Partnering With A Professional Career Consultant

When I first moved into a career consulting role, my friends and business contacts would ask me… “what do you do as a career consultant and coach?”; “why do people want to work with a career consultant, especially if they’re already relatively established within their industry?”; “what’s the value in engaging a career consultant?”, and many other related questions…

Considering I am in Asia where the concepts of career consulting and career coaching are not as wide-spread in this part of the world, as compared to North America or Europe, their queries and skeptism are of no surprise to me.

Today, I shall attempt to answer some of their queries here. Off course, portions of the information here were obtained through other sources and not all are entirely my origination.

Understanding Career Consultants and Their Work

Why Professional Career Consultants?

While many people today are happy to manage their career progression themselves, on some occasions the most effective way of reaching your goals is to call in some professional help. Professional career consultants can help you determine what kind of career you should be in, set career goals for yourself, and prepare for a job or promotion campaign.

To find the right career consultant for you, be sure to do your homework. Not all career consultants are created equal, and not all will be the right fit for your situation and personality. Not only will you want someone with good credentials, you will also want someone with whom you feel a sense of compatibility and trust. And considering that they are not inexpensive, you want to make sure that you get the most for your money.

Key considerations as we set out to work with a career consultant?

Prior to working with a career consultant, you should answer the following questions:

• What is your goal in working with a professional career consultant?
• What are some of the services typically offered by career consultants?
• How do you find the right person?
• How do you manage the relationship effectively?
• How do you know when your goal has been achieved?

When is a professional career consultant most useful?

Career consultants are most commonly called up on when someone is looking for a new position or considering changing careers. However, career consultants can also prove useful for anyone seeking advice about their current role, and they can be an objective and impartial sounding board. And some people use career consultants once or twice a year for career “tune-ups.”

Is there a typical fee for a professional career consultant?

Obviously, when we engage professionals, there will be some form of monetary investments required. Some career consultants charge by the hour, and their fees generally range from a low of US$70 to a high of US$400 per hour (I have heard of some consultants charging over US$500 per hour), whilst others may charge according to programs, and cost of each program varies according their intensity, coverage and duration, from US$ 1,500 to US$ 12,000. Off course, do bear in mind that the amounts here are to be taken as a general reference only.

Generally speaking, career consultants can offer you a battery of tests to help you understand your skills and your personality style. They may also conduct a self-assessment that can guide you in deciding what kind of career you will be successful in. Such extensive testing will not be right or necessary for everyone, but in cases where a person is really floundering in his or her career, it may prove helpful.

What is the best way of finding a career consultant?

Personal referral is by far the best method of finding a career consultant. If you know someone who has successfully used a career consultant, you can ask them to give you the person’s name and number. Without a personal referral, you will have to do the research on your own. Use the Internet or your telephone directory to search for career consultants (also called career coaches or career counselors). Ask the consultant about his or her background, methods, fees and references to be sure you find the right person for you.

What Do I NEED TO DO?

Set Some Goals

To get the best from working with a career consultant, you need to have some concrete goals to work toward. Define these in results-oriented language, being as specific as possible so that you will know when you've reached your target. For example, you might want to:

• To find a new job;
• To obtain a promotion and a raise;
• To change careers to something more fulfilling.

Be Skeptical about Big Promises

Career issues are complex and often take time to work through. Be skeptical of career consultants who promise a quick fix, easy money, résumés that get speedy results, or other come-ons.

Create a List of Potential Career Consultants, Research Their Qualifications, and Make a Choice from Your List

Using the Internet or your telephone directory, make a list of career consultants in your area. Some career consultants work with clients outside their physical location. You may want to check them out too.

Once you have developed a list of candidates, it is time to narrow that list down to the one career consultant best for you. Begin by conducting a telephone interview with each person on your list. Introduce yourself and explain your goal to them. Ask them about their methodology, what their costs are, and how their background will help them to help you.

In addition to the qualifications and methodology of your career consultant, you will want to pay attention to your comfort level with each person and to what your instincts or intuition tells you. You want to select someone that you can trust and who will challenge you to reach your full potential.

When you have narrowed your list to two or three potential career consultants, make a face-to-face appointment with each in order to make your final decision. Most professional career consultants will not charge you for an exploratory meeting.

Clarify Your Goals and Expectations

Explain your goals to your career consultant, and make your expectations clear right from the start. Your career consultant will also explain what is expected of you, for example, what you are to do between sessions.

Be sure you understand the payment schedule and amounts. Will you pay by session, or will you be billed at the end of each month, for example? Most career consultants expect you to pay something before the sessions commence as a sign of your commitment, and many will ask you to sign a contract. Only sign the contract if you are completely comfortable with all elements of it, though, and be sure to question any items that you do not understand or like.

Think About How Your Professional Engagement Will End

Because you set a list of clear and specific goals when you started working with your career consultant, it should be pretty clear when your work has been completed. If, however, new goals arise as you work through that “To Do” list, you may want to sign up for a new contract. Or you may decide that you want to meet maybe twice a year or on an “as needed” basis.

Because the relationship with a professional career consultant can be very personal and rewarding, it’s always nice to end with a little celebration or with a small gift to mark your appreciation.

What Do I NEED TO AVOID?

Not Setting Specific Goals

Some people go into this relationship because they have been laid off or dismissed and the company pays for a career consultant as part of the severance package. The result can be that you meet with your consultant regularly but without any direction, and nothing gets done.

A good career consultant should guide you into setting goals right at the beginning. If you find yourself meeting for over a month without seeing any progress, it’s probably time to move on and find someone else who can help you more effectively.

Can't Let Go

If the relationship has been really successful, you will have developed a powerful bond with your career consultant, and it may be difficult to terminate the relationship when your goal is met. But it is important to recognize when it is time to move on and to begin to apply what you have learned.

Having a celebration dinner is a nice way to symbolize the ending of your working together, and you can always schedule career “tune-ups” if you need them.

Not Committed to Making Progress

You meet weekly with your consultant and you agree to take certain actions such as working on your résumé or making five phone calls. But the following week when you meet again you have not done the things that you promised you would do. If this happens regularly, you must take a serious look at your goal. You may have set a goal that is not realistic or is not really what you want to do. If you feel this is the case, when you next meet your consultant, ask him or her to advise you on how best to re-evaluate what you are doing and how appropriate your efforts are.

Working with a career consultant can help you go a long way in your personal and career development. But whilst the benefits of this partnership are significant, you need to do your homework on choosing the most suitable consultant for you and you must also be committed to invest time and effort into the partnership

I hope the above will prove useful to those of you considering a career consultant.

What Career is Right For Me?

More often than not, I have heard this question being asked repeatedly. And many people who asked this are not your young fresh-out-of-university graduates but professionals who have been working for a good number of years. Recently, one of my clients approached me and asked me what he should be doing differently in his current career in order to advance to the next level, and amidst our conversation, the same question popped up – “What career is right for me?”

I have noticed for a while now that there are quite a lot of people out there who are confused about which career path they want or should follow, even though they have been on the same path since day one. They are always wondering if their current career the right one for them, and yet do nothing to find out the answer to that question.

Deciding which career (or the jobs within your career big picture) to plan for is almost about as important as a degree itself. There's really no point planning for a career in the wrong field, after all, this can decide your self-fulfillment, personal esteem, income level and overall success.

One suggestion I always make is that people (you) should literally make a chart when trying to figure out what career to plan for, and include the following topics into that chart –

1. Your personal values
2. Your unique qualities and talents
3. Your strengths & weaknesses
4. Your goals regarding money, time and quality of life (in 1 year, 5 years and 10 years)
5. What you enjoy and don’t enjoy doing,
6. The primary driver (or motivator) in your life and relate this to the work you like doing; and
7. Where you are at right now, and how does your responses to the above topics align with the current situation

After you have put these topics down on your own personalized “career planning chart”, you should start thinking good and hard about your responses to these topics. One small tip prior to the thinking process – make sure that you are in a “good place”, meaning that the environment should be quiet and peaceful, and you should be in a focused, clear state of mind, and able to go “deep inside” and access your true thoughts and feelings. You will be amazed at the type of insight you will gain after doing this exercise.

For those who are interested in finding out more about this exercise, do give me a buzz. My current company has a dedicated career program which contains a more comprehensive suite of introspective exercises to help individuals map out their career path.

If you’re still mystified about exactly what careers you may be suited for, even after completing the “career planning chart”, and think you would benefit from some help from a third party to gain clarify on your career roadmap, then you might want to think about talking to a career consultant or coach.

Career consultants offer a range of services, from assisting in an individual’s job search or career transition, to helping to identify suitable career paths, often through the use of some kind of psychometric instrument to pinpoint skills, abilities and preferred working styles. Some may offer CV assessment and CV writing as part of their services. There are many commercial career consultants operating, but also local government- or university-funded careers advice centers where you can meet career advisors and access their career resources.

One important note here though, career consultants should not be confused with recruitment consultants, who find suitable candidates to fill their clients’ vacancies. You will not receive objective career advice from a recruitment consultant – it is simply NOT their job, however sympathetic they may be towards you. Some unethical recruiters might even push you into a job you never wanted in the first place.

Talking to a career consultant can be valuable if you want someone who can facilitate your search for a new career, who you can bounce ideas off and help you focus your ideas with the benefit of their expert advice. But to get the most out of seeing a career consultant, you must have realistic expectations – he or she will not punch your details into a computer and tell you what your ideal career is; you must be prepared to provide input too, and work collaboratively with your career consultant to assess your opportunities.

Anyway…

Regardless of what career you're planning for, I will always strongly recommend doing your homework thoroughly before jumping into it head first. There's nothing more challenging (or emotionally tearing) than changing careers half way through your life. Try to get it right from the beginning and the ride will be much easier.

If you happen to be those who are going to change career midway, it’s not the end of the world yet. All you need to do is to be level-headed, do that self-reflective exercise I suggested to develop a perspective, consult your family, friends or a professional career consultant or coach and then make the best most informed decision.

At the end of the day this should not be a difficult decision to make. It might be a difficult task to accomplish but definitely it should not be a difficult decision to make. And this decision should be made by no one but you.

Why do I say this?

Because…it's only you who knows whether you want to have a fulfilling career or just an ordinary job; it's only you who knows whether you want to work for yourself or for another person; it's only you and no one else who knows whether you want to become successful and have “arrived” or simply live and lead an ordinary mundane boring life. Nobody is responsible for our lives except us.