Is it Time for a Job Coach?
Is it Time for a Job Coach?
Considering how rapidly the competitive landscape of the business world evolves, there’s never a bad time to seek the assistance of a job coach. A job coach is a highly trained professional you might hire when you need an expert to assist you in developing skills and behavior changes that will help you progress in your career.
A coaching relationship is usually short-term. A good job coach will help you identify your professional goals, prioritize them, and co-create with you an action plan for development. You’ll have regular, structured meetings with your coach during which your coach will provide assessment, feedback, and accountability.
How do I know it’s the right time to hire a job coach?
While there’s never a bad time to hire a job coach, there are some specific signs that indicate the time is right to find the perfect job coach for you and get started.
1. You fear getting left behind because you don’t have the hard skills you need to thrive or advance in your role. Hard skills are abilities that are both teachable and measurable. To advance in your job, or maybe to keep your job, you might be required to become proficient in skills way outside your wheelhouse. Examples of hard skills a job coach can help you with include computer skills, writing skills, marketing skills, design skills, analytical skills, accounting skills, or technical skills. Sometimes you’ll need more formal education to bridge your skill gap, but in most cases the right job coach can work with you one-on-one and take you from lacking to competitive in the hard skills you need.
2. You lack some of the critical soft skills needed to thrive in your current role or compete for a new role. Some examples of soft skills a job coach can help you develop include leadership skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, communication skills, and work ethic.
3. You are in a period of transition. Perhaps you are between jobs and need some organized guidance in identifying your professional goals, honing your skills, and becoming interview-ready. Maybe you are working towards a promotion and are looking for coaching and feedback to make sure you’re competitive and prepared. Change can often be chaotic and unsettling, but having the constancy of a job coach to keep you focused on your development can provide the accountability and support you need during times of change.
4. You’re stuck in a rut. Just the opposite of being in a period of transition, you might be stuck in a period of stagnant inactivity. If you’re discontent with where you are, how things are going, the rate at which you’re advancing or the satisfaction you’re getting out of your job, it’s time to hire a job coach. Whether your goal is an external change, like a job change, or an internal change, like an attitude or motivational change, the right coach can help you turn things around and develop a new perspective.
Maybe you’ve seen the signs that you should consider hiring a job coach, but you wonder if it will be worth the financial and time investment.
What are the benefits of hiring a job coach?
Here are just a few of the many ways you’ll get a return on your investment.
1. You’ll develop confidence and a better appreciation for what you bring to the table. As you work with your coach on sharpening your hard and soft skills, you’ll be receiving valuable feedback that will help you see where you’re making progress and where you need to invest more time, energy and effort.
2. You’ll have a sharper focus on your career goals, a better vision of what your desired outcomes are, and practical action steps to work toward your objectives. Goal setting alone is a valid reason to hire a job coach, as drifting without a destination is detrimental to your professional satisfaction and success.
3. You’ll have someone in your corner to offer honest accountability. You might feel the support of friends and family meet this need in your life, but they are personally connected in a way that could make them see you through a relational bias. A successful coach is an expert at helping clients achieve their professional goals, and will give candid feedback without the emotional attachments of family, friends or co-workers.
4. You’ll have practical strategies that will enable you to self-coach better after your coaching relationship has run its course. Whether you’re preparing for an interview, competing for a promotion, or looking for renewed productivity and passion in your work, the exercises and activities you’ll participate in with your coach will be valuable tools in your toolbox that you can use for a lifetime.
Making the decision to work with a job coach is a big one. Do your due diligence and search out the perfect fit for you, then apply yourself with an open mind to begin this journey to become the best version of your self you can be in your professional life. It’s an investment that will pay dividends throughout your career.