How to Make the Most of Working with a Career Coach

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As you read these words, you are taking another step towards a better future.

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When you consider inviting a career coach to share your journey, you are likely open to change, ambitious in your goals and ready for action. Great career coaches observe your potential, challenge your thinking and support you on your path forward.

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To facilitate this success, career coaches require five key behaviors.

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Be prepared. Every interaction with your career coach matters. Ensure sure that you’re ready to add immediate value to your conversations by gathering your thoughts before your one-on-one session. Create a list of questions and your job preferences and what you’d like assistance with to make the most of your time.

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Be honest. Transparent conversations are the key to any meaningful relationship. Where are you right now in your career? What is getting in the way of what you want? While the answers to some of your career coach’s searching questions might seem invasive, the best way for them to help you land the job of your dreams is to know what your dreams and aspirations are.

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Be coachable. Setting off on a coaching relationship with an open mind is a crucial aspect in change, growth and self-evolution. We may be more set in our ways than we think. Being coachable means having the courage to embrace different perspectives.

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Be targeted. In a world where anything is possible, your career coach needs you to be focused on what you want to get out of your career. Much as they would like to, they cannot get into your head to help you find this clarity. Coaches can’t ask great questions if they don’t understand the direction of travel and it is up to you to share your motivations, hopes and dreams. It is your career, not theirs, so be targeted in what you wish for.

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Be committed. Action equals results. A career change will not happen overnight and it certainly won’t happen without a considerable commitment to change. There will likely be obstacles and setbacks along the way, so adopting an attitude of resilience and determination is essential to see things through. Your coach can guide and cajole you, but only you can choose to take responsibility for your future.

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Investing time and energy into the services of a career coach could be the best decision that you make for your career, but that investment will not be maximized if you are not ready to make the most of the relationship.

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Can you say the same in return?