What is a Career Coach?
READ TIME: 4 MINUTES
What a Career Coach Actually Does
Three things I hear from almost every client before we start working together.
I've never used a career coach.
I never thought I would need one to land a new job.
I didn't even know what one was.
If any of those thoughts have crossed your mind, you're not alone. Most of my clients said the same thing before they reached out to me. And honestly? I said the same thing before 2023.
That was the year I worked with a career coach for the first time — to help me land my next role. Before that, I knew career coaches existed. I just had no real idea what they did or what role they'd play in a career like mine.
I assumed they were for executives. Communication skills. Executive presence. The kind of polish that comes with a C-suite title.
My development had always come from my sales managers, sales enablement, books and podcasts. When I reached the VP level, I joined Pavilion — a professional network built for senior leaders — because there were no other VPs around me and the only way to keep growing was to build that network outside my organization.
That's professional development. But it's not the same as a career coach.
So what is a career coach?
It's a fair question — and a tricky one — because there are a lot of different types out there.
Some coaches focus on communication and executive presence. Some work on sales skills: negotiation, cold calling, pipeline management. Some help with life transitions more broadly.
What I do is none of those.
I help SaaS sales professionals land their next role. Specifically, that means the full job search — from your messaging (resume and LinkedIn profile) to the stories you'll use across your interviews, how you prepare for interview presentations, the tactics you'll deploy to fill your pipeline, all the way through offer negotiation.
But the place I always start is clarity. Before anything else, we get clear on what you're actually targeting.
What makes my perspective different
Most career coaches haven't been a sales leader or executive. They haven't spent years hiring sales professionals. Or they haven't been in SaaS.
I have. All three.
I spent years as a SaaS hiring manager — hiring AEs, sales managers, and directors. I've been a SaaS executive. I understand how these organizations are run because I ran one.
That changes how I coach. I know what hiring managers are looking for because I was one. I know how candidate pipelines get evaluated because I evaluated them.
And because I came up as a sales manager, I also know what it looks like when someone is struggling in their current role.
Most of our work together will be focused on landing your next opportunity. But sometimes a client comes in and says: I need to get back on track first. I need to hit quota before I can go anywhere.
Performance in your current role directly affects how you show up in interviews and how competitive you are when you get there.
One client went from 60% to 90% of quota in a single quarter — then paced above quota the next quarter. That came from 2 coaching conversations, covering the work his sales manager wasn't doing and giving him a third-party perspective he didn't have anywhere else.
Is a career coach worth the investment?
The better question is: what's it costing you not to have one?
Most people think about the cost of coaching. Few think about the cost of not coaching.
Let me put it in numbers.
One of my clients landed a $130K base role. At that salary, he was earning roughly $10,800 a month. He searched on his own for 5 months before working with me — then landed an offer 2.5 months into our engagement.
Those 5 months alone cost him $54,000 in forgone earnings.
The investment for Clarity to Close™ is under $4,000.
The math isn't complicated.
How do you know if a career coach is right for you?
Ask yourself two questions.
Are you open to feedback and willing to implement it? Coaching only works if you're ready to do both.
Are you struggling to land the offer on your own — or do you want to move faster than you would alone?
If the answer to either is yes, it's worth exploring.
How do you find the right one?
Style fit matters as much as expertise. Think of it like joining a company — a manager who's great for one person may not be the right match for another. It's not about good or bad. It's about fit.
Ask how they communicate and deliver feedback. Ask what experience they're drawing from. Ask whether they're a step or two ahead of where you want to go. Ask what does their framework look like and their track record of success
The best way to find the right coach? Follow them on LinkedIn. Sign up for their content. See if what they're saying resonates and if it speaks to the problem you're trying to solve.
Hit reply and tell me: before reading this, what did you think a career coach actually did? I read every response.
To clarity and confidence in your career path,
Amanda
See you next Sunday.
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