Hello!

I’m Helen Pretty – your Career Coach and Mentor.

Firstly thank you for taking the first step to changing your job, stepping up in your career and being proactive in your job search! In this blog I talk about the expectations of a career coach.

 

The Oxford dictionary’s definition of a coach is ‘a private tutor who gives extra teaching’.

My definition of a career coach is ‘Someone who supports and advises ambitious job seekers to gain the motivation and tools needed to boost their career’.

 

There are many ways to find and get a new job, but here I want to explain and educate you to the relatively new opportunity of career coaching. Here are my expectations of me as your career coach.

 

Where would you use a coach?

You may be more familiar with other areas of your life where you would use (and love to have) a coach. If you wanted to loose weight you would find a personal trainer. If you wanted to learn a foreign language you would use a teacher.

Your job and career are super important and the time you spend at work is so much more than gym time or eating. On average you will spend 40 hours a week at a job.

Employing a career coach will give you private tuition and focus on your job. This could range from gaining promotion within your current role, moving up the career ladder, or changing job industries completely, the list is endless.

I know that you might not think you need a career coach, there maybe opportunities you can take and you may have the motivation to complete your job search yourself.

I totally know you can do this by yourself with good results… but do you want great, fast, successful results?

Not just for your one job search now, but skills and confidence to help you get the right career for you for your lifetime. I, as your career coach, will give you much more than one coaching session for this specific job you want this year.

I will support you to feel confident and motivated so that you are secure and happy in the career decisions you make.

 

What can I do and will I do as your career coach?

I wanted to write a blog to tell you what you can expect if you secure me as your career coach. I am passionate about supporting and coaching ambitious career seekers to work in their dream job

 

I can add value to you

o   My coaching style will add value to you and your job search as I support and motivate you to answer critical questions to ensure you focus on the right career strategy.

o   I have created and developed practical resources to add value to your practical toolkit and give you the best way to be the strongest candidate in the running.

 

I will put you and your career 1st

o   I know it’s like a part time job trying to find a new job, and some days it’s just such a hassle. With my coaching you will get me giving you the passion and motivation to keep going. I will remind you where you want to be and give you support and encouragement to keep going and secure a new job.

o   I know you have various people around you, some giving good advice and some being more cautious to protect you. As your career coach I will put YOU first and be the voice of motivation, ambition and success for YOU. I put that in capitals because its’s super important to me.

o   I’m unapologetic about my focused approach. This job search is yours and you will be doing the new job. I try not to let other influence you and keep you on track by putting your perspective and focus first. Trust me the outcome will be amazing and will result in the perfect job and career for YOU.

 

I will be your cheerleader

o   Like I said I am unapologetic with my focused approach and motivation skills. This will benefit you because my coaching style is for me to be the positive support you need.

o   You can expect and enjoy the cheer leader approach I take. Because when your job search is going through a tough time and you didn’t get that job interview- I will be here to pick you up, coach and motivate you for the next (right) job interview!  Think of me as your career cheerleader

o   Also, trust me, I know that your spouse or close friends might not understand why you want a new job, and they might not be as supportive and motivating as you really need right now. Fear not – I am here!! And I guarantee to be here for your career journey.

 

I will give you a practical toolkit

o   I will bring you great, successful, user friendly, really useful and practical tools to make up part of your application. For example a successful CV, a powerful positive covering letter, and the strongest portfolio to showcase your specific talents.

o   My coaching approach however is not to do all the practical work for you! I will be super honest and say you will action your own toolkit and write these yourself. However I will plan with you, providing and giving you focused and strong guidelines. I will also keep you on track and share my experiences in what works well at each stage of the job search (I have had loads of experience of this!)

 

My expectations as your career coach – Actions speak louder than words

I believe that I can explain all of my skills and coaching approach but the best way for you to believe me is to hear from my clients or see the results for yourself. Actions truly speak louder than words.

Here are some of my client’s experiences to bring my coaching work to life for you.  Also check out my testimonials to get a flavour of my style and real coaching experiences – here!

 

Client 1

Mrs T had the opportunity at work to get promoted. The competition for this was fierce and she knew she had to positively stand out and not make any silly application errors. Her corporate company had high expectations and things like spelling errors or waffling would definitely put your application on the ‘no’ pile.

I coached Mrs T throughout her complete promotion application, from CV stages, to job application (you know the online ones where there are 5 questions with 500 words), to her job interview and the roleplay she knew she had to nail.

We spent about 12 hours working altogether and she got that amazing promotion, which resulted in a pay rise of 75% (yes really!).

 

Client 2

Mr B was struggling to complete his qualification and was a bit lost with what career path he wanted to follow and why. During our 5 months of coaching I worked to focus his energy on one area at a time and fit all the job and studying jigsaw pieces together instead of his trying to juggle loads of glass balls.

My main coaching approach for Mr B was to motivate him and keep him on track. He needed more of that cheerleader (professional poker I like to call it) to poke him every week to put a plan together and stick to it.

I had two focuses here, one was to make sure he planned and completed his plans and secondly to give him life skills for him to use and have in his toolkit for future exams and job searches.

 

Client 3

Mrs E was a shorter coaching experience. She is a mum returning to work, with a less than supportive husband (sorry but honest). Mrs E wanted to start a new career which would make her feel secure and responsible for something other than her lovely children.

I spent time with her to build and improve her confidence, talk her through her real options and coached her using some key investigation questions. These questions focused her to really put herself first, be a motivating and supportive voice for her and help her find her niche.

Mrs E has now started a part time position, as the great start she needs to her new Accounting career.

 

Expectations of a career coach – final words!

I’ll be super honest, I can’t promise you a new job (I wish I could), but if you have me as your career coach, I will promise that for a few hours a week I will keep you engaged, on track and focused on your career results and success.

 

Give it a try, there are loads of ways for you to get to know me and get in touch – below are a few….

 

• I offer free discovery calls – Why.. because I know career coaching is a new opportunity and I want you to get to know me and check that I can help you and that we’re on the same page.
• Opt in – My current opt-in is available via my website ‘Top 10 tips to nail that job interview’ – just share your email address.
• FB Business Page – Here
• FB Group – confidential space cos I know you don’t want your work colleagues or boss seeing your stuff on their newsfeed – available here

 

Check out my other blogs here

Thanks! Speak soon. Helen x