Looking for a job can be discouraging. Being rejected can be downright depressing. Getting a promotion or a new position is exciting. Any career transition (whether good or bad) tends to be confusing and sometimes scary. Your whole career path will be full of emotions that run the gamut from celebratory to those feelings that are akin to a grievous sense of loss.
While you may have a support group in the form of family and friends, these well meaning loved ones may not necessarily understand what it is like to be in your shoes, nor do they have the acumen to point you in the right direction.
A Career Machine
Though the Internet is full of information about careers, which is beneficial to a certain degree, much of it is not in touch with the human side of working and career development. Instead, the self-serve content is essentially pre-packaged to cater to a generic audience with no personalized components that actually reflect your individual needs, skill set, and career aspirations.
That approach may work for certain situations, but when you are in the midst of a roller coaster of emotions that go with career transitions and job searches, you really could use something more. You need to be supported by a professional.
The Hard and Soft Approach
This is where a career expert like a career coach can offer that human touch experience that helps you weather those storms, conditions you to go the distance, and is there to toast your success when it all works out.
The Benefits of a Human Connection
This personalized approach is especially reassuring if you are second-guessing yourself or if you are lacking the confidence you need after being unemployed for an amount of time, whether it’s a significant amount of time or not. This level of personal assistance with your career also helps you feel as though you are accomplishing more and receiving the type of advice and recommendations that are tailored specifically to your unique situation. In a search that previously felt one-sided, you now have a guide; you now have a listening ear, shoulder, and whole body and mind to help you get to the most appropriate destination you’re seeking. A career coach will certainly offer understanding and emotional support when a client is nervous about a job interview or apprehensive about changing career paths, but this coach is there to help you “buck-up,” also, and will be firm and offer constructive criticism when it is necessary for making the type of improvements that will get you in front of a prospective employer.
In order to best serve your needs and provide the human connection that helps smooth the bumps in the career road, a career coach takes the time to get to know you as a person so they can offer the best advice. It’s about building a relationship and taking the journey with you, that sets a career coach aside from any other type of career assistance. In fact, they do more than just sit next to you on that rollercoaster and figuratively hold your hand. A career coach gets you off the emotional ride and helps you have “strategic focus,” showing you where you need to go and what you need to do in order to achieve the agreed-upon career goals that you have hammered out together.
To further the ability of a career coach to achieve this with every client they serve, Laumeister developed a unique way to match up career coaches with people that could use the personal touch of someone who understands them personally and is passionate about helping them succeed. CoachMarket identifies the career coach that has the industry expertise, connections, and knowledge to provide sound recommendations that will fit you. This means having someone on board who understands more than the emotions involved – and much like a sports coach, they get you, even more than you do yourself.
While the Internet offers detached, often pre-packaged advice and your friends and family feel for you, it is your career coach that feels, acts, and motivates on your behalf.