05 Apr Career Coaching: What It Is & How It Can Help You
As you slip further into your career, you might run into the idea of career coaching. On a basic level, career coaching helps those looking to further or change their career. Whether you are just starting, are many years into it, or are looking for a change to something new, a career coach can help you find and reach your goals.
What is Career Coaching?
Overall, career coaching is the process where a career professional helps people identify and achieve their career goals. This includes things such as changing careers, finding a job, resume assistance, networking, interview prep, and more.
Depending on the service that works best for your goals, a career coach can guide you through different levels of your career. They can help you clarify your career goals, create defined plans, assist during the job search, and discover areas/skills that you need to develop in order to reach your desired outcome.
Career Coaching Services Include:
Each career coach may offer different services. Like any professional, they might specialize in specific areas over others. A few basic services include:
Resume Assistance
Career coaches are equipped with the knowledge to ensure your resume surpasses the applicant tracking system (ATS) and into the hands of hiring managers. They are also extensively knowledgeable in the necessary search engine optimization (SEO) keywords needed to grab the hiring manager’s attention and secure interviews. This includes both resume revisions—taking your current resume and updating it to follow current best practices—and complete resume creations—starting a new resume from scratch.
This is the most basic service for career coaching.
Mock Interviews
Another basic service that career coaches offer is the practice interview. While the resume is the first impression hiring managers get of you, an interview is the key to securing a job. If you don’t have interview skills, you might lose your chance. A practice interview can help you prepare ahead of time with tips, feedback, and advice on how to show your best self.
LinkedIn Optimization
Nowadays, your online presence has a major impact on your job search. Hiring managers are doing a lot more research into applicants before offering interviews. If your online presence isn’t up to par, then you might not get the response you want.
Career coaching professionals typically offer reviews and optimizations for your online presence—specifically on LinkedIn—to ensure your professional branding is top-notch.
Other Career Coaching Services
Alongside these three basic services, you might see a handful of similar or new services. From things like career coaching sessions and job search assistance to cover, thank you, and resignation letters, you are highly likely to find a service that will help you in your career.
Career Coaching Packages
If you need assistance with more than one career service, then a career coaching package might work best for you. These packages can be a combination of any number of services and with varying levels. Primarily, career coaching packages focus most on career coaching sessions and the steps you need to take to reach your career goals—whether that’s a promotion, a new job, or a complete career change.
These packages might also include various resources you can utilize during your job search and more. Each career coach is different with the packages they offer, so make sure to do your research to find which services will benefit you most.
At The Jonus Group, we offer three main career coaching packages. You can find the details for them on our website here.
Do You Need Career Coaching?
There are a few different reasons that you might need to turn to career coaching. Whether you have just begun your career journey or you have been through multiple different jobs and are no longer considered an entry-level worker, here are five reasons you should consider career coaching:
1. You are Frustrated with Your Current Job/Career
If you find yourself feeling more overwhelmed and frustrated by your current job but you don’t know why, it might be a good idea to reach out to a career coach. Career professionals can help you pinpoint why you’re feeling frustrated and find a solution. Further, when you are already overrun by your current job, looking for a new one only adds to the stress. Career coaching can help ease the job searching stress and allow you to set an easy-to-follow plan.
2. You Want to Change Careers
Changing careers is a big decision to make. Sometimes it takes a long time to truly decide what’s best for you. If after everything, you’ve decided to switch your entire career, the help of a career coach can make the process much smoother. Career professionals have helped dozens, if not hundreds, of people change their careers. They know which steps you need to follow in order to get to your next career without an issue.
Further, career coaching can help you pinpoint the exact job or career that you want to switch to. It’s not always clear which jobs your skills and experiences can transfer to, but the right career conversation can help find the perfect fit for you.
3. You are Struggling to Find a Job & Secure an Interview
One of the most difficult parts when applying for a new job comes from repeat rejections. Even if you do have the qualifications for the job, there could be multiple reasons your application is being rejected before reaching an interview. From an incorrect resume format to lacking keywords, a career coach can help you fix those issues and get past the initial screening.
4. Your Career Goals Seem Unattainable & You Don’t Know Where to Start
If you have an idea of where you want to be at the end (or the peak) of your career, that’s amazing. What isn’t amazing, however, is not knowing how to get there. One of the main parts of career coaching is helping people reach their career goals by setting a clearly defined path. With their expertise, a career coach will be able to help you figure out which steps you need to take—and when—in order to reach that end goal.
Career coaching is also a great tool to utilize when your career goals seem too large to obtain. It can break down your overall goal into smaller, bite-sized goals that will help build up to that final piece.
5. Your Professional Branding Could Use Some Help – You want to Stand Out in the Crowd
The job market is competitive, especially nowadays. It’s hard to land a job—even harder to land a good job that aligns with your career goals. As a result, you may need to find ways to stand out from the other applicants. A career coach can help with that.
As explained in the services mentioned above, professional branding is more important than ever. Your resume, LinkedIn, and interview skills are the key to securing your dream career. If they aren’t aligned properly, then you might be missing opportunities. Career coaching can help you nail your professional branding across the board and give you that extra bump to stand out.
Career Coaching at The Jonus Group
Here at The Jonus Group, we offer numerous career coaching services. From resume assistance and career coaching packages to LinkedIn optimization and mock interviews. You can find a full list of our services on our website here.
We have a dedicated team of career service professionals ready to help you on your career journey. Let’s talk more! Schedule a free, 15-minute consultation with us to get started: Click Here.