Hiring a Career Coach: The Path to a Higher-Paying Job

Today's job market is on shaky ground. Unemployment rates are rising rapidly and employers are shedding staff in order to try to ride out the recession that is eating into their profits. The first concern of most employees is to hang on to their existing jobs and try to also ride out the storm.

Searching for a new job may be the last thing on employees' minds in this economy. However, there are sound reasons to use the services of a career coach to upgrade your skills and seek a better and higher-paying job.

1. The more skills you have, the more likely you are to keep your existing job through the recession.

Employers are more likely to hang on to employees with specialized and critical skills and experience than those who are easily replaced when the economy picks up. Unskilled workers are a commodity that employers find easy to dispense with at the first sign of financial contraction. Upgrading and making your skill set more current can ensure that you are able to remain employed during this down cycle.

A career coach can help you assess your current skills and experience and create a plan for education and on-the-job training that will keep your resume top notch. This benefits you both in your current job and if you find yourself seeking a new one.

2. A career coach can help you determine what skills are most sought after in the market and the easiest way to get them.

One benefit of hiring a career coach is that he or she is immersed in the job market on a daily basis. Career coaches monitor the hiring activity of many industries and have their fingers on the pulse of what skills and education employers are looking for. For example, there is no point in you taking night courses to get a diploma in business administration if most employers hiring business employees are looking for bachelor's degrees.

A career coach can help tailor your training plan to help you enter the industry you want to be in.

3. A career coach can help you universalize your existing skills to other industries.

Many employees have a difficult time assessing their own skills. They believe that, because they have experience managing a restaurant, for example, they have no applicable skills when applying to manage a retail store. A career coach can help you understand the underlying basic skills that you have and can help you market them in new industries.

Hiring an experienced career coach can increase your income and ensure your financial and job stability. And, when the job market turns around and employers are hiring freely again, it can cement your position as a valuable catch.