How To Become A Career Coach: What It Is and Career Path

What is a career coach and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Shelley Sadin,

William Hill

A career coach helps clients with professional development by identifying their personal interests and researching career options. They help clients plan strategic career advancement and develop relevant skills. They also evaluate the resumes and cover letters of clients and give recommendations. Career coaches practice job interview tactics with clients and advise them on how to ace them. Additionally, they may organize seminars and workshops to educate individuals searching for their career paths. Besides that, the coaches recommend additional education if necessary. Career coaches work in schools, colleges, government agencies, or private practices.

Employers prefer applicants with at least a bachelor's degree in psychology, business, counseling, or a related discipline. Having relevant certifications is a plus. You need multitasking, computer, management, motivational, communication, problem-solving, and decision-making skills to excel in this job. You must also be conversant with human resources and recruiting techniques. Career coaches earn an average salary of $45,820 annually. It varies from $31,000 to $67,000.

What general advice would you give to a career coach?

Shelley Sadin

Associate Dean of Professional and Career Development, Quinnipiac University

Communicating clearly, both orally and in writing.
It is identifying and analyzing legal and factual issues with an open, thoughtful, and creative mind.
Working collaboratively with clients, colleagues, opponents, and others involved in a case to solve problems.
Being meticulously ethical and professional in all interactions. This includes treating everyone involved in a matter with respect, recognizing, and honoring their different backgrounds and perspectives.
Being self-disciplined, motivated, resilient, courageous, kind, and flexible.

ScoreCareer CoachUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $41,858

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 3.74%

Black or African American 10.64%

Hispanic or Latino 14.20%

Unknown 3.76%

White 67.03%

Gender

female 70.48%

male 29.52%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

9.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a career coach

Explore career coach education requirements

Most common career coach degrees

Bachelor's

64.7 %

Master's

19.6 %

Associate

10.0 %

Start to develop specific career coach skills

Skills	Percentages
Career Development	9.90%
Professional Development	8.49%
Career Services	5.61%
Career Exploration	5.19%
Social Work	4.94%

Complete relevant career coach training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New career coaches learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a career coach based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real career coach resumes.

Research career coach duties and responsibilities

Offer EEO training to members at various sites.
Schedule clients for work readiness training base on their IEP.
Create and update PowerPoint presentations and trainers' notes to reflect current curriculum.
Develop and implement a successful process to streamline the intake and orientation for the WIA customers.

Prepare your career coach resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your career coach resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a career coach resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable career coach resume templates

Build a professional career coach resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your career coach resume.