With a little help from a career coach

Anyone who has been out of work can tell you: there is a moment when you just feel stuck. You've applied for whatever openings available, gone to a couple of interviews which unfortunately led to nothing and just don't know what to do next.

One solution can be to see a career coach.

Yes, it may be an unpopular choice, particularly if you've fallen from a successful career where you accomplished yourself with no help or assistance. What can a career coach tell you how that changes the game! The market remains as tight as ever and you have no doubt that you're putting every effort possible into finding a job. Your credentials are not questionable either.

You might be mistaken though. The market does change not only in terms of job availability but in terms of how it functions, employer expectations and hiring practices. If you've not been in the job hunting game for long, your skills may be rusty and you might be simply putting too much time and effort in the wrong place or the wrong direction.

Life and executive coach Meredith Haberfeld of New York-based Meredith Haberfeld Coaching says the biggest misconception she encounters in career coaching is that the circumstances are keeping (someone) from getting a job.

"The circumstances are valid," she adds, "but it is almost always because they are not conducting their job search effectively". She explains how an effective job search can be done from networking to developing interviewing skills, etc.

"It is a number of games that require an incredible amount of motivation and daily activity that is not about submitting job [applications] on the internet or looking at job boards," she says.

However, one question remains: would a career coach who helps you develop these skills be the simple answer to how to reach a dream job or get out of unemployment?

Maybe, but not without your own actions, motivation, efforts and within the realistic expectations. What the career coach does is to work to achieve the most within the limitations. "The circumstances guide what is possible but there is so much more possible for one's career than feeling stuck," she says.

Additionally, if you expect a career coach to tell you what to do, you will be disappointing. Coaching is not about dictation. "We partner with someone to have them ask all the right questions so that they will lead themselves down the right path," she adds.

Coaching for everyone?

The majority of career coaching seekers don't seem to be coming from the unemployed category particularly in the UAE. Paul White of Dubai's Sandpiper Coaching says those who are forced into job change by local redundancies often have such a short time frame to find their next opportunity that seeking professional coaching falls lower on their priority list.

He narrows them his clients to a professional male in his forties or early fifties who reached plateau (perhaps in middle management) and desires career progression but sees no options in their current positions. The second category is a professional woman who is trying return to re-enter the work force after moving to a new country or taking a break to have children.

Haberfeld says she sees different types of clients from C level executive to professionals who try to reactivate their careers. However, most of those who seek her help are a category represented by "someone who is successful and accomplished and wants to play a big game."

How to select a coach?

So if you think career coaching might be worth a shot. The next step will be to select a coach. Word of mouth, online reviews and personal recommendations are great. But on additional tip from Sandpiper Coaching's White is to make sure the coach can inspire your trust.

"Take one or two sessions before you commit to a programme, this will give you a good sense if there is trust and synergy developing between you and your coach," he says.

The local knowledge may be beneficial a s well. But Haberfeld says it may not be necessary unless if you're seeking a mentor. "For a mentor you probably want someone who knows that culture and the industry because they are going to coach you on your particular field and particular situation," she says.

Coaching falls more into universal terms. "Whether someone is in Abu Dhabi or in Minneapolis the way they are conducting themselves in their professional life and what's going to uncover the obstacles to their advancement is the same," she adds.