Is your career going to plan? How about the other parts of your life? If you’re stuck in a dead-end job or feel you’ve somehow been drifting along a career path by accident rather than design and it’s making you unhappy, it’s not too late to do something about it.
This is where career coaching can be hugely beneficial. Being frustrated, stressed or dissatisfied at work can have a major impact on your performance at work, your relationship, your health and wellbeing. An experienced career coach can help you rediscover how to connect your personal values with your goals, getting your professional and personal life back on track.
Use this powerful approach as a first port of call, not as a last resort, to reap the benefits in the shortest possible time.
1. Make the right career choices
It’s a complex world out there in the professional sphere. Technology in general, and the importance of digital platforms and social media in particular, are advancing rapidly and this has a major impact on job search and career management. With so much information out there, how do you know what skills you need and which direction to take?
A great career coach has the training, experience and tools to help you make informed career choices. With an uncanny ability to see the wood for the trees, s/he can point you towards the path that’s right for you and your goals.
2. Find a way forward that’s tailor made for you
Career decisions are as different as the individuals taking them – there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why it’s so difficult to get the right answer from reading self-help books or online resources; they’re simply too general. Even talking to friends or trusted colleagues may not get you any further.
With the expert assistance of a career coach by your side, you’ll be able to identify and build on your own personal experiences, circumstances and aspirations, devising a plan of action that’s perfect for you.
3. Be paid what you’re really worth
Making a career change, getting a new job or a promotion takes a lot of time, effort and personal investment, all of which can be thoroughly demoralising if you don’t have the right support in place.
With a career coach to guide you, you will learn how to save time and make the process faster, more productive and more satisfying. Learn how to put yourself forward effectively and confidently for the right jobs, with the skills to negotiate a salary that reflects your level of skill and professional standing.
4. Discover your inner confidence
One of the greatest demons many people have to deal with in the workplace, including at senior management levels, is a lack of confidence. A skilled career coach will be able to identify your personal strengths, pinpoint your unique selling proposition with clarity and make sense of your career in a way you may not have thought of yourself.
Armed with this awareness, you will feel empowered to present yourself with much more confidence in job interviews, in meetings with senior decision makers in your company, and in day-to day relations with your colleagues and peers.
5. No more procrastination or inaction
Sometimes, life just takes over and however good your intentions may be to do something about your unhappy job situation, the time never seems to be right. If you’re plagued by lack of time or knowledge, or are overwhelmed by the prospect of a major change, or something else is stopping you from making a change to the status quo, career coaching is the perfect answer.
Finding a good career coach is the first step to addressing the problem. What’s more, once you’ve started working together you know that there will be progress – and it may come sooner than you think.
6. A problem shared is a problem halved
We all need a bit of support sometimes. If you’ve gone through a rough patch at work, perhaps recovering from redundancy or having to deal with bullying in the office, looking forward may be difficult for you.
With a sympathetic career coach with a solid background in psychotherapy at your side, you can work through the issues and find your way through the darkness. You will emerge from the process with a more balanced sense of perspective, and greater confidence with which to go forward into a positive future.
7. Building career skills for life
The best bit about career coaching is that the skills you will learn will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life. Fully empowered to understand the triggers that create blocks to your success, and equipped with strategies to remove these blocks for good, your efforts will now naturally flow towards your goals without the risk of being thrown off course.
It’s a valuable investment into your professional (and personal!) future that will bring you closer to the happiness you deserve.
