Has anyone worked with a Career Coach?

I am leaning towards getting a bit of extra help in my job hunt. I have received a few proposals via LinkedIn, and only one actually read my info and looked into my background a bit instead of just sending me a boiler plate response. I just spoke with him and he definitely sounds like he may be able to help and has good recommendations, including someone I have worked with. He wasn't the pushy sales type.  It looks like it will probably be about $[redacted at request of coach] (not paid at once - I won't do that in case it isn't a good fit) for all of the sessions and access to info and tools.  

So has anyone here used a Career coach and are they worth it? What are your experiences?

Thanks, GRM!!!!

I never have, the only time I even thought about it was when I was laid off 5 years ago. Part of my severance was to choose between $5k in employment services help (job search, resumes, coaching, etc) or $4k in cash. 

I took the cash. 

As part of one of my "downsizing events" I received a group of sessions with career coach as part of my compensation package. I would NEVER have paid for one myself based on my years of experience, but it was free so I figured why not? It turned out to be a really good experience and brought a lot of value. I can't say that he got me a job directly, but he upped my interview skills, what I was looking for and getting a sense of my value. I would pay for it again for sure.  

My dad did, out of curiosity when he retired (long story, he got a package due to a buyout) because it was provided for free. He highly recommended it to myself and my siblings. I haven't used one though. 

Well, I've hired one. I used LinkedIn to get proposals (one of the "free" features of it). Of the 5 proposals I received, this coach was the only one to actually read my comments, look at my profile, and even my racing website, and wrote a personalized email to me. The 15 minute phone call consult ended up being 45 minutes as he was asking relevant questions and genuinely listening. The proposal he sent the next day outlining his plan demonstrated he was listening and taking notes. The other four replies were boiler plate "I can get you $X and land your dream job following these 1 million steps!" Not for me. 

I figure I'll do a "build thread" here and share what I'm learning a bit.  What is included is four 1-hour 1-on-1 sessions to go over Self-assessment, identify potential industries/companies to target for opportunities, resume building, and linked-in review. There are other sessions including mock interviews, networking, management training, etc. It also includes email and text accesses to the coach, and webinars.  

First assignment was a career assessment test. It is basically a summary of my work style and personality type. Similar to a Meyer-Briggs test but different. This one is targeted at how I work, my strengths, my challenges (not weaknesses) and how I can work with other work styles. The second part of the assignment is to go through the report and mark up where I agree and disagree with it, and where I have questions. So far it has the big picture correct and some minor details are missing or incorrect, and the test company says that is expected. I have my first session on Saturday morning to review. We shall see how that goes.

Right now I feel like I'm in a canoe floating towards a waterfall paddling as hard as I can towards the river bank. I'm trying to time it right so that i'm at the river bank as soon as I'm at the top of the waterfall. I'm hoping this coach will be like adding a little motor assist to get me to the side a little easier. I'll still be doing most of the work, but the little motor will give me that extra push.

Work provided one for my development last year. I would recommend him in an instant and if anyone wants his info PM me I'll gladly share it. He is very private, discrete and he knows what he's doing. 

You went to RIT right?  Contact their Alumni Career coaches. They do it at a discount.

https://www.rit.edu/careerservices/alumni/career-assistance

Also... Call me.  I'm happy to provide help pro bono..  Full disclosure.. I'm not great, but I'm here.  

I do receive coaching from my graduate school.  

My step sister is a career coach.  Her life is also one of the biggest continuous train wrecks I have ever seen.  You can't make up some of the crazy scenarios she finds herself in.  I have known her now for almost 40 years, and the level of self destruction, bad choices, and total lack of any common sense when it comes to how she should conduct her personal affairs continues to amaze me.   How in the world can people pay her for advice?  If they only knew!

In reply to tr8todd :

My wife says that's normal.  They can fix everyone's life but their own. 

bobzilla said:

Work provided one for my development last year. I would recommend him in an instant and if anyone wants his info PM me I'll gladly share it. He is very private, discrete and he knows what he's doing. 

PMRacing - I'm interested to read this "build thread" and the analogy is terrific. 
 

Bob - Can you tell us more about your employer offering a development coach? Honestly, this seems like something I could stand to utilize.. but I'm not sure. 

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :

I did explore that avenue a bit but decided to try local and experienced in my field first. 

Did you go to RIT? Do I know you?  LOL  I don't recall anyone in MN.  Thanks for the offer!  I'll PM you.

Right now I'm working on some questions about the assessment test (DiSC Workplace) and some self reflection questions. I hate self reflection questions. Biggest one I hate: "Tell me about yourself". My answer is usually, "well, what do you want to know?".  

Also some questions like, work you are proud of, mistakes made, problem solving type questions. All this should be easy but it's taking me longer than I want. I guess that's where some of the coaching will come in to play to help me improve this stuff.

Not a coach, but I did pay to have someone help write my resume. It cost $400, it stung paying that while out of work but it did lead to me getting a good job. I've shared the format with some of my other friends and they've adapted it for them and it has gotten all of them new jobs as well. I think it is 5/5 so far. 

For me, the hardest part of a job search is getting in the door. Once I get to the interview, I am usually good. However having someone give you an honest opinion on you is invaluable, having them help you get better can make all the difference. 

So I had my first 1-on-1 phone session with the coach on Saturday. It went very well. Natural conversation and questions. I think I made a good choice of coach.

This call was about going over the assessment test results, and figuring out how to focus on what specific skills can be used to land me the next job. Also what I absolutely cannot change about myself and do not want to deal with in a new job. The test also gives strategies for working with different personality types. A lot of self reflection type work. Not easy for me. Also we have laid out a "Success Plan" and an  "Action Plan" with steps to take and work on over the next few weeks.

I wish I had started this process sooner. So far it seems like it will be worth the effort, however, it is not a fast process. If you're in a similar situation, I'd say at least 2 months time will be required to get results. 

I know this may be kind of vague right now, but I don't want to give the guy's techniques away for free. It is how he is making his living as well.  I'll share my experiences as I can. If you want more details, PM me.

In reply to PMRacing :

It took me several months to get where I am and had they kept him on I'd be in a much better place still. It's not a fast fix. If it was, ot wouldn't last. I miss my time with Dan. He was great. 

In reply to PMRacing :

You were on formula. Had lowered toyota pickup right? I had the flatbed Toyota and was on Baja. 
 

my gmail just reminded me we corresponded about this in 2016. Hahaha

Graduated from engineering school in the later 80's and moved to Dallas the day TI laid off 2500 engineers and the S&L recession was in full swing.

Out of nothing else to do I went to one of the headhunters who charged like 10% of starting salary. While I did not want to pay that, they did, as part of the effort, groom you for interviews and sharpen up the resume.  Gave me much more self awareness and did not cost a penny.

In the end it was moot since I ended up getting an interview with a company that I shotgun mailed with a form resume six months earlier.  ( to be fair, the interview skills they taught probably helped)  They were desperate for engineering candidates who could speak Spanish and or French for positions in Gabon and South America. They hired me  because I spoke both and then sent me to Nigeria. That is when I realized that the working world was run by idiots.

In reply to PMRacing :

I have taken several career tests in High School, one corporation to figure out my career path, and at college. When I started working for a college and I use to give The Innate Assessment test. I always felt like testing like that was so easy to manipulate that I never got much out of it. I stopped giving the test because I could determine much more with a 5 minute conversation and lay out a solid plan. So is the assessment test more of a help in the job applications and interview process, or did it help you in the making of your success and action plan?

This particular test helps identify how I work and relate to others at work based on different working styles. SO for someone who is reserved and analytical, and mainly introverted, how do they work with someone who is outgoing and an extravert. There is no "correct" answer, but it helps identify your style and gives you suggestions on how to work with other work styles. It mainly makes you think about yourself and how you can adapt, but not change, your work style in different situations. From there it my coach is helping me identify industries of interest, then possible job titles where my work style is a best fit. Things like that.

Last night I emailed my coach around 10:00 p.m. after working on some assignments asking if he thought I was on the right direction and to give him some additional info. He replied at 11:00! He had read my answers and even gave feedback. I think this is going well. 

Right now I am identifying industries of interest, listing what I know about them, if I think I'd be a good fit based on my skillset, and what skills might be lacking, and what the industry trend is. For example, I'm an automotive engineer, so I listed things like trucking and heavy equipment engineering, biomedical engineering, tools, etc. Then listed how my skills matched and my interest level for each one.  Between that and some interesting meetings at work, I have a bit more clarity on direction right now and a couple of companies I wish to dig deeper into for possible future opportunities. The goal of these assignments and meetings is to help me formulate a plan of attack and identify the steps I need to take to get into the job I want. It is still up to me, but my coach is a facilitator. He has been down this path already and is just pointing me in the right direction. It's up to me to actually walk/run down the path.

In reply to PMRacing :

Sounds like this guy has you on the right track.  

Forgot to update this last time.  On the good-ish news side, I'm not laid off for another three months. I received a stay of executio...er...employment. They need me, but can't afford to keep me. How a multi-billion dollar international company can't afford required talent (they're even rejecting $20 software licenses) baffles me.  But I am keeping the pressure on myself to find something sooner than later.

I've had two more sessions with my career coach.  He is definitely helping me narrow down the search range and getting me focused. I have identified two main companies but trying not to get my hopes up on them. This last session was spent reviewing my resume and making it much stronger (and shorter). I am also working on my personal "sales pitch" and a matrix of companies vs. my skills for that job and interest level in that job. There are a lot of jobs I have the skills for but no interest in and vice versa.

So far, this has not been easy. I didn't expect it to be, but it's harder than I thought. I have a lot of homework, but like I've described earlier, the coach is the little motor added to the canoe to help me to get to the river bank before the waterfall just a bit sooner. He has been very responsive to questions, given me new ways to think about things, and pointed me in the right direction vs. just giving me the answer. And that is exactly what I would expect a coach to do. It's me having to get my traction to go in that direction and find the answers I need. 

PMRacing. Sent you a PM for more info.

In reply to jimbob_racing :

Replied.

OK, session 4. So far my resume has been rewritten and more focused on what I want. LinkedIn is the next target. He has also helped me learn how to use my network and reach out to people I know at companies I am interested in.

The resume is getting a workout already. Through some networking I'm getting it in front of a couple of very well known motorsports companies that also have diversified into more than just racing. I have it in the hands of VP level people at each of them!  Not saying anymore so I don't jinx myself :)

The resume was redesigned to highlight more of what has been accomplished and how it helped each company. I've heard it may times before but never figured out exactly to write it. My coach brought it out of me.  My LinkedIn content is being designed to compliment and expand on the resume. Again, the coach is just giving me tips, pointers, and examples. I still have to write everything. I'm trying not to embellish and be truthful, but make it sound really good to get the attention of recruiters better. I seem to do OK during the interviews, but getting their attention has been lacking. So that is the goal of the LinkedIn redesign. 

Next steps are discussions focusing on interviews, salary negotiation, success at the new job, etc. These require extra investment, but I am still below the threshold of the increase in salary expected so I am going to go through with them. I'm making an investment in myself.

And once a new job is landed and secure, I hope to move on from this build thread back to my garage build thread that has been put on hold due to all of this mess!  

I've had 2 more sessions with the coach.  

1st session was a short notice session.  I had lunch with a couple of directors from a company I am interested in. They aren't hiring right now, but my networking got me in front of them at least (fingers, toes, legs, arms, etc. crossed!) So the session with the coach was to strategize what I was going to do, things to mention, what not to say, and even details about suggestions on what to order (not messy foods), wear dark clothing so spills don't show up.  That was followed up with a mock interview where we had causal conversation and he asked me questions and I bounced some questions off of him. All in all it went well. And some of the practiced questions came up during discussion during lunch!  I need to follow up later this week with them.

2nd session was to review how to network using LinkedIn better. Looking at companies of interest, seeing who works there, and  if I have any kind of connections with them. Then how do I get myself introduced or how to introduce myself to someone at that company. This is a hard one for me because I do not like cold calls myself. But his spin on how to do it makes it less annoying and more like trying to figure out how it can be mutually beneficial.  Goal of the second session is to actually get a conversation started and apply for an opening of interest by the end of this week.

Progress is being made!  I did make one of the guys at lunch laugh though. He knows what my situation is. I said I fell like Sebastian Vettel right now. I need to keep pushing at my current position, but don't have a new contract for next season.