Career coaches can clarify your strengths, identify your preferred work environment, balance the quality of your life and help you build a plan to realize your dreams. Nonetheless, most people do not use career coaches. There are, however, some situations that provide a compelling reason to use a career coach. Ask yourself these questions:

1) Are you unhappy in your current/last job?
2) Are you not sure what your next job should be?
3) Are you 35 years old or over?

If you answered yes to these questions then career coaching may be an important step for you to consider. Good career coaches follow a methodology combined with objective and subjective assessments that identify the skills you most enjoy using on the job, the kind of work environment that energizes you, and the balance of work/personal life that best fits you. Through just a few sessions with a qualified coach, you can identify the kinds of jobs that get you excited about going to work the next day.

Most people have invested thousands of dollars in their education and career growth. If you feel that your career search is more “finding what’s out there” instead of a deliberate, well-thought out strategy, then investing a few hundred dollars in career coaching may be your best next step.