I offer career coaching to white collar professionals who wish to advance their career within their current company. This involves identifying positions that might offer more satisfaction and a chance to use skills and talents they’ve acquired over time, but which have been underutilized. In this instance, coaching helps clients strategize ways to approach higher ups about pursuing new opportunities and developing plans for achieving greater visibility within their organizations.
Some of my clients hire me to help them write graduate school essays or fellowship applications. Pursuing additional education, frequently leads to opportunities for more advanced positions and greater visibility within a particular area of specialization. I’ve helped clients write powerful resumes, biographies and essays that have helped them gain admittance to very competitive academic institutions, as well as obtain awards and prestigious fellowships.
I have worked with numerous clients on making a career change. This typically involves evaluating current skills and assessing the transferability of these skills to new opportunities. Sometimes this type of change requires obtaining additional credentials or certifications. However, frequently there are chances to teach or consult using current expertise.
Career coaching has also helped my clients evaluate new opportunities and learn how to research a particular position, company or team. Finding a position that fits your skills and abilities is important, but it’s also critical to know what the organizational or departmental culture is and how open it is to new members. Some teams and departments are very competitive and scapegoat or attempt to expel new members. Knowing how supportive your manager is going to be in terms of your authority to manage projects or a team, is fundamental to finding a long term place for yourself within an organization. Also, if the organization is undergoing fundamental change, with new leadership or changes in organizational structure, this can initiate a period of turbulence with people leaving or being asked to resign as upper management cleans house and looks to instill their vision for the organization. It’s advisable to think twice before entering such an unstable or rapidly changing environment.
Career coaching has also helped my clients learn new management, leadership, decision-making and team building skills. Because of my background in organizational development, I’m knowledgeable and experienced in teaching clients new ways to approach a wide range of management challenges.
My career coaching services have also helped clients develop, tweak or grow their consulting practices; design or launch entrepreneurial businesses or segue out of traditional work to launch freelance careers. Additionally, clients sometimes have hobbies that can be turned into a business. Since I’ve been an entrepreneur all my adult life and have launched two successful consulting practices, I have a special feel for entrepreneurial business and enjoy helping clients envision, research and launch their own ventures.
Career coaching enables clients to take a step back and evaluate who they are, what sort of work/life balance they want, what skills they bring to the table and what legacy they wish to leave behind. I believe work can be an arena in which one can express particular interests and talents and achieve life long career satisfaction.