Laid off 101

Whether you want to fine-tune your career or change careers entirely, working with a career coach can help you jump-start the process. A career coach, like a sports coach, helps a talented performer—you—perfect your job-search or business startup game.

Do you really need a coach? Hey, if pro athletes need coaches, the rest of us probably do, too. Sure, you already know how to list your job history on a resume and how to show up for an interview, just like a basketball player already knows how to dribble and shoot. A coach helps you do it better.

It’s important to note that a career coach does not find you a new job. She helps you hone your search, your skills, and your collateral materials (resume, portfolio, business card, elevator speech/sound bite) so you find yourself a job—and not just any job, but the right job for you.

She’ll also support you in exploring new territory. This could mean a new career path, starting your own business, or going back to school. Your coach will guide you in researching and weighing your options. 

Example: My coach, Cindy, gave me the self-assessment tools and the firm kick in the pants I needed to acknowledge, once and for all, that Mother Nature did not intend me to spend one-third of my life in a cubicle. If it weren’t for Cindy, I never would have considered freelancing full-time. I also wouldn’t have put together a tight resume and cover letter (which Cindy critiqued mercilessly), nor designed my own business cards (which Cindy critiqued mercilessly), nor attended so many networking events I thought my handshake hand would fall off.  

But she wasn’t just a critic; she was always on my side. When I landed my first clients, Cindy cheered for me. When I applied for and received a small-business license, she sent me a congratulations card. When I started griping about a nonpaying client, she encouraged me to “fire” him, assured me a better one would appear if I was patient, and held my hand while I took those scary steps.

Pros

Some advantages to working with a career coach:

• If you’re stalled in your search, a coach can help you get unstuck.
• A coach helps you find work that suits your skills and temperament.
• A coach helps you hone your personal marketing strategy.
• A coach has no preconceived notion of you—she won’t say, “Kim would never do _____” or “Kim always _____.” Her fresh view might lead her to suggest possibilities you never thought of. For instance, Cindy pointed out that my self-assessments revealed strengths in both education and working with technology. So when an opportunity came up at the University of Minnesota, I applied. Now I edit college course materials, upload them to the online learning tool, and provide tech support to instructors.
• You can brag to your coach about small triumphs like reciting your elevator speech flawlessly at a networking event. Your friends might say So what?, but your coach will applaud.
• Your coach will help you stay on track when the road gets rocky.
• A coach holds you accountable for doing what you said you would, whether it’s spellchecking your resume or researching potential employers. If you drop the ball, she’ll ask why.
• Because you pay a coach, you work harder to follow her suggestions in order to get your money’s worth.

Cons

Some of the disadvantages:

• You have to pay a coach, and it can be very hard to allocate money to something that seems like an extra when your income is limited.
• Coaches are not licensed, so there are no specific credentials to look for.
• Your coach is not your mommy or even your buddy. She’s not there to console and coddle you, and a good one won’t. She’ll ask tough questions and prod you to take tough action. Heck, Cindy dared me not to get a job, but instead to support myself with unpredictable freelance work—something I found terrifying.

How to find a coach

You can find a career coach several different ways. An online search is fast and can help you narrow your search to coaches in your area. You can also search by specialty, gender, religious affiliation, and other preferences.

Some sites to try:

• CertifiedCareerCoaches.com
• Coaches Training Institute
• Coachlink
• Life in Progress Coaching
• The Coach Locator

Coaches aren’t licensed by any official body, but they should have some kind of training. Look for credentials from professional organizations like:

• Career Coach Institute
• Coach U
• the International Coach Federation
• Worldwide Association of Business Coaches

Also ask your friends and colleagues for referrals. If you or someone you know has worked with a personal coach, he might have connections to some career coaches. A friend’s coach connected me with Cindy, and I’ve referred a couple friends to her.

Finding the best fit

You might not click with the first coach you meet, so shop around. It’s important to find someone who fits your personal style. Decide whether you want a coach who’s warm and nurturing, a whip-cracking taskmaster, or somewhere in between. I hit the jackpot with Cindy: She was kind but firm, kept our meetings on task, and while we have similar senses of humor, she didn’t let me joke my way out of uncomfortable questions—and believe me, I tried.

What to pay

Fees vary widely, anywhere from $75 to $500 a session to a few hundred dollars a month for weekly meetings. Coaches who target management types charge more than those who work with nonmanagers. Cindy works mostly with creative professionals and charges modestly, in the few-hundred-a-month range.

What to expect

• Meetings—You will meet with your coach in person or on the phone, possibly both. Some coaches also do business via e-mail, although most prefer at least some personal contact.
• Accountability—Your coach will ask if you did your homework and met the goals you set at your last meeting. If you missed the mark, she’ll ask you why, and she won’t accept excuses.
• Homework—You will have homework: self-assessments, skill inventories, resume and cover letter rewrites, interview practice … it’s almost like going back to school. But since you’re not working, you have time for it.
• Honesty—You must be honest with your coach about your goals, fears, strengths, and shortcomings. In return, expect her to be honest with you, sometimes brutally so.

Although I don’t meet regularly with Cindy any more, I still e-mail her occasionally to check in. She always replies with words of congratulation and encouragement. It turned out her advice to me, to go out on my own as a freelancer, was the best advice I ever got. For the first time in 20 years, I am happy in my work. That’s priceless.

Image by: Noah Darnell