What is Career and Education Coaching?
The Career Coach Academy defines career coaching as a coupling of two disciplines—professional coaching and career management. At the beginning of each coaching meeting, the client chooses the focus of the discussion, while the coach listens and provides insights and observations. This type of interaction provides clients with a better understanding of themselves and the impact of their choices. Career coaching also concentrates on where clients are now and what they are willing to do to achieve their defined goals.
Coaching is best viewed as a relationship between a trained coach and a client that assists the client in learning more about him/herself and enhancing quality of life. The coach’s role is not to give advice or tell clients what they should or should not do—instead, the coach asks the client to investigate for him/herself in order to arrive at his/her own answers. My role as a coach is to ask you questions that allow you to look at your life and goals from a new perspective. We as adults have been conditioned by the very nature of growing up. We learn about consequence and failure and can get overwhelmed by the everyday responsibilities, failing to really move forward. My responsibility as your coach is to help you think about situations differently—free from doubt or fears or anxiety that may prevent you from moving forward. |
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Career counseling involves the interaction of a trained career counselor who specializes in a wide range of career services, such as the administration of psychological tests, instruction of job-hunting strategies, and the development of career plans. The career counselor may provide resources and direct the client on a particular topic rather than focus on the client discovering his/her own answers. |
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Education Counseling is a concept I incorporated into my coaching packages based on the needs of today’s military spouse. This type of counseling is often not offered on military installations or found in the services of other coaches. Career fulfillment is more comprehensive than just landing a good job—it requires proper training and often some form of education. The education counseling packages focus on helping military spouses find the right training and education for their career goals. The career-specific packages are designed to help military spouses find portable careers without the expense of their professional fulfillment.
With the implementation of the 
Career Advancement Accounts and Post 9/11 GI Bill transferability, many military spouses have begun enrolling in schools to finish a degree or start a new one. Because this funding is still a new area of tuition assistance, there are not many trained professionals who really understand the needs of the military spouse and how those needs impact their career choices. My education counseling services help spouses determine appropriate majors, colleges or training programs for their particular situation. I also aid military spouses in utilizing funding like myCAA, the New GI Bill, military spouse reduced tuition and other financial aid options. |
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I refer to my interaction with fellow military spouses as career or education counseling, but I pride myself on using a combination of career coaching and counseling principles. The goal of my career counseling sessions are always based on the coaching principle that the client determines the focus of the meeting; however, I also provide resources and offer potential career options, much like a career counselor might do.
The main difference between my style of coaching and other career coaches is that I too am a military spouse and therefore understand the military lifestyle. Several years after meeting my husband and still trying to build my career, I started to notice a lack of personalized career and educational guidance that aimed to help military spouses find portable jobs and flexible education. I decided to start my career and education coaching business to fill this void. I keep my own experience in mind to better accommodate my fellow military spouses and provide the very best career and education counseling available. I have developed my career coaching exclusively to meet the needs of today’s military spouses.
While the majority of my career and education counseling sessions are conducted over the phone to accommodate military families located across the country and overseas, military spouses living in Colorado Springs, CO or stationed at Fort Carson, Schriever Air Force Base, Buckley Air Force Base and Peterson Air Force Base may take advantage of in-person coaching sessions. |
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 We may all be military spouses, but that does not mean we have the same goals, personalities or natural skills. For this reason, we should not all receive the same exact career advice. Much like we receive personalized exercise training plans at the gym, which are based on our personal goals and current fitness level, we must receive career and educational counseling that is tailored to our unique professional aspirations and current career situation. A one-size-fits-all approach will therefore not work for the majority of us, which is why I tailor my career counseling to the needs of each and every client I have.
I give every military spouse the ability to talk about whatever they are experiencing in life as they work toward developing their fulfilling career. I strive to accommodate all of my fellow spouses as they pursue their dreams. This means that not all coaching will follow the same format. There is, nevertheless, a general flow of our discussions:
- Expectations – What do you hope to get out of your coaching sessions?
- The Big Picture – We discuss what you want for yourself without limitations. We talk about what you want to do, forgetting any limiting factors. This step gives you the freedom to think about what you are most passionate about in life
- Narrow Down – Here we start to weed out some of the career paths that were initially identified based on personality, interests, requirements and other factors
- Plan of Action – This is where the action begins and we establish your plan for pursuing career goals, getting accepted to your desired college or landing the specified job through realistic, manageable steps.
- Accountability and Progress – We often need to reassess where we are in the process. While we will do this continually throughout our coaching sessions, it is important to also reflect as we get closer to and eventually achieve our coaching goal.
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Try Counseling Free!Contact me to set up a complimentary career or
education counseling session.
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What is Coaching?
