I'm a career change coach for women struggling to find the confidence to change jobs after a career break or in their 40s. AMA!

[balancingmumlife]

Hi, I'm Laura, a life coach with 15 years experience of helping people to find the confidence to take their next steps. I now work mainly with mums who are thinking of returning to work after furlough or mat leave, or who have been back at work a while and are thinking they now need a change. But self doubt, tiredness and feeling a bit clueless about where to begin are holding them back. I went self employed last summer, leaving my comfy role for the uncertainties of doing my own thing. I love it but I also know how hard the juggle of kids and life and starting a new business is, so I've got the t-shirt (and often feel like I'm still struggling to get it over my head at times!)

So, ask away. I've got a coffee and I'm ready to go :-)

Excellent points by previous posters. Career coaching is a specific skills set which requires specific knowledge and experience.
Life coaching is something else- and all the best coaches are crystal clear on boundaries and their skills.
It’s a bit like a pregnant person getting advice from a new mum v a midwife/ doctor.

@Lumene

Thanks for the questions

When you say you are qualified via the ICF what do you mean? - I have a Diploma in Professional Coaching Practice with Full Circle Global, a coaching organisation that is regulated by the International Coaching Federation. That means I have over 200 hours training, plus mentoring and I am working towards by accreditation status, which is 100 hours coaching hours after qualifying. I'm on 73!

Where did you train and do you have regular supervision? Full Circle Global and I have monthly supervision - which is something I hugely advocate for. It helps me to work out what is going on for me in the coaching space and therefore better help my clients.

Do you work with your own coach - yes

@Choccorocco

Sorry, missed your message. The best way to figure out what is next is to think about 4 areas in your life and hone in on what matters most to you. This will help you make decisions more confidently.

1. What do you love to do?
2. What are your strengths?
3. What can you be paid to do?
4. What does the world need from you?

There is always an element of 'leaving something behind' to start something new, so understanding what you can sacrifice is important, like you mention.

I'd suggest thinking without the practicalities at first, then working backwards; thinking about what you can control.

A lot of what stops us is the worry that we won't be able to do the new thing, or it'll go wrong somehow.

@denverRegina

That's your opinion and I have mine. Thanks for taking the time to comment though. Have a good day.

@C0nstance

I'm glad to hear you had that experience with the careers coach. I agree that there is a lot of perception of women in their 40s and beyond re-entering or changing careers. It's a systemic problem that runs deep. There is still a lot of bias and inequality in the workplace, so it is a more difficult task to make a leap later in your career. I'm not one for sugar coating, or putting a positive plaster over every situation. I do know that being in the right space mentally will help you make the first step. Changing societal attitudes still feels like an uphill battle.

@thesandwich

Great analogy! What would you need to hear from a life coach to reassure you they were able to help you? I feel like there is a lot of cynicism around it as an industry. I know there are a lot of online coaches promising big things, overnight success and 6 figure fortunes, but that's not my cup of tea at all and is damaging to the profession.

@TropicalFairyCake

C0nstance I think thats where a lot of the returning to work issues lie. Not in the woman being unaware of what they want from a job but in many cases accessing jobs/overcoming initial discrimination/knowing how to word time out etc.

When you say career coach did you see a trained careers advisor or lifecoach? Either way glad it helped :)

The woman I went to was very well qualified. She had a masters in HR practice (can't remember exactly) but she knew her stuff. She had never stepped out of the workplace for motherhood herself so there was no bonding over being fellow mums going on. But she believed me that the problem was not my low self-esteem, so we skipped that part. I didn't need to be told to believe in myself. I needed a f*&Kin break! So, we went straight to identifying the types of competencies that I would need to demonstrate and we went over STAR and I rehearsed my examples of each competency and I had a few back ups planned incase they didn't like the examples I gave. She also helped me 'order' my experiences in to soft skills. Re-jigged my Cv. I told her that I didn't think I had the ''luxury'' of identifying my values as I had experienced so much rejection but I went through the process anyway and she helped me identify that I valued security over a high salary. I have actually ended up in a job that has security and I'm happy and going for the next level up. I have got as far as the interview in that competition so I will be applying her methods to this next interview as well.

"That's your opinion and I have mine. Thanks for taking the time to comment though. Have a good day."

I will, thanks. I can see that despite the AMA you don't actually want to talk about "anything" but I am only making an observation.

You're right when you say "Changing societal attitudes still feels like an uphill battle."

However, this whole "Mum guilt", "Sleepless Nights" "Downhill after 40" language you're using just propels and supports the misogyny in society and in the workplace.

Also, "Since COVID we are all used to working so much more flexibly and from home" seems hugely narrow minded to me. Millions of women have gone out to work throughout the pandemic, you're disregarding swathes of people who might approach you with that attitude.

Many of the people I know have no idea at all what working from home looks like, we certainly haven't all become used to it!

I'm a career change coach for women struggling to find the confidence to change jobs after a career break or in their 40s

Which social media platforms would you advise somebody who wanted to reach women who are struggling with their confidence and need to make career changes, and women in their 40s, I wonder? Mumsnet, perchance?

@denverRegina

You are right, thanks for flagging that point about not everyone working from home and apologies for the oversight.

I don't believe I am supporting and propelling misogyny in the workplace so will disagree with you on that point.

Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?

@BillyTodd

If I can be of help, then yes. If not, then this perhaps isn't the thread for you.

Can I suggest you ask mnet to edit the title to avoid misrepresentation.
And what experience have you had in prior to coach training where you have been advising women for 15 years?
It all looks like touting got business sorry.
There is another thread with a very similar title where an op- Mia possibly ? offered very wise advice based on her extensive career/ professional experience and expertise. And iir is a published author on the topic.

What a great thread! I'm thinking of training as a counsellor but keep hearing it's an over saturated field with very minimal job prospects. Would you agree with that ?

@Hugbear

What a great thread! I'm thinking of training as a counsellor but keep hearing it's an over saturated field with very minimal job prospects. Would you agree with that ?

There is a skills shortage for career counsellors/advisers.

I teach a masters in career development and all my students already have jobs and they've not even completed the course yet!

@thesandwich

Thanks for your thoughts. I've got 15 years experience of managing and developing teams and leaders. I was in learning and development specifically for 6 of those, as part of the HR team.

@balancingmumlife thank you for your response. I have copied and pasted so that I can think hard about the answers to those questions. :)

@Softpebbles great, love to know how you get on.

@DelBocaVista - that's very reassuring, thank you. Can I ask, are your students working in the private sector or within university careers service/ colleges etc?

[quote Hugbear]@DelBocaVista - that's very reassuring, thank you. Can I ask, are your students working in the private sector or within university careers service/ colleges etc?[/quote]
Most of my students work in schools, colleges and universities but we are seeing an increase in people working in the private sector, for organisations which support careers and employability and becoming self employed.

@C0nstance the career coach you went to sounds great, would it be possible to share her name / website? Sounds exactly the help I need at the moment!