What Is Career Coaching?

New College Graduate	Young Professional	Mid-Career Professional
Are you a new college graduate with no idea which career path to take?	Do you feel stuck in a job you don't like, early in your career?	Has your enthusiasm for your profession stalled mid-way up the ladder?

Whether you're a young professional who's already part of the working world, a mid-career professional looking to make a career change or a recent college graduate just beginning your career search, our certified career coaches can help you identify the ideal career for you, navigate your transition and nurture your career.

A Coaching Process is an independent and very personal partnership between an individual and an experienced Career Coach.   The aim of the Coaching is to assess, guide and identify, in complete confidentiality, the individual’s current career, work or personal situation and determine aspects of where a person is and where he or she would like to go and provide tools for self-awareness and improvement – with the aim of developing a more presentable candidate for the chosen direction or goal. 

By helping explore interests, desires, skills, achievements and values, it brings a fresh perspective on personal challenges and opportunities, fosters enhanced thinking and decision making skills –  resulting in increased confidence in carrying out chosen work and roles.

Career Coaching is primarily aimed at those who wish to improve their current employment opportunities or to guide those beginning, or changing, their career paths – the typical coaching process helps individuals clarify their current position and focus upon where they wish to go.    Through an individually-tailored course of self-evaluation techniques, the individual is guided through the process of determining their skill sets, motivators, personal values and goals;  highlighting talents and experiences to improve performance and achieve realistic goals.

Typically the following aspects are covered :

• Gaining clarity on the current situation.
• Determining personal skills, motivators, values and achievements.
• Determining areas of greatest contribution and opportunities for development.
• Developing an effective portfolio of ‘self-marketing’ documents –
• effective impact statements;
• cover letters and other important documents;
• accomplishment samples;
• resumes & personal biography;
• networking requests; and other relevant search and tracking documents;
• Job Search and Interview techniques.

 

Skills and processes learned in a structured coaching environment are strategies which can be continually developed and remain skills for life – coaching provides support on a journey of self-discovery.

Coaching is not Counselling, it is not Therapy nor having a new Best Friend, it is also not a Recruitment or Placement system.   The process depends upon honesty and a determination to self-evaluate, adapt to new challenges and take concrete steps to reaching new goals.  The Coach will press and demand cooperation and openness and in return will provide the individual with the benefit of his experience and proven techniques for success.  As with any coaching, the successful use of new skills is incumbent upon the individual’s determination to maximize newfound abilities. 

The actual content of a coaching course is dependent upon individual need and can be adjusted as circumstances require.  In some cases only certain aspects may be needed to be covered, while other individuals may need a fuller and more comprehensive programme.

A typical Coaching Programme can take anywhere from 4 – 12 weeks, depending upon the individual’s need.  A concentrated programme of 4 weeks is adequate if all the person requires is the production of a ‘presentation package’ of comprehensive documentation and a ‘fast-track’ approach.  In a week, there would be, on average, two sessions, of generally an hour.

Certain aspects of the process do not need face-to-face contact, much can also be done via telephone, skype or email.

 

A Coaching Process is a very personal partnership between the individual and Career Coach to assess, guide and identify, from an independent standpoint, the person’s current career situation and determine aspects and provide tools for self-awareness and improvement – with the aim of developing a more ‘marketable’ candidate.   It is also useful in defining where a person is and where he or she would like to go in terms of career and job satisfaction.  Primarily aimed at those who wish to improve their current employment opportunities or to guide those beginning, or changing, their career paths, a typical coaching process guides a coaching counter-part through the following major phases :

 

    1. Career analysis and evaluation

Who, What and Where are you ?   Preliminary exercises and formal assessments (if needed). Discovering personal values and goals.  Visualising an “ideal future”. Gaining clarity on the current situation, career assets and determining identifiable “consistent themes”. Assessing areas of greatest contribution and opportunities for development. Developing initial ideas for “what’s next / where can I go from here?”

 

      2. Exploration of career options and initial job choices
Defining role preferences and exploring “ideal outcomes.”  Reality checks. Conducting research into practical / realistic career paths. Exploring market and possible positions aligned with newly discovered vocation potential. Compiling lists of target industries. Identifying specific career objectives for the transition.

 

     3. Planning and preparation for the transition

Developing a portfolio of self-marketing documents.    Crafting effective verbal statements, letters, networking requests, resumes, accomplishment samples and other documents. Compiling databases of contacts, referrals, and target companies. Developing search correspondence and continuing communications. Setting specific goals for job search.

 

      4. Implementation of full search campaign
Conducting informational discussions and “structured networking meetings”. Interview training and debriefing to improve performance. Tracking and measuring contacts and follow-ups.  Pursuing secondary search methods, including recruiters, social / business networks and “job boards.” Developing an effective “digital footprint”.  Leveraging self-marketing resources. Evaluating and critiquing opportunities / offers. Negotiating for best “job fit” and compensation package.

 

In practical terms, a typical Coaching Programme will cover the following :

Introduction

• An Overview of a phased, tailor-made coaching programme – knowing what is needed to know and what to do.
• Common misconceptions about personal career management.
• Laying the framework for the specific individual coaching needs and determining the best-fit programme.
• Setting the groundwork for an individual course to achieve agreed goals.

Phase One

• Preliminary questions and exercises, including goal-setting, assessment and introspective assignments.
• Career analysis tools, plus templates, checklists, worksheets and forms for job search or career transition.
• Methodologies for developing an “Ideal Job Description,” and development of employer criteria.
• Discovering a person’s ‘Consistent Themes‘.

Phase Two

• Exploring career options and narrowing down job choices.
• Career research tools and resources.
• The development of a comprehensive “Employer Wish List”
• Compiling career highlights and complete “Accomplishment Stories”.

Phase Three

• Creating an comprehensive Resume and developing a Professional Biography.
• Sample “Positioning Statements” and “Exit Statements”
• “Target Company Lists” of prospective employers.
• Online and offline resources for optimizing your “Target Company” research
• Strategies for developing comprehensive “Contact Lists” and for obtaining “Professional References” and “Letters of Recommendation“.
• Sample “Letters of Recommendation”
• Developing a “Networking Agenda" and “Networking Script” and building an effective “digital footprint” to create a “personal brand”.

Phase Four

• Developing a “Tracking and Organizing System“

Phase Five

• Further sessions on specific subjects as required and follow-up.

 

These phases are dependent upon individual need and are adjusted as circumstances require.  In some cases only certain aspects may be needed to be covered, while other individuals may need a fuller and more comprehensive programme.

David was born in the UK, and educated in Hong Kong and the UK.

In 1975 he joined the Royal Hong Kong Police as a Probationary Inspector and thereafter served in a variety of front-line posts throughout the Territory.

In various ranks he has held a number of operational command and staff positions in the Uniform Branch, Police Headquarters and Support Wing streams. In addition to Operational duties he was also trained as an Instructor, serving first as a Recruit Inspector Instructor at the Police Training School, then as Course Director for Inspectorate Training, and subsequently designing and moderating more advanced In-Service Training Courses for the Force.

During his career he also attended Police & HK Government Command Courses at various levels and undergone numerous Training, Technical and Media Presentation Courses.

David retired in late 2008 having completed a successful 33 years’ of Service. 

In 2010, David was invited to perform contract work with a major recruitment company in HK, first as Compliance and Internal Audit Manager to assist in identifying new company processes then as a Client Services Manager and Career Coach in a subsidiary Coaching enterprise.   This exposure led him to embark on a career in the specialised field of Coaching.

He is a trained Career Coach and also a Qualified Executive Coach.  He undertakes private career coaching to independent clients on an ad-hoc basis and delivers lectures on general coaching and leadership subjects to Tertiary Institutions.  He is also an active Senior Advisor to a Consutling firm specialising in Corporate Presentation Coaching throughout Asia.

David is a member of the Institute of Executive Coaching and Learning.

David has travelled extensively, enjoys motorcycling, and has a keen interest in digital photography.

 

For more information please email: es@tuition.com.hk