Frequently Asked Questions
2. What career coaching is not.
3. How is career coaching different from therapy or counseling?
4. Who partners with a career and life coach and why?
5. What happens when you partner with a coach?
6. How do I start working with a career coach?
7. What happens once I start working with the right coach?
8. How long should I work with a coach?
10. Is my career coaching tax deductible?
11. What if you don’t give me the answers I want?
1. What is career coaching?
- Creating accelerated results on what you really want in your life
- Greater focus than you might have on your own
- Identifying your strengths and leveraging them for the best results
- An opportunity to have a sounding board in making important decisions
- A professional co-creative relationship
- When you have an accountability partner, your thoughts become actions and those actions become results!
2. What career coaching is not.
- Therapy
- Excavating deep emotional pain or trauma from the past
- Addiction counseling
- Making decisions for you
- Diagnosing your problems
- Parenting
- Telling you what to do
3. How is career coaching different from therapy or counseling?
Therapy is about excavating the past, looking at family of origin issues and processing deep feelings. Working with a therapist might include exploring issues such as addiction, grief, eating disorders, low self-esteem, physical, sexual or emotional abuse.
Career coaching focuses on the present and the future and relates to specific goals. In other words, coaching focuses on closing the gap between where you are presently and where you would like to be in your life. A coach asks powerful facilitation questions, listens closely and guides the client to their own answers.
I may change hats at times, with your permission, and act as a consultant, making suggestions or offering career change advice. This might include such things as recommending books, job search resources, resume and cover letter writing, business start-up consultation, practicing behavioral interviewing skills, etc.
4. Who partners with a career and life coach and why?
All types of people partner with a coach, but they all have some common characteristics:
- Something is missing in their lives and they need help to find it.
- They want more growth in their personal and business lives.
- They want to improve themselves.
- They want to reach more of their goals.
- They would like a sounding board and accountability partner.
- They want to find their dream job or start a business of their own.
5. What happens when you partner with a coach?
Many things; and all of them are good!
- You become serious about creating results that you really want in your life.
- You stop putting up with what holds you back.
- You create momentum that makes it easier to get results.
- You set bigger and better goals.
- You make better decisions.
- And, you may even have more fun in life.
6. How do I start working with a career coach?
- First, think about what you are looking to get out of career coaching.
- Then begin to search for a coach that specializes in your primary area of challenge, incompletion or frustration.
- Look for the spark and rapport you feel when connecting on the phone as you speak with a potential career coach.
- When exploring the opportunity to work with me, I may invite you to join me for a 20 minute complimentary career transition consultation to assess your overall life and career satisfaction and identify some specific goals that are right for you.
- If we are a good match for each other, I will invite you to begin working with me to design your ideal life and career based on your true passions and purpose.
7. What happens once I start working with the right coach?
You will:
- become more committed to what you want.
- discover exactly what is ideal for you.
- create clarity that allows you to make decisions with ease.
- take decisive action that moves you forward with increased momentum.
- complete goals that you have been unable to achieve on your own.
- be committed to your own growth.
- put your physical and emotional health first for optimal balance.
- get out of your own way and move beyond the ways you stop yourself.
- increase your confidence.
- close the gap between what you say you want and what you’re actually doing in your life.
- experience freedom and the rhythm of your own satisfaction.
- find your dream job, start a new career or business.
8. How long should I expect to work with you?
Clients work with me all different lengths of time, depending on where they start and where they want to go to reach all of their goals. The way you like to work, your learning style, what you want to achieve and the complexity of the situation will impact the length of our coaching together.
It also very much depends on how quickly you want to move forward. Some people need or prefer speed so I offer intensive solutions for them while others want to change habits and patterns which tend to need accountability and focus over a longer period of time. So for some, it’s one intensive day together while for others it’s a few months to a few years.
Once I am your coach, the door is always open to you. Some clients do return for new chapters of work together when they are ready to take on something new or to access support on an imminent decision or impending action.
9. What training do you have?
I am a Certified Life and Career Coach in the Los Angeles area, trained by the Life Purpose Institute, accredited by the International Coach Federation. I work with a 7 Step Model for Clarity & Results that is not only creative, fun and results-oriented, but integrates all aspects of who you are. I am passionate about self-discovery and facilitate many powerful exercises that help you uncover your natural gifts and what truly fulfills you.
Additionally, I hold a BA in Psychology as well as a BS in Mass Communications and have successes in every type of career model. These include starting my own business twice, climbing the ladder at a worldwide corporation, managing a team at a national public company, and consulting at a fast-growing start-up, and family-owned business. I am an excellent planner, brainstorming partner and creative problem-solver with two decades of experience as a corporate manager, business owner and marketer. And as a bonus, I have even trained personally with Julia Ross, renowned author of The Mood Cure in Amino Acid Therapy and nutritional solutions to stress and your bad mood.
10. Is my career coaching tax deductible?
Expenses for continuing education to maintain and grow your business and professional skills may be tax deductible in the US. Please discuss this with your accountant to learn more.
11. What if you don’t give me the answers I want?
I am committed to results and having each session be meaningful and productive. I ask you to take responsibility for creating value and results for yourself. I see myself as a career coach so it is primarily up to you to do the work and apply what you have learned to your life, to ask for what you want each session, and to give me feedback about what works or doesn’t work for you. The results of our work together are cumulative with the best results happening because of your consistency and follow through.
As a client, your role is to:
- Be willing to invest in yourself.
- Name the takeaways you would like to have.
- Arrive or call me at the agreed upon time.
- Be centered and ready to work.
- Allow time to process what you learned and complete the action steps you agree to take on.
- Be open-minded. Try new approaches. Experiment.
- Be willing to change your beliefs and patterns if they no longer serve you.
- Negotiate what feels “do-able” for you, understanding that I ask clients to leap out of their comfort zone so they can create exactly the life they want.
As your coach, my role is to:
- Listen intently to what you say and what you may not have noticed.
- Ask powerful questions that create new possibilities.
- Offer objective observation.
- Be an accountability partner.
- Help you close the gap from where you are to where you want to be.
- Provide a sounding board to volley with.
- Hold up your vision, even when you forget.
- Ask you to stretch yourself through action.
- Support you to achieve your goals through a variety of powerful techniques.
- Maintain professional boundaries including confidentiality.
- Offer career change advice.
12. Where will we meet?
There are two answers to this question.
In many cases, rather than fighting traffic and looking for a parking space, my clients call me on the telephone from across town and across the country. With the direct focus and reduced distractions of coaching by phone, my clients spend less time out of their busy days getting more results.
I also offer private, in-person, one and two day VIP intensives plus live workshops and multi-day retreats in the Los Angeles area and other fabulous getaway locations.
