Daily Job Tip: What is the difference between a Career Counselor and a Career Coach?
What’s the difference between a Career Coach and a Career Counselor? When would I hire a Career Professional?
A Counselor - whether it is career, financial, marriage, etc - looks at their client’s history to get an understanding of how to help that client overcome a challenge. A Coach - again, career, financial, and even marriage Coach - looks at the client’s future and helps them plan for and drive for their vision.
Every major athlete uses a Coach. Michael Phelps has a coach to help him achieve his goals - Gold Medals. Colt McCoy - the UT Quarterback and a local hero - has many coaches - The head coach, quarterbacks coach, and the offensive coordinate (who is really a coach). Many clients hear this analogy, and the light bulb pops on. These people are achieving their dreams not only on their ability, but with the help of someone helping them along the path to greatness. As Career Coaches, we are essentially doing the same thing. We help clients achieve success starting in varying states.
Some clients know exactly what they want to do with their career, and we help them execute a plan that gets them more interviews and more job offers in a shorter amount of time. I have a slide that I incorporate into my presentations which is pretty powerful dealing with knowing when to hire a Coach, Counselor, or any outside help. If you make $50,000 per year, and you lose your job. Not counting Unemployment, you lose $961/week being unemployed. Statistics show that someone making $50K will take 12-20 weeks to find a new job. That is $11,539 - $19,240 of lost wages. If a Career Coach helped reduce that time by just 10% (and many times we see much better results), that becomes $1,154 to $1,924. If you make $100,000, then double that. It’s worth the investment when most Career Coaches charge less than $1,000.
Some clients just don’t know what they want to do with their careers. They are burnt out, tired, bored, or just need a change. We help them develop and execute a plan to making a career shift. When you are in the wrong career, it is like being naturally right-handed and forced to write with your left-hand. After awhile you just learn to cope, but it is never as fulfilling and natural as writing with your right-hand.
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Jay Markunas is a Fortune 500 HR Professional and Career Coach. Along with Partner, Angela Loeb, he helps people stuck in their career get momentum. Their company, Great Occupations, has the Job Search Boot Camp Live Event – a half-day event for job seekers, The Job Search Boot Camp Radio Show – which gives career advice, and The Art of Finding a Career You Love – which helps people who are burnt out and ready for a career change.