I know someone who has burned through a few dozen life coaches, and I hope someone here has better experiences than what I've observed.

I also know someone who is currently in a program training to be a career coach. I trust her experience, diligence and intentions. I would recommend her, but she's not done with her certification. But I see career coaching and money management as 2 separate areas.

This is something for which I would seek out recommendations from people who have used such types of coaches, and with demonstrated success. It's very much like finding a therapist--it has to be a good fit.

Am I the only one? Seems that people who need life coaches are like the people who post the simplest questions in our decor forums, who can't make up their minds or have zero color sense/imagination. Not an issue, just that they seem to be lacking any skills.

Did people need life-coaches 50 years ago? Now, I do understand a specific-skills coach, like with careers or sports. But I am not sure I get 'life-coach'. Can anyone explain?

Disclaimer: I have made many major decisions in life. Some haven't worked out, but I had to extricate myself and try again. And I learned (I hope) from my mistakes.

Dee, if you'd like, I can put you in touch with the person I know who's getting certified in career coaching. She may have some suggestions, or at least some advice on what to look for. I'll turn on my messaging if you decide to reach out.

The person asked for help and I am trying to help them. I'm not going to tell them to get a grip or tell them that their concerns are stupid. And I have no intention of advising my family member to sign over a blank check to a random person from the internet.

I have been posting here for over 20 years, surely I've built up a little credibility over that time. I don't think I come across as someone needing common sense advice.

(Edited to add - This is a response to comments that have been deleted.)

Ok. My apologies. I didn't mean to offend and was sharing my personal experiences. I've deleted the posts and will bow out now.

Thank you @Feathers11, I'll send a message.

Deegw, could you gently suggest a licensed therapist?

That's a possibility. I did a quick search and see some career coaches with therapy designations. There are so many different types of help available online. It's like the wild West out there.

I hoped someone here could advise about professional designations and certifications or maybe even a name or two.

Be sure that the person hiring the life coach is educated about the numerous scams to look into before hiring.

I remember hearing that a good coach will spell out in a contract what they hope to help the client accomplish.

Dee, I just sent you a message.

My observations and experiences (none of them for myself) have been similar to what Feathers has observed. I have also known 2 people have gone through the certification process and are career Life Coaches -- in both cases, they were people who had floundered a bit in their own careers and life to some degree. They were enthusiastic and upbeat but I don't think I would have benefitted from their services. I am SURE there are great resources out there but as in any service industry, there are many who are not.

Personally, I have had the best experience with mentors-- other than in college, my mentors were almost always successful women in my industry. How do you find a mentor? Well.. I was super lucky that they each took an in interest in me. I have set up some of my own employees with mentors but not so sure how to seek one out. I guess that was a whole lot of no help... but maybe the family member has someone in their organization that they can reach out to and request a mentorship? or see if there are organizations or local groups that provide mentorships. My area has a number of local professional groups: women in business, young professionals (all genders), women in technology, etc.

For financial help, I would be inclined to work with a Financial Advisor. I wish I had at a much younger age!

Not dissing the whole career coach industry-- but I think targeted help would be MY preference.

Dee, I should have asked this first ... is the family member trying to find a career or are they already on a career path and want some help/direction with moving forward? I think they would be two different approaches.

Probably both! They like what they are doing but the money isn't great and there isn't a lot of opportunity to advance. So, I think they would be interested in coaching about overcoming that or finding a career in a similar field.

Relative to coaching or mentorships, one needs to be very specific with themselves about what they are looking for.

For example, someone looking for a new job in the same field might benefit from a resume writer vs a coach. Or someone trying to figure out what career they want might need a different type of mentorship from someone who wanted to advance in their field or someone wanting to advance in their company.

The people who I know with successful outcomes from coaching had a thing they needed help solving.

The people I know who needed help figuring out what that thing was benefited more from therapy.

And me?????….well I benefitted from mentorship in work and am still confused about the rest! 😉

I've never worked with a life coach. I have a friend who is a business consultant and seems to do some career coaching as well. He's had some very insightful advice just casually talking to him about work things going on in my life.

I could see how someone could benefit from having someone help them focus their efforts on life goals. I don't know if that's what a life coach does, but that's what I'm imagining. Not everyone is skilled at making and executing a plan to achieve a goal. They may benefit from another person giving them non-judgemental guidance on how to achieve what they want. I hope you're able to find someone good to help them!

I had one session with an excellent life coach that really helped. The owner of my company actually arranged and paid for the session. I knew I needed a career change to be happy, but had some personal issues holding me back. The coach cut right to the chase and told me (in a nice and professional way) I needed to deal with my issues. Her not so subtle push gave me the courage to face up to them.

I did make the first career change. Loved it, but could not make a living at it so made another. Loved that, but it wasn't recession proof and was forced into the next change. Finally landed in a dream job, perfect for me and where I want to be. I look back on that one session as a catalyst to where I ended up. I wish your relative the best.

I have not worked with them, but there are career coaches who help academics transition out of academia. At this point, I'm probably too old to look for a different line of work.

Dee, I know from personal experience (hiring one for one of our kids) that career counselors at colleges and universities often have private clients on the side. They are professional, good at what they do and already have lots of experience and contacts. The best ones have extensive backgrounds in psychology and counseling. If your relative lives in a city with a top tier university or well regarded smaller college that would be a good place to start looking. It’s fairly expensive but there is often a package rate for sessions. Homework is involved!

You are a good egg to help your loved one find help in that area of their life.

45 years ago I was majoring in Social Work. The job was to assess needs, help the client assess their needs and then direct them to the proper support systems. Not that far after that time "Life Coaches" were born. "Certification" was not a thing and hearing that now it is makes me think some unfortunate things happened. Perhaps Lawyers got involved if money was involved. Those I know personally that have pursued this career did not stick with it long. It's curious that of the posts I read the only people personally known are still in training. This tell me one might suggest you point your friend in another direction than a "life coach".

Jojoco brings up a good point. Even as alumni, you can still use your University's career services office. They do this every day and are eager to help!