London career coaches to support your professional development
From taking the leap into a managerial role to returning to work as a parent, London is teeming with career coach services to support your professional development
If you feel like you’ve plateaued in your current career, are out of the loop with job hunting, or are lacking in confidence, you might benefit from hiring a helping hand to prepare you for your next career move. Perhaps you’re dealing with huge change in your personal life, such as suffering a loss or going back to work after having a baby, and need a bit of emotional support? Whatever your situation, a career coach could provide the support you need.
Things to check...
Before investing time and money in a career coach, you’ll want to make sure the one you go with is right for you and fully qualified. As a starting point, look to those who have been accredited by the Association for Coaching (AC), the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), or the International Coach Federation (ICF). Then, it’s a case of finding a coach who specialises in the area you’re looking for support in. Here are some suggestions...
Changing career path
Alice Stapleton is a career coach who specialises in helping those in their 20s and 30s change career. When it comes to job satisfaction, millennials are known for prizing purpose over paycheques. In light of this, Stapleton’s goal is to help clients find more meaningful, enjoyable and fulfilling career paths.
Whether you already have clear career goals in mind or have no idea what you want to do next, Stapleton’s 12-week coaching sessions will help you build an action plan and prepare for taking that next step. The courses are split into three phases: 'Explore' (where you carry out a self-analysis, from defining your values to recognising your job skills); 'Ideas' (where you think about potential career paths); and 'Action' (in which you’ll start to visualise and implement your ideas).
Finding success as a freelancer
Jennifer McCanna has over 20 years’ experience as a leadership and team coach, working with companies and individuals to help them think differently about their work. But she also specialises in providing coaching support to freelancers at all stages of their career. In her coaching sessions (which can be booked as a one-off workshop of six-class programme), McCanna covers all sorts of things, from helping clients devise a strategy to grow their business to forming a personal brand and even working out how much you need to make from your work financially in order for it to provide the life you want.
Although based in Sheffield, McCanna travels to London to see clients and also holds sessions over Skype, for those who prefer not to travel.
Overcoming imposter syndrome
You’ve landed your dream job and you couldn’t be more happy… until a voice creeps into your ear telling you they’ve got it wrong, that you’re not good enough for the job and it’s only a matter of time before your colleagues see you for who you really are: a fraud. If this sounds all too familiar, our guess is that you’re suffering from imposter syndrome. The good news is that specialist career coach Lindsey Hood can help see you through it.
Hood describes herself as an ‘optimistic and gentle life and executive coach for successful women who secretly struggle with imposter syndrome’. Using a mixture of psychometric tools and coaching to deepen self awareness, Hood helps her clients appreciate their unique attributes, feel confident in their actions, decisions and communications, and ultimately excel in the career they love. On a practical level, her coaching sessions aim to provide clients with a safe space to divulge their mental battle with feeling like a fraud, equipping them with the tools to recognise and manage their triggers, and find confidence in their abilities in the workplace.
Getting a promotion and becoming a manager
Seven Career Coaching is a company that specialises in helping those in the early stages of their career get into management. From providing clients with the tools to ‘up their name’ to teaching them to operate at their highest level, Seven’s coaching is designed to get results and ensure their subjects are fully prepared to take the next step.
Coaching can be organised around your needs and at a pace that suits you. Whether you opt for face-to-face or Skype sessions, all programmes include three deep-dive workshops and are tailored to suit your individual situation.
Returning to work as a new parent
While your career might be the last thing on your mind when you’re first adjusting to becoming a parent and focusing on new priorities, if and when you decide you’re ready to return to work, you might benefit from some support in doing it, now you’ve got a dependent in your life.
Emma Thomson offers coaching for women who are in the midst of becoming a mother, providing support before the child arrives, during the maternity leave period and during the first few months back at work. Incidentally, she also offers her coaching through businesses, working not only with the company’s pregnant employees and new mothers, but offering training for managers on how best to support their staff entering parenthood.
Support for older professionals
In the past, our 50s were seen as our twilight years of work – and certainly not the time to learn new skills or train in a new profession. But with the minimum State Pension age due to be set at 66 for both men and women by the autumn of 2020, both individuals and workplaces need to face the reality of our aging, working population.
Today, if you hit 50 and find yourself unsatisfied in your current career trajectory, you could still have around two decades of working life ahead of you, so it’s by no means too late to retrain in a new profession. You won’t be alone. Research by the London School of Business and Finance has found 43% of working 45 – 54 year olds are seeking new career opportunities.
Helen Slingsby is a career coach who specialises in middle-age career changes. She works with clients as young as 30 through to those in their 50s who are looking for a more inspiring career or new ways of working that better suit their lifestyle. Through lateral thinking, fresh ideas and a positive mindset, she aims to help her subjects switch tracks.
Practically, her courses involve building an understanding of what makes you tick career-wise, creating an action plan to aid your move into your profession of choice, and developing your personal brand, marketing this on your CV, LinkedIn profile and at interview.
Coping with grief
Having personally dealt with grief, Shelly J Whitehead is a career coach who knows how to support her clients through it, too. In fact, she’s spent the past 10 years helping thousands of people ‘integrate back into a fulfilling and exciting life’. Unlike counselling, she points out, coaching through grief is about feeling empowered to look to the future, rather than focusing on the past.
Whitehead’s programmes are designed to support those grieving the loss of a loved one or struggling to cope with a relationship breakdown. Her programmes usually last for around a year and use a combination of NLP and hypnotherapy techniques. Clients can opt for one-to-one sessions or receive their coaching as part of a group.
Self-help books to fuel your career
Little Black Book
by Otegha UwagbaA Sunday Times best seller, Otegha Uwegba’s Little Black Book: A Toolkit For Working Women is a modern career guide – aimed at women – covering everything from how to negotiate a pay rise to building a killer personal brand.
How to Fail by Elizabeth Day
Inspired by her much-loved podcast of the same name, How to Fail is Elizabeth Day’s honest and uplifting celebration of everything she’s learned from things going wrong.
The Multi-Hyphen Method by Emma Gannon
‘Work less, create more and design a career that works for you’ is the cover message of The Multi-Hyphen Method, the latest book by author, blogger and podcaster Emma Gannon (Ctrl, Alt; Delete: How I Grew Up Online). Another Sunday Times best seller, Gannon’s book is essentially a guide to keeping up with the modern world by having a successful multifaceted career.
The Skills by Mishal Hussain
Mishal Husain, the award-winning broadcaster and presenter of the Today Programme, is a woman whose career advice we’d all like to read. Thankfully, we can: Husain’s book The Skills inspires, champions and encourages women to make their ambitions a reality by focusing on practical skills that make a difference.
Ted talks and podcasts to inspire your career
‘The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get’ by Susan Colantuono
In this TED talk, CEO and founder of Leading Women Susan Colantuono reveals why you’re just not moving up in your career, despite taking all the right advice and doing everything right at work. While primarily aimed at women, this talk has takeaways for all professionals
Listen here…
‘How to Find Work You Love’ by Scott Dinsmore
Scott Dinsmore quit a job that made him miserable and spent the next four years working out what made him tick. In this TED talk, he reveals how to find out what matters to you — and then getting started doing it.
Conversations of Inspiration by Holly Tucker and guests
Serial entrepreneur Holly Tucker has spent much of her career helping others achieve their dreams through Holly & Co, a consultancy which helps grow small creative businesses. Hear Holly’s advice via her podcast, Conversations of Inspiration, where she speaks to fellow founders and creative minds who share their own experiences with achieving success.
Click here for more of our favourite career-focused podcasts
