Career Coaching – Always in Demand

When the recession was at it’s worst, many people expected the demand for Career Coaching to drop as fast as house prices.  This was based mainly on the following assumptions –

• Anyone in a job is not going to risk moving jobs
• No one would dream of changing career direction when the economy was so unstable.
• Anyone miserable, unhappy, dissatisfied, overworked, under pressure etc. would be willing be tolerate their current circumstances at the risk of having no job at all.
• Anyone out of work will emigrate

As a Career Coach I have found that the demand for Career Coaching did not decrease.  People were still looking for Career Coaches but their needs were different.  The majority of clients who came to me for Career Coaching during the recessionary years were highly skilled, qualified and experienced individuals who had been made redundant.  The individual needs of these clients varied e.g. some wanted to work on maximising their competitiveness in the job market, others wanted to upskill in order to change their career direction, while others were taking some time out from their career and wanted to develop a longer term career management plan.  Whatever their individual needs, these clients were looking for the support of a Career Coach.

Demand also came from clients who wanted to plan for when the recession ended.  One client in particular said to me “I have no intention of changing career in the next twelve months but when the economy picks up I want to be ready to change career”.  So like this client, there were many others who wanted to explore their career options, and start getting ready for when the market picked up by networking, identifying their transferrable skills, and have a career transition plan.

The other key area of demand was in relation to career related personnel effectiveness such as time management, stress management, working with “challenging people”, assertiveness and work life balance.

So if one thing remained constant during the recession, it was the demand for Career Coaching. There is an evidence Career Coaching – Always in Demand.

Now as our economy is stabilising the demand for Career Coaching continues

There is more activity in the job market with new companies setting up in Ireland and existing companies expanding their workforce.  There is a “buzz” in the job market and it seems we have entered a period where people feel more confident about exploring their career options and the opportunities that are now out there.

So once again the needs of some of our clients have changed.  Clients are now looking for coaching on areas such as Career Progression, Career Transition, Career Management, Interview Coaching and social media networking.

There is also greater awareness now amongst clients that managing their careers requires a lot more than just having an up to date CV.  These clients know they need to be ahead of the game and have a robust career management strategy to support their success going forward.

A shift from having a job to having a fulfilling or meaningful career, from “Is this it?” to “This is it!” is emerging.  Clients are asking themselves (and their coaches) these questions and wanting to explore career options that will have meaning and purpose for them – career coaching can be very powerful in this space.

Career Coaches provide their clients with the space, career coaching model and tools, a balance of challenge and support, an approach that focuses on the whole person (not just their transferrable skills) and the opportunity for clients to developing a career management strategy. Career coaches need to be responsive to the changing needs of our clients and regardless of where we are in the economic cycle, be ready to provide qualify career coaching to our clients.

Janice Benson
Life and Career Coach

If you want to add Career Coaching to your portfolio of skills find out more about the Career Coaching Certificate with Positive Success Group

Career Coach Programme