I needed career coaching at the age of 17.
The problem is, I wasn't aware of it.
Then at the age of 27…
Then at the age of 37…
Now with the age of 43 and counting.
Had I known it would give me the right push twenty years ago, everything about my career would have been different.
Totally aligned with my core.
With true self-confidence and joy...
One might think that career coaching is a consultation only for preparing CVs, getting ready for interviews or for setting workplace-related goals.
It is much more than that.
It is a guided opportunity for those who want to strategise their professional goals and dreams starting with the “Why” and the “How”.
It is a methodological conversation around identity that shifts perspectives.
It is a talk that triggers the formation of new neural pathways by rewiring thinking for optimism, growth, opportunity, creativity. As Neurophysiologist Christiaan Vermeulen puts it, when good fuel comes from positive thoughts neurotransmitters start to flow and constructive mindsets occur.
If you are curious about why you should hire a career coach to build a short-cut towards your destination, here is the data from International Coaching Federation, my personal career story followed by a quote and an infographic from the “Future of Jobs Report 2020” by the World Economic Forum.
According to ICF Global Coaching Client Study, 62% of people have reported a marked impact on career opportunities as a result of coaching. 71% of people have reported a significant positive impact on interpersonal skills, 70% reported a positive impact on work performance and 67% on work-personal life balance.
So, it really works.
Here is how and when it worked for me;
I needed career coaching at the age of 17 before I embarked on the journey of choosing careers.
Because;
> I needed to discover my interpersonal skills, talents and fields of interest for my future.
> Did I work with a coach? No.
> What happened?
> I started to study architecture. It made me very creatively happy during university and master’s studies but utterly miserable when I joined the workforce sitting in-front of the computer for hours and hours.
> I needed career coaching at the age of 27 when I got my second promotion climbing up the corporate ladder.
Because;
> I needed more awareness about my transferable skills and needed to deal with the complexity of leading a team. Besides, I didn't know how to manage my time well around the new challenges that I took on.
> Did I work with a coach? No.
> What happened?
> During endless overtime, despite the success I had, I lost the sense of purpose along the way. I gave birth, came back from maternity leave as a newly appointed leader and I was barely surviving the day.
I needed career coaching at the age of 37 when my second child was finally more independent, when I was working full-time and I was at the verge of changing my career in a new country.
Because;
> I needed to finally take the leap of faith and give birth to my new professional identity. I needed to figure out what my purposeful contribution to life could be. I needed to get an education, build a structure to earn a living with it.
> Did I work with a coach? Yes.
> Did I do the self-work; attending seminars, webinars, reading books, joining networking groups, starting diploma programs, getting accreditations, mentoring, building a personal brand, grounding a business? Yes.
> What happened?
> My life has changed forever.
> Career re-construction is do-able.
As stated in the “Future of Jobs Report 2020” by World Economic Forum;
“In today’s labour market, workers pivot between professions with significantly different skill sets, and navigate mid-career job transitions accompanied by substantial reskilling and upskilling… Without such pivots skills shortages will remain endemic and a scarcity of adequately skilled individuals to fill the jobs of tomorrow will lead to a persistent productivity lag. The route to unlocking the value of human potential in tandem with profitability is to employ a ‘good jobs strategy', halting the erosion of wages, making work meaningful and purposeful, expanding employees’ sense of growth and achievement, promoting and developing talent on the basis of merit and proactively designing against racial, gender or other biases.”
Career pivots can be necessary for both employees and the employers, both for product / service providers and customers / clients. Whenever we know which skillset needs an upgrade and act on it, it changes our performance be it for our roles in organisations or for our businesses.
Here is the Top 10 Skills of 2025 by the World Economic Forum;
Evaluation, path to improvement and accountability in implementation… Why not use this list as a cheat-sheet for the open-to development topics of your coaching sessions? Coaching is the tool to map out what to let go of, to carve out some space for new approaches, learnings and information.
When it comes to becoming a better version of ourselves, the ‘to do’s are easier said than done. For the implementation of ideas we need exploration, guidance and support.
Very importantly we need the physical, mental and intuitive preparation in a structured way for this personal and professional transformation.
Here is what one of my coachees kindly say:
Being someone who has learned her lessons the hard way, I can say:
You don’t have to be stuck in there.
You don’t have to pretend that it is ok.
You don’t need to put on that mask every single day.
Let me support you for your career development if you need a solution focused approach for either one of these situations:
> You can’t decide which career path to take
> You are overwhelmed in career growth and / or transition
> You feel stuck to take action on career change / transformation
Let’s structure your progress towards becoming a successful solopreneur or a more productive team-member or a unique leader with financial freedom, purpose and fulfilment.
Yours, Dilek