Click here to subscribe to my free fortnightly Life Coaching Accelerators, for insider coaching tips.

Wendy Buckingham  /  Creator, Life Coaching Professionally

How To Find Life Coaching Jobs 

Page Summary

Are you interested in being employed as coach, either as a contractor or in-house coach? Learn here what it takes to get employed as life, business and executive, including tips on applying that will give you the edge for success. 

FYI: I may receive commissions at no cost to you. Please see my affiliate disclosure for more.

How to Find Life Coaching Jobs And Opportunities

There are dozens of job finder websites online. So iI's matter of searching to find an opportunity that suits your skills and experience and then presenting your application in the best way for consideration. 

Hand holding magnifying glass to inspect life coaching job advertisements.

Obviously the prospective employer will want to know about you. But it's important before you apply, to  also find out  something about them and the culture of the company.

This is so that in both your CV and any interview, you can show you have taken the trouble to make yourself familiar with things like their history, culture and vision. 

You also need to be realistic about whether your application is are likely to be success from a qualification and experience point of view.

For example, if you have only just completed a basic online coach training with no recognised certification and you have little corporate or business experience, you may have little chance of winning a position of executive coach in a large company!

Conversely if you can show you have experience in a management and can show you understand the particular issues and culture of the company you are applying to for executive coaching work, your chances of being employed are pretty good.

But don't let that put you off for applying to companies hiring coaches. It will be good practice and you never know😊.

Some Coaching Niches Where You May Find Employment

You may already have an idea about the type of business and industry you want to work with as a coach. If not, there are numerous possibilities depending on your training, skills and experience.

Here are three of the broad workplace coaching areas for you to consider. Within each of these, you find discover there are several specialist niche options. I've included just a few of the possibilities.

  • Career planning  with recruitment agencies (executive, redundancy, new graduates)
  • Team Building within organisations (sport, legal, Multi-level-marketing productivity)
  • Personal coaching issues for executives (Communications, staff relationships,)

Useful sources to help you find your life coaching job

Some of the big search engines, such as Google, will provide a wide range of job opportunities to explore. Sites such as Monster.com, Seek.com.au and Indeed.com are just a few of the big name job search sites that you can check out for work for in person or online coaching jobs.

There are also other recruiters such as Manpower, McKenzies, and Robert Half that are international and may list coaching opportunities.

However, if you do a web search simply for life coaching jobs, or executive coaching jobs you may find the search engines turn up few specific opportunities. You may have to be a bit more resourceful in your search to find employment opportunities.  

Networking both in person and online is a great way to raise your profile and up your chances.  As well as joining relevant business networking groups, explore on social media platforms, such as LinkedIn and FaceBook, coaching-related groups or groups in your niche or field of expertise where you can post questions  or comments . All these networking paths can help you establish a profile and build the relationships that can lead to the best jobs.

Another creative idea is to research the big name companies or government organisations in your region and make enquiries as to whether they employ coaches. You could even put in a proposal to a company you think might benefit from having its people coached.   

Make Your Resume Stand Out From The Crowd

In your resume, whether in print or online, be sure to emphasise not only your work history but the different work or ethnic cultures you have experienced and what you have done and achieved in those jobs.

Resume 101 by Steve Mostyn for Resumes, Covering Letters and LinkedIn Profiles.

 If appropriate, include briefly your activities outside a business environment, such as hobbies. Aim to make your profile personable and engaging, yet still professional.

These days employers will often search sites like LinkedIn for suitable people to invite to apply for a position. So it's as I've already indicated, it's important to set up a profile on these platforms that showcases your background, qualifications and skills.  

A good book to check out to help you make your resumes and profile really effective and engaging is Steven Mostyn's  Resume 101.

 Your background can be as important as your coaching credentials.

As well as your coaching details and qualifications, emphasise your background and employment, before you became a coach. 

For instance, if you have a background as a nurse, then you will have a head start over other coaches  applying for work with a company in the health industries. It's the same if you have managerial experience in the corporate world and apply for a job to coach managers.

As an example, a fellow coach secured a contract with a large Telco over lots of competition because she made much of her 30 years experience as a Telco employee before she became a coach.

Don't let your social media activities sabotage your coaching  job opportunities?

You can prepare all you like, and have a whiz-bang resume, but if your social media profile and activities don't match or let you down, you could lose out.

Check how you come across to a prospective employer on social media? Is your personal page full of posts you would be happy to be read by a future employer?

Employers are increasingly looking at the social media activity of job applicants to see if what they say about themselves in the CV and how they conduct themselves on social media are a match. I have heard sad stories about people about to get the job until the employer had a look at what was on their Facebook page.

So - clean up your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Delete posts and comments that might not show you in a good light. If it is appropriate, share things about the work you love doing or your hobbies. Employers are not going to be keen if the 'you' that you present to your friends is unacceptable to their workplace culture.  

Also do keep your personal and business related social media profiles on FaceBook and LinkedIn, current and relevant.  Regularly update with quality information about your goals, achievements and the kind of work you do.

 The Importance Of Certification For Corporate Workplace Coaching

If you are applying to be employed in a corporate coaching role with a large company, you will more than likely be asked about your coach training and what credentials or certifications you hold. The HR department may need a measure of your professional credibility to justify employing you.

Even if you haven't yet been credentialed by an independent coaching association, it could be useful to take out membership with that association. Showing this in your CV demonstrates to the people offering internal coaching jobs that you are a serious coaching professional.

See my page (you can find the link at the end of this page) about the benefits of joining an independent Coaching Association. It includes a list of some of the associations you can join, such as the International Coaching Federation, with a brief description of what they offer their members.  Some associations include a referral service  which can lead companies looking for a coach to see your profile.

Online Life Coaching Jobs

These days online coaching or, as it is sometimes called, remote coaching, is becoming as common as face to face coaching.  And, with the Covid pandemic and the increased use of platforms such as Zoom or Skype, the ability is there with video to be almost as physically with the client .  

Many employees of coaches will be quite happy for you to not be physically available to clients, so long as you can present yourself and your credentials as a coach in a way that shows you know your stuff. 

Using Companies That Hire Coaches 

For coaches of all specialties who have a challenge marketing themselves, getting on the books of a company that employs or contracts coaches and/or provides coaching services to businesses can be a good solution.

The clients of companies that hire life coaches are often businesses who want to get some coaching for their employees but do not have an internal resource to do this. 

Alternatively, some well established life and business coaches leverage their coaching services by including other coaches on their website as part of their team.  You join their team and they do the marketing.

Find out more about the advantages of getting life coach and executive coach employment by clicking the link to my article on Provider of coaching services at the foot of this page. 

You might also find these useful

© Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Created and written by Wendy Buckingham, Class One Productions P/L. Sydney

Powered by Solo Build It! - Business Building Websites