How Can You Tell What Is A Good Course?
I am a recruitment consultant who has effectively been coaching my candidates for years and years and now I want to add a new string to my bow… so career coaching seems to be the obvious next step?
Most of the courses I seem to find cost such a lot of money and I dont earn that much so I need to make sure that whatever I choose is the best I can do. I cant afford to make a mistake. This dilemma has kept me stuck on the fence for the past 12 months. I have spoken to lots of people and been to lots of taster sessions but still can’t work out what would be the best course.
Has anyone else faced the same dilemma? How did you decide? Did you make the right choice? What should I do to stop provaricating?
I would really be so grateful for any thoughts you have.
Most of the courses I seem to find cost such a lot of money and I dont earn that much so I need to make sure that whatever I choose is the best I can do. I cant afford to make a mistake. This dilemma has kept me stuck on the fence for the past 12 months. I have spoken to lots of people and been to lots of taster sessions but still can’t work out what would be the best course.
Has anyone else faced the same dilemma? How did you decide? Did you make the right choice? What should I do to stop provaricating?
I would really be so grateful for any thoughts you have.
Annie
Katherine said,
February 12, 2007 @ 4:16 pm
Hi Annie, I think there are good courses out there if you look carefully. However, you do need to be prepared to put in a lot of leg-work and to weed out some frogs.
First though - your question also begs another question: have you experienced career transition coaching yourself? If this is an area you are looking at making a specialisation, I think the key next step is to find yourself a career coach to help you make the next steps. The ideal is to go with a recommendation, or failing that make sure you meet at least 2 or 3 different coaches from the open market so that you can judge the best fit for you and which methodology or approach you prefer.
You could also get in touch with a local career counselling service, such as your local university - they will have expertise, and advice on courses and coaching programmes that you may find interesting. It will also help you take a practical approach to next steps.
On coaching courses: I think that an accredited course makes most sense (I would go with an ICF accredited course, but at the very least the Association for Coaching or the EMCC) as accreditation is likely only to become more of a requirement. All of the main accrediting bodies will recommend courses to you - I would be interested to see who APECS would recommend. I have also met some great coaches trained by the Oxford School of Mentoring and Coaching.
Julie said,
February 12, 2007 @ 5:12 pm
Katherine - you sound experienced. How much should we be charging for a career coaching session?
thanks for your guidance
Julie
Anon said,
February 19, 2007 @ 11:37 pm
You know what? I think you need to DO something - anything! If you are not careful another 12 months will have passed and you will be no further down the road. Take some advice from Dale Carnegie:
“Take a chance! All life is chance. The man that goes the furthest is generally the one willing to do and dare. The “sure thing” boat never gets far from the shore.”
I have always learned SOMETHING from every course I have taken - even the worst courses. Doing something is better than doing nothing.
Jim T said,
February 20, 2007 @ 8:21 am
Hi
I agree that it is time to get off the fence or this will never happen for you. If you have some experience, don’t do one of those courses that covers everything all over again or you will be bored.
Have you come across Coaching Development? They do a great course… I think it is most useful if you have some experience AND it is ICF accreditated - run by a great faculty too.
Worth checking out at least!
Best of luck!
Jim
Janey Corson said,
February 27, 2007 @ 9:01 am
I totally agree with Katherine and suggest you work with a career coach to not only experience being on the receiving end of the coaching but it also gives you a chance to have complimentary sessions with several coaches to see how they approach career coaching. Is deciding on the course the only reason you are “sitting on the fence”? What else is holding you back?
Sounds like the perfect time to get a coach!
Hope you find what you are looking for
Janey