If you've never been to a career coach before, you might be wondering what actually happens in a session - and fair enough! Whilst it can sometimes be easier to experience our work in a first session and then fully grasp what it involves, we'll do our best to outline the key fundamentals for you here.
Essentially, coaching is a supportive and meaningful conversation - where you feel heard, safe, and empowered to explore your goals and needs in a structured way. We act as a curious and impartial sounding board, without judgement (our family and friends can be very well-meaning, and sometimes also a bit too biased), encouraging and challenging you to develop a strong awareness of factors that are really important to you when you think about your career, and at a core level - helping you articulate what meaning, purpose and fulfilment look like.
Sometimes this is purely conversational - where we ask you questions, hold space for you to get everything out of your head (you know, the things you've been going around and around analysing until the cows come home?!) and decide on some actions as 'homework' prior to your next session. We might design mini experiments to creatively nut out any sticking points for you and help you practice new ways of thinking. We might also use card sort activities (e.g. examining your values) or set you some pre-work (e.g. strengths assessments, career profiling, or writing exercises) to prompt your thinking if you get stuck. Other times, a first session is quite practical and tactical (e.g. reviewing and refining your job search process, helping you decide between job offers, or preparing for an upcoming interview), arming you with suggestions, tips and tricks to address your immediate goals.
Often a short phone conversation in the first instance gives us some indications as to the sorts of things that will support you in a first session (as we customise this specifically to each client's needs).
We regularly meet clients at our office in South Yarra, in Melbourne (see pic below of one of our rooms). If you come along in person, you may also be offered a herbal tea (we're loving peppermint and lavender tea at the moment, but don't hold that against us!) For clients who prefer remote coaching, we also run coaching sessions over the phone and online (Skype and Zoom).
We're passionate life-long learners, continually engaging in interesting professional development (see previous post on making boats). If you're lucky, you might also end up being one of our guinea pigs for a new coaching technique ;-) (don't worry - we're still perfectionists, so you'd still be receiving a super high quality service!)
