Dispelling the 10 Myths About Career Coaching

As the Founder and Director of Career Coach Institute, I’ve had the privilege of attending a number of conferences on coaching and on career development. Many of the people to whom I talked seemed to assume that because they had been doing resume writing, or worked in an employment agency, or had done recruiting, or were a “personal coach,” they could do career coaching.

We all know that there are slight distinctions in the content of what career coaches do in comparison with career counselors, depending on the approach used. However, in my tour of several countries over the past few months dialoguing with career professionals, I have found that the primary differences are in the methodology coaches use. I believe there is a place for both career counseling and career coaching. Certain clients desire a more directive approach (which can be found on one end of the spectrum among both counseling and coaching), others want to take the initiative in their discovery process. These posts are designed to discuss some of the common misconceptions or “myths” about career coaching so that you can decide for yourself whether your approach is more counseling or coaching-oriented and whether you might want to expand in either direction.

Effective career coaching requires training and expertise in at least two areas: career development (including theories, models, how to help a client find their ideal work, and how to design and execute a job search strategy) and coaching (defined as an interactive process of exploring work-related issues leading to effective action). In coaching, the coach acts as both a catalyst for and facilitator of individual and, in turn, organizational development and transformation. Let’s explore some of the aspects of coaching that are often confusing to both career professionals and their clients.

Myth #1: A career coach must have a Master’s Degree in counseling.

Currently, there are no educational requirements for coaches in most U.S states. (However, some states such as Colorado subject some coaches to state regulations; check with your state’s employment or labor department to see what the requirements are where you live.) In 48 of the 50 states, career counselors are required to have a degree in counseling, but career coaching is not the same as career counseling, as we will see below. If you are going to be a counselor, you need a counseling degree. But career coaching is a discrete skill, the primary prerequisites being specific coaching training and a knowledge of career development principles. Whether practicing in the U.S. or abroad, degrees in counseling or psychology are not required to be a highly effective coach. (Some therapists and social workers who have completed our program found they had to “unlearn” some habits to be effective coaches.)

Each of the next 9 days we'll review the other myths so stop back by to see more! Meanwhile, if you have questions about career coaching, visit my web site, www.careercoachinstitute.com

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