Many people find themselves needing assistance when they become suddenly unemployed. The reason for this is the uncertainty that comes with the loss of a job. What a career coach can bring to the table for anyone who is unemployed is a partner and a resource in their efforts to secure a new career opportunity.
A career coach often will work with both the recent college graduate as well as with seasoned employees. What the career coach’s role is, is to help the individual seek out new opportunities through devising job search strategies and techniques as well as being the one who holds the person accountable during the job search process.
Resume and Cover Letter Review
One of first things a career coach will do will be to review the client’s resume and cover letter to ensure that these documents are a true reflection of who they are as far as skill sets and capabilities. A career coach will look at your resume and identify the best way to present this information in writing so it is concise, clear and sells the client’s skills and background in the best possible way.
Practice Interviews
Probably the most important role that a career coach can play with any individual, who is seeking employment, is to serve as a practice partner in learning how to interview correctly. I can’t tell you how many times I have interviewed people who walked into my office and have totally blown their interview by being overly arrogant or not being able to answer basic interview questions in a professional manner. This can be overcome by practicing basic interview questions with a career coach. By learning how to answer interview questions in a professional, polished and positive manner through the coaching and mentoring of a career coach can greatly enhance one’s ability to be successful during the interview process.
Plot Out a Career Path
Many younger people find themselves unsure of how to get from point A, to point B, to point C in their respective career. What a career coach will do is sit with the young person and determine various milestones that they want to achieve within their career within a certain set period of time. By identifying educational expectations as well as essential professional experiences required of a career that are tied to various growth stages of this very career, the career coach can establish a solid timeline and strategy within this timeline to go from point A to point C; thus leading the eventual career success!
For the Unemployed
If a career coach is working with an individual who is unemployed they will put together a strategy to find a solid career position that fits the needs of the particular individual. This strategy will incorporate all the necessary steps and processes to get the individual out in front of perspective employers in the hopes of gaining a new career position in the shortest period of time.
Partner and Coach
What I consider to be the most important aspect of any career coach’s job is to be both a partner and coach to the client they are servicing. When one is looking for a new job it can be a very depressing experience, as rejection and self-doubt are constant issues that they will be dealing with. What a career coach brings to the table is positive coaching and feedback to any situation that the individual may encounter during their job search. It is this coaching and feedback that provides an opportunity for the individual to learn from their mistakes and to grow from these experiences to enable them to be more successful in their job search. By partnering up with a career coach, an unemployed person can feel that they are not going into this job search process alone but actually have a partner who is looking out for their best interest and will help guide them to locating and selecting the best possible career opportunity with the least amount of obstacles to overcome.
