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benefits of career coaching
career change

The benefits of career coaching to help you on your way

The UK saw a mass number of people intending to change their job in 2022, according to research carried out by the productivity work app, Slack.

With employers enabling their staff to work from home during the lockdown, many people saw their work-home lives in a different way. They got a first-hand insight into what it would be like to work from home and the benefits of this.

Since this has led to so many people reflecting and deciding to transition their career, an increasing number of people have turned to the support of coaches to help do this.

More than ever, businesses and professionals are recognising the impact that qualified coaches can have on their staff for career progression and how this links to financial performance, according to statistics.

If you’re still wondering how a career coach can help you and how they can help, here are some of the key benefits:

They help with accountability

When we want to achieve something, it’s easy to tell ourselves we’ll do it at some stage. And then it can get left and forgotten about. Six months later, and we have still not taken any steps towards achieving the goal we want to work on.

When you have a coach to answer to, talk you through what you’ve done so far to reach a particular goal, it’s different. When deadlines are set by an external person, it can trigger you into taking the time to get something done, multiple research studies have found.

A coach will ask you a few questions at a set time – either monthly or every few weeks.

It’s amazing how your mindset can change when you have to report to somebody else. You know you have to tell somebody else what you’ve done.

Breaking down big goals into small steps

Big goals can seem really overwhelming and can stop us from getting started at all.

A coach will not only break down the steps, but they’ll also help you to understand which steps to

start with and give you the oomph to get started.

Yes, a friend or family member can also help you with breaking down a goal into small chunks, but this might be in an informal way. With a coach, you know that they’ll be checking in with you on a semi-regular basis to see how you’re getting on. You know that there will be some structure to what you are trying to achieve, too.

Beat the overwhelm by seeing a goal as one step at a time.

Career coaching can deepen your thinking

Unlike a mentor or advisor, a coach helps others tackle an issue or achieve a goal through a range of questioning techniques. They ask questions, which can help to understand a complex issue.

They don’t try to give advice or tell you what you should be doing.

By asking questions, a coach can bring realisation to someone and help them come to their own conclusions.

Review your goals

You feel more accomplished when you can see your progress. Looking at where you started, to where you have come can help us to keep going, even when things seem tough. Meeting with your coach to explore your progress and see how far you have come can help you to make sure you are on your way.

Help you realise your own reasons

Nina was avoiding applying for management jobs when she had more than enough experience in her industry at a grounds roots level. There was no real reason she had for not applying, except that she had an embedded fear. Nina was afraid that she might not be a good manager – she had overthought the situation until she talked herself out of applying for management roles. But she didn’t realise this until she talked with her coach and was asked the right questions. This helped her to see what she had to do to move past her fears.

A coach can help you overcome procrastination

That word and that thing we all do – procrastinate! We just love to put things off when they seem like a lot of work or if there is an activity that seems like much more fun to do.

Having the support of a coach will give you the motivational talk needed to get going – just on one step at a time and remove the blocks holding you back. They can also help with some techniques to stop procrastination in its tracks and get you moving forward again.

Want some help with coaching? Leave your details here and I will be in touch!

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career change
CV writing

4 signs you need a career change

That slight droop of your shoulders on Sunday night when you think about sloping into work Monday morning.

The dread sinking over you like a soggy blanket about that horrible to-do list.

Are you losing the joy or contentment over your work that you used to have?

You might be getting bored at work or not feeling challenged enough.

One minute, you feel stimulated, motivated and get on with the job asked of you, the next, you don’t.

But how do you know if it’s just a phase, a little change to your job, or if you actually need a whole new career?

So you leave it for a while, try to be positive and get on with things.

Then, months down the line, you find yourself lagging, never having enough energy and finding yourself swearing in your head at Rita in finance for her constant whinging.

But, how do you know if you just need a new challenge in your job or if you need a whole new career change?

Here are some sure-fire signs to know if you need a career change:

Sign 1 — Feeling of dread

No matter how much you like your job, there will always be tasks you don’t look forward to. Tasks you don’t prefer to do — that’s normal. When I worked in housing, I hated the mundane task of completing a health and safety check, but I knew it needed to be done.

But this feeling of dread takes another level — it’s every day, glaring and staring you in the face.

It starts Sunday afternoon at the thought of Monday.

Then Monday morning at the thought of leaving the house.

Having to face the colleague constantly on your case because that report is overdue.

Sign 2 — You have the stares

You stare at the screen blankly before sending an email.

Glaze over in team meetings.

Or notice the frown lines on your colleague, Henry’s face, in a team meeting and how he could really do with a nose trim more than the impending deadline he’s banging on about.

Glazing over is not just a sign you’re tired. It can come from a deep feeling of dissatisfaction and discontent that what you do isn’t interesting to you anymore.

Sign 3 — Excessive procrastination

You spend time secretly looking at job sites on your phone during working hours.

You find yourself wanting to sneak off to the bathroom more or look for a reason to get up rather than do that task.

If you have a job where you don’t have your phone on you, do you keep reading through company news on the intranet in the hope it’s more interesting than the task you have to work on.

Sign 4 — Pressure over joy

Instead of feeling excited about a new project, you feel pressure at the thought of more work!

It used to be enough that you didn’t earn as much as you would like to, since the job gave you so much satisfaction that it made it worth it. But…it just doesn’t seem to be enough now.

These feelings don’t just happen overnight – they build up over a prolonged period of time. That’s why recognising that you are discontent in your job isn’’t always immediate.

So, now you recognise some signs, what are the next steps to take?

Ask yourself these questions –

What is it about your job that makes you stress/worried or give that deep sigh before you even get to work? How often are you feeling like this? Is it nearly every day?

Think about if this is the job you still enjoy doing. Is it what you wanted to do when you left school, is it the different to the job you wanted?

Identify what is bugging you about the job. There are some things that, if you change them, they would make you feel better about the job again.

Ask yourself if you took away the stressful parts of the job, would you still enjoy the work itself?

Do you like the employer you work for? You may not need to change industry, but you might want to change the type of company you work for.

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