If you are one of the thousands unemployed for over a year, its time you considered getting professional help with your job search. Despite the stories about the terrible economy and job market, people are getting jobs every day. Blogs like these give great information if you are able to put it into practice. But if your efforts aren’t getting results, working with a professional career coach can shorten the learning curve and help get that job.
1. The phone isn’t ringing at all. If you’ve been sending out lots of resumes without one interview, then your resume could be the problem. I work with clients all the time rewriting resumes, and to get noticed, yours has to be clear, concise and rich with accomplishments that set you apart. A good career coach will spend the time to pull out all your accomplishments and format your resume so it is exciting and easy to read.
2. You’re getting interviews, but no offers. I worked with a recent client to discover why he wasn’t getting any offers even though he had a lot of interviews. It wasn’t long before we discovered that his need to go into too much detail and ramble on after he made a point was sabotaging his effectiveness. We worked on focusing on the interview question and using specific situations that illustrated how he handled them. After his next interview he had a job offer. You may be doing things you are not aware of, and a career coach will be able to spot them and help you overcome those obstacles.
3. You’re stuck in the wrong career. There are some people who got into a career because their parents or teachers put on the pressure or it was expected of them. I’ve met lawyers, business executives, nurses, and many others who have spent many years in careers they would not have chosen for themselves. Once in the groove, they stayed because they were good at it, it paid the bills, and it was just too difficult to make the change on their own. Once laid off, they found themselves with a chance for a change but a resume that would put them right back on the old treadmill. A career coach can help you reinvent yourself, using your past skills and experience, to find a satisfying, fulfilling career you can get excited about and put together a plan to make it happen.
4. You’ve lost hope. Before you spend thousands of dollars on a shrink who wants to start dissecting your childhood, find a knowledgeable, empathetic career coach who can help put your job search in perspective. Besides doing all of the above, they can give you things to do right away to help turn things around. My experiences losing a job, finding another only to be laid off again and finally reinventing myself as a career coach and writer is encouraging to my clients. They begin to see that losing a job isn’t an end, but can be a bright, new beginning.
5. You’re tired of going it alone. It’s nice to have someone to talk to, gives encouragement and holds you accountable for keeping up your search. Friends and family may not understand and get tired of hearing about your struggles to find a job. Career coaches choose this field because they care about their clients and will stay the course until they are back in the workforce or on their way to a new career.
Have you found a great career coach? What tips have you found most helpful? Share them in the Comments section below.
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