This concludes a three-part post about helping fresh college graduates transition to the “real world” of employment. I have argued that ICF-quality coaching can help these young folks in terms of self-awareness and self-confidence. Here is one more example. (And don’t miss my tip for the fresh graduates about getting a coach this early in their budding career.)

Self-leadership

Coaching is wrongly understood as giving advice or “fixing” people. I would add that it’s not really about helping the coachee find clarity, insight and answers for a particular issue. A terrific objective of coaching is capacity building: the coachee acquires a new and expanded way of thinking so that he can navigate through opportunities and challenges even after the coach is no longer around.

These include the dismantling of self-limiting beliefs, committing to non-negotiable core values, nurturing a growth mindset, practicing emotional intelligence, staying curious and pro-active, making informed decisions, and more.

Thus, instead of the early-career employee slipping into the loss frame of awkwardness, coaching would direct him to what are positive and possible. It’s now a matter of reflection and courage. And we are not yet talking about coaching the “who” (the coachee) aside from the “what” (the challenge).

A word to the early-career person

If there’s a formative time to be coached, it is when you have landed your first job. Don’t wait until you have the money or attained some leadership position before getting a coach. In fact, it may accelerate your career success.

If paying fees is an issue, remember that there are coaches who can serve pro bono as part of racking up a certain number of coaching hours to get ICF accreditation.

Conclusion

There are many other issues this article lacks the space to tackle such as communication, networking, accountability, introversion, assertiveness, diversity, stress, conflict, work-life integration, ethics, resilience, and negotiation.  I exclude mental health as I believe these should be referred to a professional therapist, not a coach.

These can hound both the rookies and veterans alike, thus coaching is applicable at every part of the career spectrum. But there is a special place for those who just realized there are things not taught in college textbooks and they have to figure things out all by their lonesome.

If you are a trained coach, just think of the alternative reality you will co-create for these up-and-coming people.

Just think of the possibilities.