You’ve decided that your career is vital to your happiness and that meeting with a career coach will be valuable. You’ve had an introductory phone call and now’s the time for your first meeting with your new coach. Congratulations! That’s a monumental first step! Now, on to the next task of figuring out how to navigate that initial discussion.
Let your coach guide you
While this may be your first meeting with a career coach, the coach has had dozens, maybe even hundreds, of these meetings. They know what information to focus on and how to get to know you. You can lean back a little bit and let them take the lead in the conversation. Just relax and have confidence that you don’t need to “entertain and host” them in the discussion. It’s very important that you be honest, even when it’s hard. With a reputable and established coach, you can trust the process.
Jot down notes
A coach will certainly guide you, however, there might be things you want to be sure your coach knows or ideas you have about your future. Your coach wants to hear these things. If there is feedback or assessments you’ve received in the past, feel free to bring them along. Most coaches will want to see your most recent resume, even if it’s out-of-date. Being prepared with these items and notes will give you the most value from time with your coach.
Reflect afterwards
Ask questions. Leave the meeting with a clear list of action steps. Know which tasks need to be completed in order to move forward in your career journey. Set deadlines for yourself. It also may be helpful to journal or write a few sentences of reflection about the meeting in order to have some key takeaways to ponder. Follow the process that your coach recommends related to any future meetings or chances to report back on the progress that you’ve made.
Feeling comfortable and at ease in that first meeting with a coach is crucial. That’s why Crosworks carefully vets every one of our professional career coaches and provides extensive training and certification. We ensure that coaches have great interpersonal skills and the ability to establish rapport in a natural way. Scheduling an initial meeting can be difficult for some. We get it. But we can guide you through the initial conversation. And, we are confident you’ll be thankful you took that first step!