into exploring previously unconsidered options.
2. A career coach guides you through processing a job loss.
Job loss is in the top ten most stressful life events, according to the Holmes and Rahe stress scale.
In this study, 5,000 patients were asked to tally a list of 43 life events based on a relative score. Job loss was preceded only by divorce, marital separation, imprisonment, death of a close family member, personal injury or illness, and marriage.
Career coaches work with you to process a job loss. They understand how overwhelming it can be, as well as the feelings of anxiety, depression and grief that are commonly experienced. Additionally, they have valuable resources and referral options if the negative feelings become overpowering.
Besides the benefit of working through difficult emotions, processing the loss of a job helps you to let go of the past and allows you to have the right mindset to pursue your next opportunity.
3. They provide practical tips.
Looking for a new job is daunting. And considering a complete career change can be downright overwhelming. There are so many factors to consider!
Career coaches alleviate this stress by providing practical tips to guide the career search or exploration process.
This guidance can include an assessment, and helping you update or write your resume. Or it could look like providing assistance in developing or setting up your LinkedIn profile.
Additionally, career coaches can offer tips on how to best connect with your network, what to look for in your next position and how to efficiently job search.
4. Career coaches build your confidence.
When you’re let go from a previous job or face dissatisfaction at your current position, it’s not uncommon to have negative feelings about yourself and your competence level.
A career coach partners with you to build confidence in your skills, knowledge and what you have to offer.
This can occur through interview skills training, information on how to best job search, teaching networking skills and more.
Time and time again, our career coaches have seen clients who felt hopeless at the start of the process quickly become reinvigorated in their job search or career exploration.
5. They provide outplacement assistance for organizations.
One very important part of what a career coach does is working with organizations and companies to provide outplacement services after layoffs.
Companies often enlist these services to lessen the blow of individuals losing their job.
Additionally, outplacement services protect the business’s reputation, lessening the chance of an irate employee being laid off without warning and venting on websites like GlassDoor, or in-person to industry and community connections.
Organizations who enlist outplacement services also communicate to current employees that they do care, which can lessen feelings of fear or disloyalty that may occur when employees see friends and coworkers let go.
Layoffs are never a positive experience. A career coach can provide help and assistance to make the process as painless as possible, both for the employees leaving and for those left behind.
The many hats of a career coach
Career coaches do many things for and with their clients. But boiled down, they help you to find the careers that you want, guide you in discovering different career pathways, and assist you in landing a new opportunity after a job loss.
This helps to ease the transition and position you for success, wherever your career may take you.
