John-Paul Hatala

If you were to describe the perfect career practitioner, what words would you use? In the interest of creating a model for describing an effective career coach, counsellor or whatever terms you use for the position what would you say?

Or perhaps it's a question to ask clients. How would they describe an effective practitioner? Does it come down to one thing, assisting in the transition to labour market?

The real question is how has the sector changed in the last 10 years? I'm obviously asking more questions than providing input so I would love to hear from you on what you feel makes a competent practitioner. I personally think the key to effective coaching is the ability to build credibility right away...and that doesn't have to be a complex process. It's assigning a client a task that leads to the next task that eventually leads to their ultimate objective, which in most cases is a job.

Do we really have to make the process of helping people find a job complex? Or is it as simple as facilitating them through the process of establishing tasks that eventually lead to their ultimate goal. Success breeds success, and success is what motivates us to continue to do the things we need to meet quest of finding employment. If a practitioner is able to help the job seeker lay out their path, assign tasks along the path that are realistic and attainable, is there really anything else required?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this so please do not hesitate to comment.

JP