Life Coach Jobs: Overview
Hear the word “coach,” and you might remember the coach of your high school soccer team or favorite NFL franchise. But have you heard of a life coach? Life coach jobs are a bit like sports coaching.
As a life coach, you’ll help a client set a goal, make a plan, and follow a timeline for achievement, providing motivation and other resources along the way. These goals can relate to things like career, relationships, breaking a bad habit, losing weight, or any other area of your life you’d like to improve. You’ll set up regular client meetings to review progress. A life coach-client relationship can last for weeks or even years.
Some life coaches go by the title of executive coach or personal development coach. Most life coaches are entrepreneurs, but you can also find staff or contract life coaching jobs with a business that offers coaching to employees or in residential care or treatment facilities.
If working in social service jobs interests you, you can expand your search to related jobs such as:
Training and Education for Life Coaching Jobs
Life coach jobs are currently not regulated, but some colleges offer courses related to the field. Several independent organizations offer classes that lead to certifications from their group. The largest of these is the International Coaching Federation. They assess education programs, set guidelines for ethics in the profession, and certify three levels of professional coaching. IFC bases certification on the number of classroom hours you have, your time with a mentor coach, experience as a life coach, and an exam.
ICF suggests these classes to become a life coach:
- Ethical Practice
- The Coaching Mindset
- Establishing and Maintaining Agreements
- Cultivating Trust and Safety
- Communicating Effectively
- Cultivating Learning and Growth
If you want to be self-employed as life coach, you find it helpful to take classes in accounting, marketing, and entrepreneurship.
Additional traits are important for life coaches:
- Empathy
- Patience
- Enjoyment in helping others
- Strong leadership skills
- Organization
- communication
- Decision-making
- Problem-solving
- Creativity
Update Your Life Coach Resume
Monster has all kinds of tips to get your life coach resume in shape, like how to quantify your accomplishments. We also have a library of sample resumes and templates for you to use. Whether you’re looking for life coaching jobs with a business or are prospecting for clients, a cover letter makes a good impression and allows you to show off your personality. If it’s been a while since you’ve written a cover letter, take a look at some Monster cover letter writing tips.
Interviewing for Life Coach Jobs
You’re going to face interviews for a variety of positions and clients. But some questions are common across most interviews. Here’s an article to give you special insight into what a client might ask a career or life coach before hiring you. Be prepared to answer interview questions like these:
- How many people have you coached in my industry and role?
- How will you be tracking my progress?
- What are your top strengths as a coach?
How Much Does a Life Coach Job Pay?
There’s a range of salaries for life coaches in the U.S., depending on your title and whether you’re self-employed or on staff. Here are a few samples of salaries for similar roles:
- A career counselor's median salary is $40,467, with a range from $32,006 to $57,979.
- Coaches in miscellaneous areas that include music, recovery, and reading have a median salary of $18.25 per hour, within a range between $13.74 and $26.63 per hour.
- A general social worker's median salary is $51,254 with a range of $33,632 to $69,199.
Your salary will also depend on where you practice. You can use Monster’s Salary Tools to get a closer idea of what you might make as a life coach in different parts of the U.S. The page will also have information about what skills you might consider to advance your career.
Want to Learn More About a Company You’re Interested In?
Want to know something about a company before you interview? Monster’s Company Profiles are a way to start researching a company to see if it’s a good fit for you. You can find important information about an organization, such as:
- the company’s mission statement.
- how long they’ve been in business.
- what benefits they offer employees.
Let Monster Guide You Through Your Search for Life Coach Jobs
Even coaches need assistance, and Monster is here to help. Along with scanning jobs for life coaches, be sure to fill out a Monster profile. Your preferences will let us know what job postings to send to your inbox and what career advice might be useful to you.