Career coach or counsellor?

When prospective clients are thinking about some evidence-based coaching, to help with making significant positive change, they often like to have a brief phone chat with me. It’s great – they get a sense of who I am, how I work and how we might work together. And I can answer any questions that they might have.

One thing I am often asked, is this: should I be considering career coaching or career counselling?

Oooh yes! Such an important question and one I realised I’ve never addressed here, on the blog.

So, here goes:

As a coach, I absolutely help people find work they really love. Career counsellors do that too, but in a different way.

Career counsellors are likely to give you questionnaires to assess your personality and then suggest roles that they think might be suitable. They can also help with appropriate training pathways.

I am much more interested in finding practical ways for you to work out what you want to do and how to get there. I come from a position of assuming that as the expert in your life and that any career decisions that you make will be far more satisfying, long-term than any I can suggest for you. So, I ask questions and offer activities to help you explore the options expansively, creatively and effectively. I also look at factors that tend to influence career choices, things like: confidence, motivation, decision-making, values and expectations.

If you have any questions about coaching, do shout out! I’d love to help.

Tags: life-coaching, Melbourne