Think about your career the way you think about the car you drive. When you first bought it, you felt proud. You were in charge and could steer it to where you wanted it to go. The possibilities were endless. Over time, you grow together, you and your car. You use it to challenge yourself on longer trips. And you maintain it regularly with oil changes, new tyres and tune ups every so often.
If you substitute updated professional qualifications for oil changes and new tyres, you'll see where I'm going with this analogy. Career advancement, like so many other things in life, has to be intentional to be successful. But many of us get confused as to which direction to steer our career car or how to fill it up with gas, when to ease off of the accelerator and when to floor it. That's where a career coach comes in.
What's a career coach?
People often mix up career coaching with consulting or mentoring or counselling, said Georgina Terry, a British-born career coach with 14 years of coaching experience. "Career coaching helps to bring to the fore the behaviours, the skills, the knowledge and the procedures to help you to get to your goal," she said in a telephone interview. Terry coaches people in the UK, US and Caribbean from her base in Trinidad, and runs a company called BPD Associates. Think of her almost like a mechanic/driving instructor; she helps people decide where they want to go and realise what they need to do to get there. Why do I need a coach? Coaches all over the world help clients revamp their resumes, learn valuable interview and leadership skills and decide if they need more academic qualifications so that they can perform more effectively at their current job. Performance consultant and coach Giselle Hudson, born and also based in Trinidad, added that coaching makes perfect sense when someone is facing changes in life and in their career like a promotion, changing jobs, redundancy, or even retirement, she wrote in an e-mail interview.
Some of these issues sound like common sense problems that everyone figures out on their own, but it's not that simple, Terry said. Coaching works best for high performers who want to accelerate the process of their advancement. It's difficult to do a self-diagnosis, she said, so a cooler, objective outsider can help. A US-based coach named Penelope Trunk, called "the world's most influential guidance counsellor" by Inc Magazine, said on her blog that rewriting a resume and blogging are some of the major issues that her clients struggle with. Trunk insists that blogging is a great way to advance your career and network with people in your industry. And most people just list all their past employers and achievements on their resume. But Trunk says that potential applicants should tailor their resume to fit the profile set out by the employer. Hudson said that coaches can also help their clients decide what type of work and environment is a better motivator. This is especially important when making a career switch. Clients may lust after a career because it sounds exciting and promises to pay loads of cash, Hudson said. But often, they can't handle the lifestyle that accompanies that career: long hours of work, less time for family and friends, the need for expensive qualifications or a high amount of travel.
Can I afford career coaching?
The price tag on coaching sessions is surprisingly affordable. Terry's sessions can cost between $500 to $3,500 (US$80 to $500), depending on the client. International coaching costs are about the same; Trunk charges a flat fee of US$250 per session. And most clients achieve their goals within six to 12 monthly sessions, Terry said.
Can I convince my boss to invest in coaching for me?
Companies in the UK and the USA are much more open about securing coaching for their employees as an investment into their labour force, Terry said. Unfortunately, Caribbean companies haven't quite caught up. And local firms try to insist that coaching should be an HR function, when career coaches should really be approved or hired by those managers in charge of operations rather than those in charge of HR. Career coaching is about getting results, Terry said. And operations managers will have the knowledge and know-how to measure the results of the coaching they book for their employees. "You do want your people to feel good, but the real result should be measured in the productivity," Terry said. I'm a business owner; do I need a coach? Just as if you were an employee, if you're going into entrepreneurship, you want to know how to perform at optimum levels so you can get the best result. To help clients get started, Terry wrote a coaching book called The Amazing Race To Entrepreneurial Freedom: "Entrepreneurship is like a new career. Clients have to focus on getting themselves ready, know what their passion is and learn how to manage their personal finances," she explained.
Not a quick fix
Coaching is usually not a quick fix. But just like anything worth having, hard work brings great results, Hudson said. "We put 200 per cent into activities for others. And when it comes to working on ourselves, we jump ship, procrastinate or continue to put ourselves down. If you convince yourself that you are worth your greatest effort, then you won't have to try to convince other people," she concluded.
HOW TO CHOOSE A CAREER COACH
Trying to pick a top-notch coach? Georgina Terry of BPD Associates gives some tips and tricks.
• A good coach has a good track record.
"And you can find that out by asking if you can contact their previous clients and if they've got good testimonials," Terry added.
• A good coach has a coach or has had a coach themselves recently.
• A good coach is not doing all the talking. "They're not your adviser. A good coach is experienced in asking the right questions so that you can find the answers, not telling you what you should do."
• A good coach should be successful in his or her own career. For example, Terry was promoted once a year when she worked in finance at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and doubled her salary within two years.
• There are a lot of coaching courses popping up that last about a week, Terry said. Don't be fooled. "These people try to coach others and they haven't even had a coach. So they don't even know what it means to be coached," she explained.
• You should feel comfortable with a good coach. "You'll talk about things that are quite deep in your life and career and you have to feel like you can relate to this person," said Terry.
