“I wish there was someone to guide me to the right career path during my adolescence.”
Have you ever felt that you could have been in a better position today if you had access to career counseling services back in the day?
Well, if you have felt that way, then you would be able to understand how excruciatingly confusing it can be to pick academic streams and finalize undergraduate study options. You would be able to relate to how you did not know so much about the various opportunities which you could have explored in your career journey.
In fact, in today’s day and age, young learners are spoilt for choice. So much so that they are perhaps oblivious to all the options and opportunities that exist. If you want to help others navigate through the confusing realm of careers and ensure that they discover the best career for themselves, then you must read on!
Would you believe me if I say that you can channelize these emotions and help someone who is going through something similar? Irrespective of your academic and professional backgrounds, you can leverage your skill set to guide millions of students to their ideal careers.
Let us understand the different professional backgrounds that can be beneficial for this profession and how you can build on your skill set to coach students:
1) HR professionals: Human resources personnel understand labor markets in various industries. Thus, you would be able to understand the importance of cultural and attitudinal fitment in various job profiles. This ability, coupled with their strong soft skills, enables HR professionals to excel as career coaches.
2) Teachers: Teachers are one of the first people students go to. It is the teachers who spend time with students day in and day out. As a teacher, you won’t just understand the current generation of students, but you also regularly communicate with them in their language. Teachers can be amazing career coaches with both their ability to connect with students and their eagerness to help students. You can expose them to different careers, help them with colleges and subjects, and even help in building holistic profiles.
3) Professors: Professors are souls who come across students with different aspirations: some wish to continue in the field, some wish to learn interdisciplinary subjects, and some wish to study abroad. With their expertise and domain knowledge, professors are the best people to guide students with the various opportunities that students can explore to fulfill their aspirations.
4) IT Professionals: Information Technology – these are two words that are a part of everything we do in our lives, whether it is education, or conversations or travel, or even food these days. Therefore, IT is also a major aspect in each and every career that exists. Having experience in the industry, who would be better than you to help students understand the various applications of technology in their respective careers?
5) Mass Communication: If you are in the field of mass communication, you can be the voice that helps students become aware about the plethora of career options available to them and the importance of choosing the right career. If you are a journalist, you can write about it, or else you can work through videos, interviews, and training sessions. Your ability to communicate will be a ready-made skill set to start contributing to the present and future generations in their career decisions.
6) Psychology: Being a psychologist, you would understand the importance of career in the life of a person, it is linked to everything else – their thoughts, behaviours, and emotions. You are someone well equipped with both theory and skillset to understand human behaviour, to connect with people, and facilitate their personal development. Career coaching may be a great area to add onto your current skill set and to add value to people’s career development as well.
7) Social Work: Social workers work on the ground, they have a passion to contribute to the society. As a social worker, you would understand the plight of millions of students who do not have access to quality education and quality career guidance. Through gaining expertise in the area of career coaching, you can make a difference both at the macro-level (by striving for better policies) and at the micro-level (by helping individual students develop in their best fit careers, provide admission related guidance, etc.). On both these levels, you would help towards building inclusivity.
8) Homemakers: If you ask who are the best managers, it is always homemakers. Running a house involves not just finance, accounting, and budgeting but also communication, time management, planning, and problem-solving. As a homemaker, you manage different family members, guests, and the entire household. These skills are perfect to start your own career coaching practice. You can contribute to the lives of a number of students and parents by helping students make the right career choices.
9) Retired Defense Personnel: Duty, perseverance, and resilience – these are hallmarks of anyone who has served in the defense forces. Right from the training to the everyday work, you develop strength and discipline. Aren’t these some of the major traits required to succeed in any career? You can be a career coach, you can train students in developing these skills in the career that they choose to be in.
10) Anyone in any Industry: No matter which industry you are in, whether it is fashion, banking, aviation, design, engineering, marketing, or any other field, you have skills, experience, and knowledge, which are required by the current and future generations of school and college students. Ranging from something as basic as imparting employability skills to sharing experiences in your domain – you can be a career coach and work with different stakeholders.
However, irrespective of the career you are in, it may be beneficial for you to enhance your knowledge of career coaching. You have to develop the skills required to be a career coach. These skills range from building knowledge about the competencies required in different careers.
One particular programme that is aimed at helping you become a certified career coach is the ICCC – International Certified Career Coach Programme. This is a programme that is brought in India by Mindler in collaboration with CDA (Career Development Alliance) and NCDA (National Career Development Alliance), both stalwarts in global career coaching.
There are three levels of the course:
i) ICCC Foundation Level: This is a two-day programme to help you understand the career coaching landscape. This is free of cost, so that you can explore the programme, interact with the team, and get started.
ii) ICCC Advanced Level: This is a three-month online programme where you attend live webinars, solve case studies and assignments, and conduct a live project with a student. You then receive feedback on your reports. The advanced programme helps you build a footing in career coaching where you build knowledge about different career paths, the subject required in them, the colleges, entrance exams, profile building for liberal arts and study abroad, and so on.
The investment involved for this level is INR 24,500.
iii) ICCC Masters Level: This is a three-month online programme. Here, you learn hands-on coaching skills, you record and submit videos, you receive constant feedback. The programme will help you deep dive into building coaching competencies as per the global norms & understanding the labor market. You will also learn about various ways in which you can enhance your brand, market it, and further enhance your career coaching practice. The investment involved for this level is INR 19,500.
Completing the three levels of the International Certified Career Coach programme will be a solid founding. After each level, you receive a certification. If you complete the master’s level, you also receive Certified Career Services Provider (CCSP) membership under NCDA.
Followed by this, you will also have the opportunity to partner with Mindler through the Mindler Partner Platform, the Mindler Associate Programme and the Mindler Ambassador Programme.
Understand more about the three levels of the International Certified Career Coach program, and get a sneak-peak of the 2-day foundation level programme.
At the same time, you will have the chance to learn from the top career coaches in the country and network with people from diverse backgrounds who wish to expand their horizons in this field.
Conclusion
The market is ripe to start your coaching practice. There are over 1.4 million career professionals needed in the industry. Lakhs of students attempt entrance exams to study in India as well as abroad. They need career guidance to plan their career journey. You can play a role in their career journey. You can help in shaping a future generation of leaders and stalwarts. This career coaching certification is your gateway to the thrilling realm of career coaching!
