Career coaches?

[Octavia]

Has anyone used one...or do we have any PS-ers who are career coaches? I ask because I''m debating whether it''s worth the money to hire one, and I''d like to hear people''s experiences before making the commitment, if possible.

Background: I''m in my final year of law school and will graduate in May. I was pretty certain of what I wanted to do when I entered law school (which is why I went in the first place) but I have changed my mind through the course of my legal education and I don''t even really want to be a lawyer anymore. This may be a good thing, since law jobs are hard to come by right now, but I don''t want to waste my degree, either. I''d love to figure out some alternative careers that would be exciting and fulfilling, unfortunately the career services department at my law school is pretty useless and their idea of an alternative career is clerking or becoming in-house counsel at a company. If I were to work as a lawyer, I would really love be in food and agriculture law, but I can''t track down jobs that are on point outside of working for the FDA or USDA. I would absolutely work for one of those agencies if possible, but openings don''t come up very often and who knows if I''d even stand a chance. I wouldn''t mind being in policy either, or doing something that isn''t a "lawyer" job in sustainable ag. Otherwise, I''m really not sure what I want to do -- there aren''t very many jobs out there that I''m qualified for and actually sound like something I''d enjoy. It would be awesome to work with someone who could identify my particular strengths and jobs/careers that are good matches, since all the research I''ve done so far hasn''t really turned up anything and I don''t want to make another big mistake. But I also don''t want to spend a ton of money and come out no better than I am right now.

So, I''d really welcome any suggestions on how to go about finding a GOOD career coach, or reasons to do it/not do it -- especially since May isn''t very far away and it feels like time is running out quickly! Thanks for any and all input!

 

[CNOS128]

Me too!

Wanna go in on a career coach together?


Sorry I don''t have advice for you. But you have all my sympathy!

 

[perry]

What is it that you expect a carrear coach to do for you?

If you have a specific idea on what you wish to accomplish - and need someone to help you along (often a key part is keeping you accountable to the process); then, yes they can be very valuable.

If you are looking for certain self improvements in yourself - a good coach can do wonders.

In eaither of the above situations - you will do most of the work yourself. The coach is there to guide you and hold you accountable.

If you are planning to get a carrear coach because others do it - you are likely to spend a lot of $ with no real results.

If you are looking just for some mentorship in your chosen field. Identify several people in your field who are very good - and ask them if they''d be willing to help mentor you. This is often free - or at most the cost of a dinner every few weeks or once a month.

I''ve mentored some people, and I''ve coached others on specific areas of their interest. Never earned a cent for it - but, that''s not why I do it.

But, the key is that you need to identify up front what is it you wish to accomplish.

Perry

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 11/29/2009 8:24:24 PM
Author: TheBigT
Me too!


Wanna go in on a career coach together?



Sorry I don''t have advice for you. But you have all my sympathy!

Can I come too? I don''t wanna be a lawyer....

 

[Octavia]

Perry, I''m not looking to do this just because others do. Nor do I just need mentorship in my field -- our local bar association has very good (free) programs for that, but the problems is that I honestly don''t know what I want to do. I''m 99% sure I don''t want to practice law, but I just don''t know what other jobs are out there that I''d like. I need direction and specific ideas, none of which I''ve EVER gotten from career counselors at any of my educational institutions. The whole point would be to avoid getting stuck in a job I hate, and to identify potential fields that meet my needs and would be fulfilling as a career path.

TheBigT and Brown.Eyed.Girl -- maybe we should all get together and form some sort of non-lawyerly business...any ideas?

 

[CNOS128]

Cupcake bakery? Ohhh...is that market saturated?
Maybe a bar! We can call it something clever, like "Bar Association."


Here''s my thing -- people are ALWAYS telling me about the great non-lawyer jobs that lawyers can get. But I have no way of knowing what they are or how to go about finding them. That''s what I think would be useful about a career coach.

 

[Octavia]

Date: 11/30/2009 1:58:36 PM
Author: TheBigT


Cupcake bakery? Ohhh...is that market saturated?

Maybe a bar! We can call it something clever, like ''Bar Association.''



Here''s my thing -- people are ALWAYS telling me about the great non-lawyer jobs that lawyers can get. But I have no way of knowing what they are or how to go about finding them. That''s what I think would be useful about a career coach.

That''s exactly how I feel! I know there are tons of recovering attorneys out there, but what on earth do they DO? My antennae always go up when I read articles about artisan cheese farms or things like that, run by former lawyers...but I''m not sure I want to milk goats for a living, either. Apparently there''s no pleasing me.

OTOH, a local, well-established artisan bread company is for sale...the owners aren''t in a rush to sell and are just looking for the right person to take it over. I really wish I had the money for something like that!!

 

[perry]

Date: 11/30/2009 12:20:03 PM
Author: Octavia
Perry, I''m not looking to do this just because others do. Nor do I just need mentorship in my field -- our local bar association has very good (free) programs for that, but the problems is that I honestly don''t know what I want to do. I''m 99% sure I don''t want to practice law, but I just don''t know what other jobs are out there that I''d like. I need direction and specific ideas, none of which I''ve EVER gotten from career counselors at any of my educational institutions. The whole point would be to avoid getting stuck in a job I hate, and to identify potential fields that meet my needs and would be fulfilling as a career path.

TheBigT and Brown.Eyed.Girl -- maybe we should all get together and form some sort of non-lawyerly business...any ideas?

Octavia:

I know exactly where you are coming from.

OK, this will cost you about $20 - and a willingness on your part to really dig into you. When you are done - I suspect it will provide much of the guidance you are looking for.

There is a classic job hunters book on the Market: What Color is Your Parachute.

Many people will tell you it doesn''t work so well. I will tell you they are right - because very few people ever do somthing the book suggest - and the book has the exercise in the middle of the book.

Why do I know this - because I bought a copy every year for about 10 years straight - without much success. By about year 4 I had noticed that I had never done the directed exercise (I had blown it off before - afterall, I knew what I wanted...).

Then, once I realized that I was doing everything in the book - except that exercise; and how 2/3 of the advice in that book really depended on that exercise. Oh, should I mention that I was in a lousy job and could not find a better one to save my life (and I''d probably be dead now if I hadn''t done the exercise and found a better job).

The exercise was verry difficult for me to do - it took somewhere between 4-6 months for me to complete - as I had to face myself and identify not only what I was good at - but what I wasn''t good at (and I did not like the answers I was comming up with - and I really had to think about some of the choices I had made). Now I''ve run into some people who could do the exercise in a week with no difficulty. But for me - it was blood, sweat, and tears. I had to face some of my personal fears.

In the end I was done: I had changed the format of the results a bit (I did not use a flower); but I had a single page that identified the keys of what I was interested in, what I was good at, what kind of enviroment I worked best in, and a number of other things. Using that chart I could target jobs that fit me best. The first company I got a job at went bankrupt - but I''ve been gainfully employed by the next one - and satisfied from a carrear standpoint - and one I am personally proud of for almost 9 years now. In many ways, it is totally different than what I though I wanted to do before.

The exercise is part of chapter 10 of my 1996 copy: Where do you want to use your skills? The key part for me was presented as how to assemble a flower diagram: A list of your favorite things, information, people, rewards, outcomes, physical setting, emotional/spiratural, etc.

If you can''t find a current copy of the book - get a used one.

Also, take a good personality test. There are several on the internet (and there are several somewhat different interpretations). Find the one that really matches you well.

Oh, and when you figure out what kind of position fits you best - then there is a wealth of advice in the book on how to get a job that matches; or perhaps you will go onto start your own business.

In the end, a carear coach can tell you many things - but what they cannot do is figure out what you really want to do, where you want to do it, with what kind of people, and what you are really good at (other than basic personality traits). The only person who can tell you that is you. To figure it out you need to be guided through a process of figuring it out. I am sure that there are other books out there - but What Color is Your Parachute is a really good place to start.

I hope this helps,

Perry