Is It Time for a Career Coach?

The job market is much better today than it’s been in quite a while. If you’re in the middle of a career change, you can take advantage of this uptick in the economy to set up your success. This means interview skills and proper career planning are more essential than ever for that clutch moment you capitalize on your career. However, most jobseekers are lacking in one or both of those crucial areas. That’s where career coaches come in.

Here are the top 5 reasons for why now is a time to work with a career expert.

#1 Learn how your background is viewed by others 

Self-awareness is also critical to securing a great career. In order to communicate most efficiently, you need to learn how to view your experience, writing, and presentations from different perspectives. It’s especially important to anticipate the perspectives of experienced professionals, bosses, and recruiters. These days, career coaches offer advice to job seekers to help them build their plans on the next level.

#2 Refresh your interviewing skills 

Most of the time, jobseekers come up short on interview experience. Most people haven’t needed an interview in years by the time they’re between jobs. Not surprisingly, there are plenty of similarities between professional life and interview etiquette. However, they might not be exactly as you think – recruiters have invented a crafty series of techniques over the years to tease information out of you that you didn’t know you were revealing. Weird, right? Only a career coach can help you navigate that mysterious world.

#3 Be clear about your objectives 

Too many job applicants wander into interviews with only one goal in mind: getting that office chair. Ho hum, the company’s heard it before. As above, you can’t just fit the position. You have to be the best fit. Part of that is narrowing down your objectives to suit your unique abilities as well as the company’s position and requirements. Career coaches know the arena, and will offer the savviest ways to express your ambition to your employer.

#4 Make a good first impression. 

The art of first impressions goes far beyond “dress to impress”. Recruiters are trained to assign significant weight to first impressions. Gauging intellect, socioeconomic status, ambition, and experience are just a few of the checkboxes they might tick after less than 5 seconds. The impact a career coach can have on your first impression is dramatic – impossible to overstate, even. Many of them hail from recruiting jobs. A coach-guided mastery of good first impressions could make or break a career.

#5 Recruiters get paid to place you, not coach you. 

Most recruiting agencies offer bonuses to their recruiters based on the starting salary of the successful candidate. It’s a perfectly fine practice, but it does create a weird incentive for the recruiters: they want to find the best candidate, as fast as possible. This leaves out the professionals who are clearly good enough for the job, but lack panache. “Fitting” isn’t enough – there are always goodfits. You want to be the best fit.  Working with a career coach can help you fast track the hiring process especially if you’re working with a recruiter. 

Glenn Laumeister

CEO and Founder of CoachMarket