A Coach or a Therapist

Some people are afraid of going to a career consultant sometimes called a coach. I had a client once ask me what is the difference between a “transition coach” and a psychologist or therapist. I believe this is why some folks are afraid of using anyone in a counseling role, they are afraid to deal with past issues.

Here’s the biggest difference I know of between a career coach and a psychological therapist: the career consultant is focused on your behaviors and not your motivations. I was reminded of this recently when I was facilitating a transition support group. We were discussing the importance of networking and asking for help and advice in the job search. One of the group members said that they couldn’t ask a stranger for help or advice. Another group member asked why this was a difficulty. As the first member began to respond, I interrupted the conversation. I pointed out that in this venue “the why” was not the right question; that is, “why” is the realm of the psychotherapist. The right question is, what will it take for you to make the change in your behavior and ask for help and advice in your job search.

Now, I understand that many people have issues and traumas in their past and others were conditioned by the events of their life into who they are today. As a career consultant, I am focused on my clients current behavior and changes that will be more productive in their career growth. The past may influence the present--as Freud said, “The child is the father of the man”-- but people can change their behavior without in-depth psychoanalysis.

I see people every day that have big issues and problems and their career crisis or job loss has brought those issues to the foreground. In some of these cases, the folks I am talking to are suffering from depression, either acute or chronic and really need professional psychological help and I refer them to a therapist or psychologist or psychiatrist for immediate help. The person in crisis needs to deal with the emotional problem first before continuing their job search.

Yet, many others have “issues” that don’t require medical or psychological attention. They need to adopt some new behaviors, change some bad habits and move on. That is were the coach is best suited to point out and direct the needed change. I point out things my client doesn’t see, help my client develop more skills and cheer on my client to overcome an obstacle and succeed. 

If you are struggling with your job search and it’s going on longer than you believe it should, call a career consultant, contact me. I’d be happy to work with you and aid you on your way to gainful employment.

Passion - Proficiency - Profit

   Career coaches often assess their clients on the Three Ps. Passion, Proficiency and Profit. What do you love doing? What do you excel at? What will the market pay for? Often clients tell me that they’ve been doing something for over twenty years and they don’t have any passion for it. In fact they hate what they do! They do it because it paid the bills. Often they say they would have liked to change jobs, but they had a pair of golden handcuffs – meaning they needed to make a certain salary to pay all the bills. 

The 3Ps

   Changing careers or industries requires some serious investigation. Begin with what is your passion: associated with this is assessing where your talents lie. If you are artistic and have been working in an accounting job that doesn’t allow any artistic expression, what did you do? Maybe you took pottery classes to fulfill your talent. But now you’d like a job that allowed you to express yourself, however, you’ve not seen a lot of job postings citing pottery and clay molding skills; so what do you do? 


   Look at all your talents, strengths and passions, and list them. Then what are all the things you are good at? List your proficiencies. What are all the jobs you can do? List the jobs that will pay you a salary that will meet your fundamental need. If we were to set these lists into a Venn diagram, the intersection of the three would point to your target career.


   Changing careers may require a drop in pay or some additional education or training. But if you’ve recently been let go from your job, it’s a good time to assess all your opportunities. Many clients report that changing careers regardless of the salary was the best thing that ever happened to them. Why? Because the three Ps were aligned in their new career. They loved what they were doing and their salary was enough to meet their needs. Lastly these folks also report a decrease in stress and anxiety at the office and at home. 


   Once you know what you would enjoy doing and know that you’d be good at it... there is another world of jobs and opportunities open to you.