Introduction
The job market nowadays is fierce and fast-paced to the point that it could be difficult to stand out in a large pool of applicants. Consulting a career coach can help narrow down your job search as you gain clarity and direction in choosing opportunities that will contribute to your professional growth.
A career coach offers assistance in navigating the job market by pointing you towards the ideal professional path that aligns with your goals. They’ll help you realise which career you’d likely excel in based on your strengths and advise you on which skills you need to acquire or improve to get noticed by employers.
Working with a career coach can be extremely impactful for job seekers and those who want to advance in their respective careers. Career coaches provide you with industry insights and guide you on how to position yourself as a valuable asset to an organisation.
Career coaches support and motivate you as you face challenges and equip you with the confidence needed to succeed. To help maximise your sessions, we’ve itemised what to prepare and what to discuss with a career coach.
How to Prepare for Your Initial Consultation With a Career Coach?
Once you’ve vetted and decided on a career coach in your area, take some time to prepare for your initial consultation. Take note of your career aspirations and weigh them alongside your current set of skills. Also, bring your updated resume, cover letter, and other supporting documents you created for your job application.
Through self-reflection and data collection, you’ll be able to provide your career coach with a baseline of where you’re at professionally. From there, they can recommend actionable steps that will enable you to get ahead in your career. Below are 8 life-changing questions we encourage you to discuss with your career coach.
8 Life-Changing Questions to Ask a Career Coach
1. How do I channel my strengths?
Knowing how to capitalise on your strengths is essential to your professional success. A career coach can offer an objective perspective on which of your existing skills already work to your advantage and which ones you need to improve. They’ll also be able to suggest new skills you can learn.
When you know how to play by your strengths and weaknesses, you’ll feel more equipped and able to optimise your performance at work. You’ll be able to utilise, hone, and master new skills that will allow you to boost your productivity and efficiency. Discussing a development strategy with your career coach allows you to progress in your profession and match the demands of employers or management in your industry.
2. How do I overcome obstacles in my career?
It helps to be direct in your line of questioning to get actionable solutions. A career coach should not have to sugarcoat their recommendations. They need to be able to give you honest feedback to propel you towards achieving your professional goals. Understand that it is completely normal to struggle in our pursuit of professional success.
When we encounter challenges at work, a career coach can help us identify roadblocks that are getting in between us and our goals. Whether it is rooted in a lack of confidence and/ or time management, or resistance to change, a career coach will empower you with personalised strategies. They will help bridge skills gaps so you overcome career obstacles and arrive at a breakthrough.
3. What are my other career options?
A career coach can help fine-tune your goals to become SMART–Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. This is when you ask yourself what you want to achieve, why you want to achieve it, and what you’re willing to do to get there. With a proper assessment of yourself, a career coach can recommend which roles you should be applying for. They’ll be able to provide a guide to launching your career or advise you on how to move up the career ladder.
Discussing career options with your career coach will help you map out your long-term journey and set short-term objectives. They’ll help maximise opportunities for professional growth and sustain your engagement with manageable milestones.
4. How can I stand out to employers?
To stand out in a competitive job market such as Dubai, you must remain true to yourself. A career coach will help you define your core values and competencies, and structure your experiences to convey a memorable professional narrative. Just like in movies, your character development is what makes you stand out.
With the counsel of a career coach, you can harness your personal branding to tell your unique professional story effectively. For instance, a career coach could suggest you build a stunning portfolio, personal website, or social media feed to share personal insights on matters you’re passionate about. Your presence or trademark on these platforms could help broaden your reach, inspire rewarding collaborations, and become more marketable to employers.
5. How can I avoid common pitfalls when seeking job opportunities?
Career coaching involves a lot of trial and error. It is not a quick-fix solution, but a continuous learning process that pushes you to become more adaptable to the changing dynamics of the career landscape.
Common pitfalls include not customising or updating your resume for the position you’re applying for, applying for too many jobs at a time that you miss deadlines or fail to follow instructions, and having the wrong attitude during the hiring process. A career coach will be able to give you tips on how you can present and market yourself to potential employers. They’ll also fill you in on the latest industry standards, tools, and trends you can use as leverage.
6. How can I draw positive learnings from setbacks?
As discouraging as setbacks can be, they are inevitable as much as they can be blessings in disguise. It’s a matter of perspective. Working with a career coach will help you shift your focus from failure to a point for improvement. That way, you can draw positive learnings and avoid falling into the same trap in the future.
Career coaches can help you evaluate setbacks starting from what went wrong until you can conjure a formidable solution. A career coach will also help you devise an implementation strategy that you can relay to your employer or supervisor. Your ability to learn from your mistakes shows accountability, resilience, and commitment to professional growth which are all admirable qualities.
7. How can I enhance my communication skills and expand my network?
Being able to communicate effectively is a soft skill you must not overlook or underestimate. A career coach can train you to conquer your shyness and become more vocal so you can network with people. They can also teach you social and non-verbal cues so you know when it’s best to just listen and how to thoughtfully respond.
By expanding your professional network, you are giving yourself access to more untapped opportunities for career advancement. Your ability to connect with people will enable you to form robust and meaningful work partnerships. With the guidance of a career coach, they can suggest events, forums, or conferences you can attend to meet influential people in your industry.
8. How can I avoid burnout?
Anyone can be prone to burnout when we’re pushing ourselves to the brink of exhaustion without knowing when to stop. Some of us may not even know when we first started feeling too fatigued and disengaged. A career coach can help professionals identify the major causes of burnout and think of sustainable solutions.
Burnout is usually triggered by poor work-life balance. Your dedication to your career is commendable and will get you to high places but hard work must not come at the cost of your well-being. Discussing your current workload, responsibilities, and commitments with your career coach may help you establish healthy professional and personal boundaries.
Final Thoughts on What to Discuss With Career Coach
What you discuss with your career coach is pivotal to your professional growth. To get the most out of your sessions, you need to be able to ask relevant and straightforward questions which your career coach will answer with utmost honesty. It’s also important to be amenable to change and constructive feedback. Career coaches are rooting for your success and their job is to provide you with practical and personalised strategies that are tailored to your situation and industry.
At Kompass Consultancy, we strive to foster trust between us, career coaches and our clients. That way, we can recommend a holistic approach that inspires real results in our client’s careers. If you’re looking for a career coach in Dubai, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
