Career Coaching
Building your confidence | Developing your skills and ability | Breaking through your limitations and barriers | The Mindcare Space can help you achieve your career goals
After graduating from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, I started my career in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior and lately I switched to include Mental Health and Psychology in my coaching and counselling business. Such experience has helped me become a successful and seasoned career coach and counsellor. I love helping people solve problems, and particularly I have a passion for helping people build meaningful and fulfilling careers. With experience interviewing, and recruiting hundreds of individuals in my career, I understand what it takes to find that perfect fit and get you hired.
What is career coaching?
Career coaching is a professional service aimed at assisting individuals in effectively managing their career development. A career coach works with clients to help them define and achieve their career goals, make informed decisions, and navigate various aspects of their professional lives. Career coaching is designed to provide guidance, support, and practical strategies to individuals at different stages of their careers.
Key aspects of career coaching include:
- Self-Discovery: Career coaches help individuals gain a deeper understanding of their strengths, interests, values, and skills. This self-awareness is crucial for making informed career choices.
- Goal Setting: Coaches assist clients in setting clear and achievable short-term and long-term career goals. These goals may involve finding a new job, transitioning to a different field, getting a promotion, or enhancing specific skills.
- Action Planning: Coaches work with clients to create actionable plans for achieving their career objectives. This involves breaking down larger goals into smaller, manageable steps and developing strategies to overcome challenges.
- Skill Development: Coaches may identify areas for skill improvement or development and provide guidance on acquiring new skills or refining existing ones.
- Job Search Strategies: For those seeking new employment opportunities, career coaches offer guidance on job search strategies, including resume writing, networking, interview preparation, and online presence enhancement.
- Interview Preparation: Career coaches assist clients in preparing for job interviews by conducting mock interviews, providing feedback, and sharing effective communication techniques.
- Workplace Dynamics: Coaches help individuals navigate workplace challenges, improve communication skills, enhance leadership abilities, and manage workplace relationships.
- Career Transitions: Career coaching is valuable during career transitions, such as changing industries, re-entering the workforce after a break, or starting a new entrepreneurial venture.
- Personal Branding: Coaches may help clients develop and project a strong personal brand that aligns with their career goals and values.
- Ongoing Support: Career coaching often involves ongoing support and check-ins to track progress, make adjustments to plans, and address any emerging challenges.
Career coaching can be especially beneficial for individuals who are seeking clarity in their career path, dealing with career-related challenges, or looking to make strategic advancements in their professional lives. The coaching process is typically personalized to the individual’s needs and objectives, and it aims to empower individuals to take proactive control of their careers.
What is career transition coaching?
Career transition coaching is a specialized type of coaching that focuses in specific on helping individuals successfully navigate and manage transitions in their careers. These transitions can include changing industries, roles, jobs or even pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. The goal of career transition coaching is to provide guidance, support, and strategies to facilitate a smooth and successful transition from one stage to another.
Here are some key aspects of career transition coaching:
- Assessment and Self-Discovery: Career coaches help individuals assess their skills, strengths, interests, values, and passions to determine the best fit for their next career move. This self-discovery process helps clients identify transferable skills and potential career paths.
- Clarifying Goals: Coaches work with clients to define clear career goals for their transition. This might involve identifying the type of industry or role they want to move into, the level of responsibility they are aiming for and the timeline for the transition.
- Strategic Planning: Coaches assist in creating a step-by-step plan to achieve the career transition. The plan may include updating resumes, acquiring new skills, expanding networks, and researching opportunities.
- Resume and Cover Letter Enhancement: Coaches help clients tailor their resumes and cover letters to highlight relevant experiences and skills and ability for the new career path. They guide individuals in presenting their backgrounds in a way that resonates with the target industry.
- Networking Strategies: Building a network is often important during career transitions. Coaches provide advice on effective networking techniques, including how to reach out to industry professionals, attend relevant events, and leverage online platforms.
- Interview Preparation: Coaches provide guidance on how to prepare for interviews in the context of the new career path. This includes practicing responses to common interview questions and developing a compelling narrative for the transition.
- Skill Development: If a career transition requires obtaining new skills, coaches help individuals identify and develop those skills through programs, courses, workshops, online resources, or mentorship.
- Managing Emotions and Challenges: Career transitions can be emotionally challenging. Coaches provide support in dealing with potential doubts, fears, and uncertainties that can arise during this period.
- Decision-Making: Career transition coaches assist clients in making informed decisions by evaluating pros and cons, considering potential risks, and weighing the potential rewards of the transition.
- Adjustment and Integration: Once the transition is underway, Coaches continue to offer support as individuals adjust to their new roles, industries, or organizations.
Career transition coaching is particularly valuable when individuals are contemplating major shifts in their professional lives. It provides a structured and personalized approach to addressing the complexities and uncertainties associated with changing careers, ultimately increasing the chances of a successful and fulfilling transition.
Career Coaching in Hong Kong
- Career Transition: They might be looking to switch careers or industries and need guidance on how to make a successful transition.
- Skill Development: Enhancing their skills and staying competitive in a rapidly changing job market like Hong Kong is important, individuals may seek career coaching to identify areas for improvement and set goals for skill development.
- Job Market Dynamics in Hong Kong: Understanding the local job market and its nuances can be challenging. Career coaches can provide insights and strategies for navigating job market dynamics.
- Networking: Building a professional network is crucial for career advancement especially for a job market like in Hong Kong. Career coaches can help individuals develop networking skills and connect with relevant contacts.
- Personal Development: Some people seek career coaching to improve their overall personal and professional growth, including leadership skills, communication, and time management.
- Confidence Building: Confidence is significant in career success and its importance has been growing in recent years in Hong Kong. Career coaches can help individuals build confidence and self-esteem in their professional lives.
- Work-Life Balance: Balancing work and personal life can be challenging in a fast-paced city like Hong Kong. Career coaches can provide strategies for achieving a healthier work-life balance.
- Entrepreneurship: Some individuals in Hong Kong may aspire to start their own businesses. Career coaches can provide guidance on entrepreneurship, from business planning to execution.
It is also worth remembering that career coaches can help individuals in Hong Kong achieve work-life balance through various strategies and techniques:
- Self-Assessment: Career coaches often start by helping individuals assess their current work-life balance and identify areas that need improvement. This involves understanding personal priorities, values, and long-term goals.
- Goal Setting: Career coaches assist in setting realistic and achievable work-life balance goals. These goals may include dedicating more time to family, hobbies, or self-care activities, which are always challenges to people in Hong Kong.
- Time Management: Time is always a perspective Hong Kong people find it difficult to manage. Career coaches teach effective time management techniques to help individuals prioritize tasks, set boundaries, and allocate time for work, family, and personal activities.
- Stress Management: Stress is a common issue in Hong Kong’s fast-paced environment. Career coaches provide stress management strategies, such as relaxation techniques, mindfulness, and stress-reduction exercises.
- Prioritization: Career coaches assist individuals in identifying their most important tasks and focusing on high-priority activities to prevent burnout.
- Accountability: Career coaches hold individuals accountable for their goals and commitments, helping them stay on track in their efforts to maintain work-life balance, which is particularly important for a fast-paced environment like Hong Kong.
Achieving work-life balance in a busy city like Hong Kong can be challenging, but career coaches offer guidance, strategies, and emotional support to help individuals find the right equilibrium between their professional and personal lives.
FAQ
I have been living, studying and working in different cities including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Boston, Toronto, Calgary and Hamilton, I am attuned to oriental and western cultures. I fully understand how culture and social norms play an important role on one’s life values, goals and objectives.
With an extensive background as a Human Resources professional and a Mental Health Coach, Career Coaching and counselling is a natural fit for my practice. I love helping people solve problems, and particularly I have a passion for helping people build meaningful and fulfilling careers. With experience interviewing, and recruiting hundreds of individuals in my career, I understand what it takes to find that perfect fit and get you hired.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me for a free 15-minute initial consultation.
There are a few circumstances you should consider career coaching:
- You are not sure what you want.
- If you are looking to change careers – especially if you feel the job that you have is not suitable for you or does not bring you satisfaction.
- If your job affects your life. I have no surprise if your job is so demanding. Many people living in Hong Kong hire career coaches or counsellors because their jobs affect them, in the perspectives of health, personal lives and relationships with families.
· If your job creates negatives behaviors. Some people may develop negative habits or behaviors such as eating and sleeping issues and lack of exercises because of long work hours. Some even start to develop mental health or psychological problems. This are common reasons some people living in Hong Kong consult career coaches or counsellors.
Career coaching or career transition coaching can help you gain clarity and confidence in your career journey. We will provide you with personalized support, career path planning and career guidance to explore your career options and create a detailed action plan to reach your goals.
I create plans based on individuals’ needs and situations. In general, the package includes:
- Career exploration
- Resume and cover letter
- Personality and strengths assessments
- Job search strategies
- Personal branding
- Interview skills and confidence building
- Evaluating prospective employers and compensation negotiations
Coaching is a structured, collaborative and co-creative session where I discover your values, goals, passions and strengths, use them to motivate you to the purposeful, meaningful, fulfilling life and career you are wanting.
You may find different career coaches in Hong Kong by searching online (keywords such as HK career coach, career coaching Hong Kong, career transition coach Hong Kong, etc.).
You should look into the coaches’ education background and qualifications and related career coaching experience. You may as well check what types of approaches they use and what industries they focus on. On the other hand, you can sign up for the free consultation sessions provided by them as an assessment to check whether the services seem to be a right fit for you.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell how many sessions you do because everyone’s situation is different. In general, it takes 7 to 12 sessions, but I foresee it will take 4 to 7 sessions if you are very sure what kind of careers you are targeting.
The length of time coaching takes to allow you to accomplish your goals as well depends on your desire and motivation.
We usually see clients on a weekly basis as coaching requires consistency and commitment to see progress. Bi-weekly sessions can also be arranged if your schedule does not permit that cadence.
Yes, anything you share with your coach will remain strictly confidential.
Session rate is HKD 1,000 for 50 minutes.
We provide coaching in English, Cantonese, or Mandarin.
Yes, we do. We recognize some clients prefer the flexibility of having coaching sessions online.