Career Counseling - worth it?

[MumUndone]

I've been unhappy in my career for about a decade, never feeling fulfilled, confident, authentic etc. All things considering, I haven't done too badly in terms of career progression but am constantly worried about being 'found out'. I'm thinking about having some career counseling to help me think through my options. Has anyone done this, what was it like, and was it worth it? Any recommendations for coaches in the Surrey area? Thanks.

Bump

Another hopeful bump.

Sorry nothing helpful to add but I'm watching this thread with interest as I am considering careers counselling for the same reasons!

Coaching is not counselling - a coach is not equipped to help you deal with the feelings of inadequacy you describe. You might do better finding a good therapist and investing in 6 sessions. Coaching is a short term, goal focussed intervention for a practical purpose, eg getting a promotion.

I coach people at work and people invariably want career help. What helps them move forward is having someone to support them and hold them accountable. All the action has to come from them, and I will just provide moral support and challenge. It's also time limited - 6 sessions and you're off the books!

Basically:

If you have a short term goal you want to meet (eg promotion to the next level), find a coach.

If you want to work through the feelings of inadequacy you've described, find a therapist.

Isleep thanks for your reply. It's not the feelings of inadequacy that I would expect the coach to help with, but to help me think through the options in terms of alternative careers that I would be suited to based on my values, skill set etc.

I once had a career consultation as part of another process. Basically I filled in a questionnaire giving info about my preference and values and I was presented with a list of career suggestions. I didn't take too much notice really as I didn't actually want to leave my job at that time, but the results threw up some good suggestions.

I recall that it was a bit impractical though as most of the options required me to start again and qualify in a new field, taking a huge pay cut - realistically I wasn't going to do that as I had a good salary and was established in a career (albeit one that didn't suit me) and I'm a single parent so it isn't that easy.

Eventually I did change my career but I was led by money. I needed to increase my salary and that was what I based my job searching decisions on eg I only considered jobs that paid more than my current one, and then secondly looked at whether I wanted to do the job or not.

I think it would be good for you to think about those things up front - are you genuinely willing (or able) to start again? Retrain? Incur debt to retrain? Take a pay cut? If you're in a set profession, are you willing to give that up? Can you compromise on any of those?

It's important to remember that if the answer is no to all those, then your focus would turn to becoming content with the decisions you have made. In my experience people find it empowering to see your career as a series of choices rather than things that are happening to you.

That's basically what a coach will do for you - help you work through those choices, set some parameters and support you to make the transition to whatever is next for you.