Sarah Allen, Technical Careers Lead for UK ITSS, is a qualified Careers Coach and Adviser with over 20 years’ experience in recruitment and careers guidance work. In this blog, she reflects on how career coaching can support technicians and technical professionals to grow, develop and progress in their careers.
When was the last time you spent quality time talking about your own career development? Technical professionals lead busy lives, and it can feel almost impossible to take time away from the lab or workplace to focus on yourself. Even if you could find space, who would you talk to? When I first started working with technicians one of the things that struck me most was that they often felt they had no one that they could talk to about their career ideas, development and progression.
What is career coaching?
Career coaching is a guided activity, facilitated by a trained and experienced professional. It is about you being supported to come up with solutions and answers yourself, that work for you. This is different to mentoring as a coach will not provide answers from their own experience but instead will help you find a path that works best for you.
How can one-to-one career coaching help?
Many of the technical professionals I have worked with have felt stuck in their careers, unsure about career direction, the options available to them or how to sell themselves during an application process. Coaching can help with all of these – and more!
Career coaching could help you with:
• Understanding yourself from a career and work perspective
• Focusing on your motivations about work, your values, skills and strengths
• Understanding career options open to you
• Thinking more broadly about your career
• Creating a career development plan
• Navigating technical career pathways or career transitions
• Selling yourself, for example at an interview
• Career progression internally or externally
There are institutional benefits as well. Coaching can help foster a culture of continuous improvement, increasing staff productivity, engagement, development and staff retention. (Institute of Coaching).
Does coaching work?
Anyone entering a coaching process should make sure they have the time and energy to commit to thinking about your career. Expect to be challenged and perhaps to be pushed out of your comfort zone. You should also be ready for change.
I recently coached Amy (who has now successfully changed role) who said:
“During my coaching, Sarah helped me to understand my strengths outside of my technical skills and encouraged me to push the boundaries of my comfort zone. Her guidance meshed well with my wants and needs, and I have been able to excel in my career since”.
So, what next?
ITSS is now offering one-to-one career coaching for technical professionals through our team of qualified coaches.
The cost is £175 which includes a free introductory session (to check coaching is right for you and create a brief coaching plan) followed by two 75-minute conversations.
Please complete this short form to arrange the initial free conversation: ITSS Coaching Diagnostic Form – Fill in form.
Email sarah.allen@itss.org.uk if you have any questions about career coaching.
Get support at no cost
Register for online workshops, as part of WinterFest. Click the links below to secure your place at no cost:
Career Planning for Technicians, 19 January, 10am – 11.30am
Interview Essentials for Technicians, 19 January, 2pm – 3pm
An online workbook for self-guided support Career Planning for Technicians
We also offer a Technician Career Development Programme and Cross Institution Mentoring Scheme through our Learning and Development Academy. (Applications are currently closed.)
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with the latest development opportunities. https://itss.org.uk/contact-us/