How To Find The Best Career Coach For Your Job Search

Most Job Search Advice Is Noise.

It’s easy to find free tips online. Google “job search tips,” and you'll see articles from Indeed and other big companies.

Most of those articles are extremely basic. Enough to make you competent, but not stand out.

Then there's more niche content. That’s where you find actually useful tips.

But finding a good strategy is easy. The hard part is actually doing it.

If action is your bottleneck, a career coach can be useful. But not all coaches are worth your time (or money).

Here’s how to find the right one:

Step 1: Consume Free Content First

Don't jump into hiring a coach before you've DIY'd at least a little bit.

Free information is everywhere. Invest your time instead of your money.

The best places to find quality career content are YouTube and LinkedIn. Most career coaches recycle the same generic advice, but some share real insights.

To find them:

✅ Look at big career coach creators (e.g., Austin Belcak).
✅ Check the comments on their posts—you’ll find other career coaches.
✅ Go to their profiles, look at their posts and videos. See if they have any good advice.

Take what you like and see how far you can run with it.

A successful job search requires skills: writing resumes, networking, marketing your work, interviewing, and negotiating. If you can’t afford coaching, make learning those your full-time job.

That way, when you talk to a coach, you can tell them exactly what’s not working, and your money will be better spent.

Step 2: Check Their Presence

A strong coach provides value up front. Look for these signs:

✅ A consistent presence over time.
✅ An engaged audience (even a small one).
✅ Valuable insights, not constant sales pitches.
✅ Videos where you can look them in the eye.

If they're not sharing useful content but promising a "secret," that’s a red flag.

Test them. DM them with specific questions and see how they respond.

❌ Do they pitch you immediately? 🚩
✅ Do they answer your question or send a relevant resource? ✅

This will give you a feel for how secure (or insecure) the coach is in their services.

Insecurity makes people rush. It makes them pushy.
Security gives people patience.

Step 3: Know What a Good Coach Actually Does

A great coach won’t give you magic tricks. They’ll help you:

✔️ Get comfortable talking about your experience and skills.
✔️ Stay accountable and take action consistently.
✔️ Improve your conversations.

Networking, coffee chats, interviews. That’s what leads to offers. There’s no mystery to it.

“Dave has helped me manage negativity during my job search. His teachings extend beyond career guidance...Thanks to his support, I’ve become more confident in my personal value and brand.”
— Danielle S., Client

Any coach can give you advice.

But can they help you have more conversations with more confidence? That’s the hard part.

Step 4: Avoid the Biggest Mistake People Make

The biggest mistake people make is paying a ton of money for a standardized program instead of tailored coaching.

If you’re dropping $1000+ all at once, make sure you have the coach’s full attention.

🚩 Red flag: Coaches who assume their one-size-fits-all approach will work for you.
✅ Green flag: Coaches who first listen to your challenges before offering a tailored solution.

There is no single strategy that works for everyone. A good coach understands that.

You are the one who knows what you need.
They’re just helping you with the details you haven’t figured out yet.

“Working with Dave was one of the best things I did for my career journey. We connected at the end of a job interview process after I received an offer. Despite receiving the high end of the listed range Dave helped to get more.”
— Jacqueline D., Former Client

Step 5: Track Your Progress

How do you know if coaching is working?

You won’t immediately land a great job, no matter how expensive the coaching program is.

In fact, the only thing expensive programs are good for is lighting a fire under your 🍑.
Once you make a big investment, you have a deep desire to make sure it’s worth it, so you work your 🍑 off.

But still, money can't make magic. Big challenges require hard work to solve.

There are 2 key signs your coach is actually helping you:

1️⃣ You’re more confident talking about your work, and you’re having more conversations about it.
2️⃣ Those conversations are moving from indirect to direct. You may still have random networking chats, but you’re steadily talking to people who work in your target companies.

Focus on what you can control.

✅ The number of conversations you have.
✅ The quality of your outreach.
✅ The clarity of your messaging.

You can’t control when or whether people get back to you.
You can’t control who else is applying for the job.
You can’t control when jobs are posted.

But you can measure your efforts.

The more conversations you have, the more chances you create.

Step 6: Don’t Expect Coaching to Make Things Easier

A common mental block people face is thinking coaching will make things easier.

🚫 It won’t.

The job search doesn’t get easier with a coach. It just becomes more likely to succeed.

You still have to do the hard work.
You still have to send the messages, take the calls, and show up.

But a coach helps you avoid dead ends.
A coach helps you focus on what actually moves the needle.

Final Thoughts

The right career coach won’t just teach you what to do.

They’ll energize you to actually do it.

They’ll help you stay organized, accountable, and clear on your next steps.

💡 If you’re serious about taking action, download more free career resources below.