To wonder why there are so many life coaches

Mostly its a job for grifters who have failed in life and are casting around for something they can just 'do' with no qualification or regulation.

There are a handful of exceptions - people who have had real achievement in a particular field then gone on to train as a coach specialising in their field for burnt out professionals. These are very very rare.

Mostly it's losers who have failed at life and can persuade other guilible losers to part with their cash.

You're not being unreasonable. While some coaches offer real value, the lack of regulation means anyone can jump on the bandwagon, often without the expertise to back it up. It’s frustrating, especially when it feels like they're exploiting genuine struggles, particularly for women. A lot of it is common sense or readily available online for free, and the hefty price tags can feel like a cash grab. Always worth questioning credentials and experience before investing.

No I'm not. The 450 days a chartered accountant needs in order to qualify is based on hours spent on client work only. Training, exam study, admin etc are all excluded from that figure.

50 hours of hands-on client/patient work is simply not enough to make someone a truly competent professional, no matter what your specialism is. It's a start, but no more than that.

Can you imagine a doctor or nurse qualifying when they have spent only 50 hours with patients?

I know an unqualified life coach who was previously into MLM.

She has set herself up as a divorce, relationships and career coach on the basis that she went through one divorce and I'm not sure what brilliant career expertise she has. She spends a lot of time posting video thoughts for the day on Facebook and instagram.

In social circles she is known to be quite insensitive and snippy. I'm not sure how successful she has been - I wouldn't consult her myself.

And if you did do that, clients would realise fairly quickly that you were not very good and not qualified to coach them. With social media and sites like trustpilot nowadays, people will expose you if you are a fraud and rightly so. Thats not to mention word of mouth through which a lot of business is generated for coaches. You’re coaching career wouldn’t last very long. Again, this is why potential clients need to check a coaches credentials, just like they would with a counsellor, (another unregulated professions) before working with them. There are always going to be grifters out there in every profession or even qualified people who just stink at their job but if you ask around and do a little bit of research then you can hopefully avoid them. And if you did go to a coach who seemed like they weren’t very good, you simply stop using their service and find a better one. You’re not tied in to any kind of contract with anyone.

The ICF. Yes potential clients do need to consider a coaches credentials and experience before working with them. A good coach should make all their qualifications and credentials available on their website, etc.

https://www.coachingfederation.org.uk/credentialing/credential_path

I disagree with this take to some degree.

When I returned to work I had a lot of mental health challenges... not PND as one might think of it but I found life overwhelming: a coach paid for by the company was very helpful. Sometimes you need someone else externally to help guide you when you're too overwhelmed to get clarity.

Yes there are BS coaches around for sure and it does seem there is a proliferation of them all of a sudden. Some people are just better at helping people than individuals themselves

That's a bit mean-spirited. Presumably she's still a single mother when not working, and it's not like she can take the kids to work

She’s not a single mother!

Its a profession which desperately needs regulating - the life coach I know is the last person who should be giving any one advice on what to do with their lives, she has lead an incredibly sheltered existence and has not really accomplished anything on her own.

@LennyBobenny
@toomanydiets
@HappyLittleNarwhal
@Izzosaura
@GreenPoppy
@SouthernFashionista

I'm interested in getting some career coaching. I'm also conscious that while there are good people out there, there are also the charlatans that just trot out "inspirational" platitudes.

Given you've had positive experiences, would you be willing to share details of who you've worked with?

Thanks

Maybe she means the trend in folk who market houses but aren't actually qualified to do any of the legal stuff. There's a particularly annoying one near us.

Based on some of folk I actually know who call themselves 'Life Coaches' a lot of it is a big con - folk selling 💩, silly philosophies and magic well being plans.

It was! Talk about grit our teeth whenever he said it as well as an eye roll😂

Watch "a very british cult" on the BBC, which shows how badly things can go wrong if you get duped into taking life coaching from the wrong people. I actually know someone who got sucked in to the group that it's about, back in about 2010. He's lost his home, alienated most of his old friends, and is in complete denial about how awful they are. He can't hold on to a girlfriend because as soon as they realise what's going on they very sensibly run for the hills. The only time I hear from him, he's asking to "borrow" money. The sad thing is that he totally believes in it all, but is now behaving like one of the 'bad guys' because the cult leader guy in charge has convinced them all that it's everyone else in the wrong.

God, that is annoying!

ExH was a business/life coach. It was one reason that led to divorce besides others. The kids and I used to go crazy when he'd ask 'and how does that make you feel?' as if that was the answer to any problem!

Career 'guidance' is different and it's not coaching.

I teach career guidance and career coaching. Career guidance and career guidance practitioners use coaching skills and techniques.
It should be delivered by someone who has specific qualifications in career guidance, development or career coaching.

I've been in the coaching world for years. Many coaches offer life coaching and career coaching.

Coaches can specialise in whatever area they want to.

Career 'guidance' is different and it's not coaching.

Where are you getting those figures from @TipsyJoker ?

Out of interest.

The issue is that accreditation is down to the coach provider or the professional association.

It varies and there isn't one industry standard.

The point is that anyone who thinks they might want coaching has to research the coach's training.

Just like you would for anyone you might use whether that's a doctor, dentist, counsellor, hairdresser, plumber,,,,whatever.

It’s more to do with people selling things like courses or mentorship’s

stuff like : want to know how to flip houses then sign up for my course

wantbto know how to make money on forex then sign up to my course

99% of these folk are frauds & just selling crap advice

it’s easier to sell shovels than dig for gold

That’s the minimum number of hours training that you have to do to apply for the lowest level of accreditation. You also have to have 100 hours in practice on top of that. However, the more hours of training and practice you’ve done, the higher your level of accreditation. So to be a master level certified life coach, you need a minimum 250+ hours of training and a minimum 2,500+ hours of professional practice.

As a pp said, it seems to be a growth area in MLM. 'Posh' travel agency is another one that seems to be on the up. People with good career histories and experience are being targeted for this type of work. It's not the same as the vulnerable ones with little else in the way of opportunity. It baffles me, but it's obviously working (the recruitment side, at least), given by the number of people touting their services.

It's basically a pyramid scheme. Same as those women hawking business babe nonsense and talking about growing brands and marketing and streams of income that require no effort yet somehow make thousands. It's all nonsense. People are stupid.