So you’re thinking of becoming a certified career coach. You’ve got the right background, the right personality style, and the motivation to be of service. But you’re wondering… aren’t there already a zillion career coaches out there?
Actually, not so much! And if you are reading this from somewhere outside the United States, you might be especially needed in this profession.
Yes, there’s demand for this work.
Searches for “career coaching” have increased by over 30% in the past four years, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down at all. In robust economies, career coaches have tons of people seeking their services. In difficult economies that can sometimes be even more true.
And if you’re from another part of the world where coaching hasn’t made a scratch, you’ll be in the vanguard of a growing, flexible and rewarding profession that provides a very meaningful service.
Qualified career coaches aren’t easy to come by
I am currently working with a professional. I am her third career coach. The first two didn’t know how to help her network; they advised going “to mixers.” To her credit, she still took a chance on a third career coach, and luckily, found an experienced and properly credentialed one. Now she has a steady stream of interviews after I created a networking strategy for her.
There are a lot of “fakes” out there, many of them people who might’ve received education as a life coach. Don’t get me wrong; there are tons of legitimate and gifted life coaches, but the skill sets are distinctly different, just like coaching football requires different skills and insights than coaching tennis. Sometimes other types of coaches go ahead and reinvent themselves as career coaches. Unfortunately, there’s little to stop them from doing it from a legal perspective. But if they don’t know how to turn your LinkedIn profile into a recruiter-magnet and help you understand what hiring managers do and don’t want to hear, they’re not going to get you very far with “be confident” or “examine your upper-limiting beliefs” or, (oy vey), “go to a mixer.”
Being trained and credentialed as a career coach will give you the tools to leverage your own professional history, your hard and soft skills and your drive to solve problems in service to job-seekers. It’s critically important to have up to the minute knowledge of hiring trends and practices, a broad knowledge of one or more career sectors, and lots of other goodies you are unlikely to get from being a life coach. We’re different, and a lot more tactical. By getting properly certified as a career coach, you’ll help to uphold the highest standards of the profession and create less space for Fakey Fakersons to profit off the anxiety and stress of job-seekers.
A lot of people need your help
There are a lot of unhappy workers out there. People who are qualified for the job they want but having trouble getting noticed. People who don’t know what they’re really meant to be doing and are currently in a job they hate. People who are burned out and desperate for something new, people who are underemployed and struggling financially. You can help these people to find work that has meaning and purpose for them. You can get stuck people unstuck. It’s ridiculously rewarding.
Which leads to…
You’ll help yourself.
Career coaching is by far the most inspiring job I’ve ever had. I get so much joy from helping others land great jobs. With every client, I learn something new, and those insights and skills always contribute even more to my ability to help the next client, and the next. I’m never bored, because there’s always something new going on—with clients, with the job marketplace, with society at large. In the wake of the COVID pandemic, workers are, more than ever, questioning whether they’re doing the work they were meant to do. The world of work is changing for so many people. It’s always been a fascinating career but now is an especially fascinating time to be doing it.
Where are coaches most in demand?
You can carve out a career coaching niche nearly anywhere—some of us are generalists who can and will work with anyone, anywhere, in any sector. Most of us specialize somewhat, and some of us specialize a lot—focusing on one region, one demographic, one industry, or all of the above (perhaps their clients are women relocating to the United States from Europe; perhaps they are tech sector C-levels; perhaps they are all people who are looking for jobs in Zimbabwe.
Currently, the most interest in career coaching, based on Google search volume, is coming out of the following places: The United States, India, Singapore, Nigeria and Ghana. If your region isn’t on that list, though, don’t assume career coaches aren’t in demand in your area! If career coaching is uncommon where you live, but your region’s economy is growing, contracting or shifting, I guarantee you there are people who need us.
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