Is hiring a career coach worth it?

[HappyCamper5]

Has anyone worked with a coach and do you feel like it was worth it? I work in social media marketing strategy and love it, but the company I work for has no growth opportunities. I'm burned out and tired of living paycheck to paycheck while having FIRE dreams. I've been working full-time for 15 years and know I can contribute more to an org but I don't know how to get from where I am to where I want to be. I keep seeing others get promoted or get better higher paying jobs and I stay in the same place. I've been looking at hiring a career coach but there are so many out there and they are so expensive. I worry about dumping thousands of dollars and months of time and having nothing to show for it.

[use2betrix]

Do you know what your weaknesses are and/or do you know what may be holding you back?

[HappyCamper5]

Theres always things I can do to improve but nothing specific stands out other than I know that social medial marketing is not as appreciated as other jobs. That's the roadblock I think I'm at. I'm really good at what Ido and I want to keep doing it but I don't know how to make the leap to another company that appreciates it and will pay more. I'm not expecting six figures but I would like to be able to save.

[Metalcat]

"Coach" is not a regulated title and there is no specific education.

So it depends on what this "coach" actually has in terms of skills on offer. You kind of need to know what you need to work on in order to know if a given coach can help you with it.

What kind of clients do they normally work with? What kind of results do they normally get? What is their fee? What is their area of expertise?

I used to do some career coaching in my industry and I had a colleague who was also a very effective career coach in the exact same health profession, and yet we did completely different things.

I helped people figure out their best career trajectory, helped them network their way towards it, and worked with them on building their professional identity and goals.

She helped more established professionals make more money. That was her main goal, and she was very effective at it and had clear plans and timelines for getting people there.

I just vaguely promised that I would make them happier with their career. But I had such solid professional reputation for doing this that people who needed help just found me.

She would have been useless for someone who needed me, and I was pretty good at helping people make more money, but nowhere near as systematic and effective as she was.

So as I said, you need to know what you need in order to even be able to assess any given coach's value to you.

[E.T.]

I've used a career coach before and it was a good investment for me. I was massively burnt out and couldn't get my act together to get a new job and the coach helped me through the whole resume writing / applying / interviewing process. She also really helped me refocus on what I want out of my next career steps rather than just desperately trying to escape the job I was in. I spent a few hundred dollars on coaching and got a job with a $37K pay raise, definitely worth it in my case.

[HappyCamper5]

I've used a career coach before and it was a good investment for me. I was massively burnt out and couldn't get my act together to get a new job and the coach helped me through the whole resume writing / applying / interviewing process. She also really helped me refocus on what I want out of my next career steps rather than just desperately trying to escape the job I was in. I spent a few hundred dollars on coaching and got a job with a $37K pay raise, definitely worth it in my case.

That's work of what I'm looking for right now. I'm in a toxic job situation and probably need some hand-holding since a lot of my energy is sapped from said job. Would you mind sending me a dm of the coach you used?

[The Beebsta]

I worked with a career coach when I was in a toxic work situation. She helped me see that the roadblocks that I was putting up could all be overcome. She also helped me to stand up for myself and inform higher ups and HR what was going on. I left that job for a GBP12k/year (30%) pay rise then went on to get two promotions in 3 years at my new company. I ended up at double the pay of the job I left in 4 years. So, yes, the right career coach can be a great investment.

[HappyCamper5]

I worked with a career coach when I was in a toxic work situation. She helped me see that the roadblocks that I was putting up could all be overcome. She also helped me to stand up for myself and inform higher ups and HR what was going on. I left that job for a GBP12k/year (30%) pay rise then went on to get two promotions in 3 years at my new company. I ended up at double the pay of the job I left in 4 years. So, yes, the right career coach can be a great investment.

Thank you for your reply! Would you mind sending me their contact information? I am interested in looking into working with them.

[The Beebsta]

Sorry, it was 16 years ago and I don’t have her contact details anymore. Look up Nicole Trick Steinbech on linked in. I saw someone post a very detailed write up of how she was helped by Nicole to break into a new industry and double her pay.

[Lalalauren]

When I was looking to make a job switch I listened and gained a lot of career coaching advice from this podcast: "Recruit the Employer" by Jena Viviano. She has since stopped making podcasts, but her advice thru the podcast was instrumental in me making a job switch that resulted in a >30% base salary increase.

Mostly, i used her podcast coaching for interview prep, but there is a TON of advice not specifically aimed at interviewing, so I'd highly recommend giving it some listens.

[BrooklineBiker]

I've used a number of career coaches and they have been helpful.

You can find less expensive ones through nonprofit organizations like Jewish Vocational Services.

Note that if you have specialized issues like disabilities or you work in a field where conventional career advice won't help, you will have to look much harder to find a provider and may have to pay more.

[draco44]

If you want to dip your toe into career coaching while spending zero to little money, first try reaching out to whatever college(s) you've attended in the past. (Note: I know not everyone goes to college but I checked OP's posts before writing this and it sounds like they have at least one degree). Google "alumni career services" + the name of your school. This is a pretty standard service to the best of my knowledge, but isn't advertised all that much. My schools at least each have some version of online form you can fill in to be contacted back by a career coach for free. Schools want their graduates to have good careers, both because hopefully they genuinely want to help people and because it makes their metrics/reputation look better for recruiting new students.