What exactly is a career coach?

Career coaching is a one-on-one individualized program designed to enhance your job performance and job satisfaction, and to provide you with the tools, focus, and techniques to more effectively manage your career challenges, transition and change. Our objective is the same as yours: To assist you in reaching your professional goals and aspirations.

A career coach's main job is to help their client determine their skills, interests and economic needs and then establish their professional goals and objectives.

If your aspiration is to embark on a life-altering career change or simply to change jobs, a coach can assist you in designing a strategic plan to achieve your career goal. The strategies and techniques Ascend employs have worked for hundreds of our clients and they can work for you too.

No platitudes or confusing theories. Only time-proven effective techniques for getting you hired in the position you desire.

Career coaching vs. career counseling
 
Career coaching and career counseling are often used interchangeably when evaluating the need for assistance in achieving one’s career goals.  At Ascend, we employ both aspects of a counselor and coach in helping you reach your professional goals. 

Career counseling by definition focuses on the introspective psychological methods in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the client personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. 

At Ascend, the career counseling portion of the job search model is termed “The Career Assessment Phase.”  Through a series of proprietary tools, assessments, and exercises, we will clearly identify your transferable skills, areas of expertise, interests, and economic needs.  The net result at Ascend is the formulation of a well-structured career path that will leverage your key strengths, skills, and aspirations.  

If career counseling is the “introspective” portion of the job search model which defines your ideal career path, career coaching focuses on the strategic game plan or the “X’s and O’s” that are required for you land the job you desire.  Career coaching utilizes the development of a results-oriented action plan for reaching your professional objectives by using cutting-edge tactics and strategies to gain notice and win the job. 

The Ascend career coaching model emphasizes first, assembling a plan for achievement with key metrics and a timeline in order to measure our results.  Secondly, we will employ the necessary tools, strategies, and techniques for getting you hired in a challenging job market and economy.       

HELP! I can't afford a career coach.
 
If a professional career coach can even chop one or two weeks off your job search, how much have you saved? Chances are, one or two week's salary is far more than the cost of getting help.

Sure, hiring a professional career coach costs money. But how much is a fulfilling, prosperous career worth?

Consider this: The average job search takes between 5-6 months. The average person needs between $3000 and $6000 per month to meet their economic needs.  This means that being unemployed can cost you $15,000-$36,000.

Our goal is to chop a significant amount of time off of your job search so you can earn a better salary in a better job or get back into the workforce quicker in a position that better suits your skills, interests and monetary needs.