You're at a turning point. Maybe you've felt for a while that your job no longer fits – but you don't know where you actually want to go. Or maybe you do know, but the next step just doesn't feel right yet. That's exactly where career coaching comes in: not with ready-made answers, but with the right questions.
Career coaching is a structured support process that helps you gain professional clarity, identify your strengths, and develop concrete steps for your next career phase.
It's not about being told what to do. A good career coach creates the space in which you figure out for yourself what truly fits – your values, your strengths, your life.
Career coaching is clearly different from career counselling:
|
Career Coaching |
Career Counselling |
|---|---|
|
You develop your own answers |
You receive external recommendations |
|
Focus on inner clarity & mindset |
Focus on market data & job offers |
|
Long-term transformation |
Short-term orientation |
|
Process accompaniment |
Information delivery |
A career coach supports you in gaining clarity about your professional situation, recognising obstacles, and moving into action. In practice, that means:
A career coach doesn't give advice and doesn't write your applications. They help you see your own path – and walk it.
Career coaching draws on a range of methods, depending on the coach's approach and your individual situation. The most common ones are:
Tools like the CliftonStrengths assessment or the VIA Character Strengths survey help you identify your natural talents. The core idea: people who work from their strengths are not only more successful – they're also more satisfied.
What truly matters to you? What values should shape your professional life? These questions sound simple, but the answers change everything. Values-based coaching helps you make decisions that feel right in the long run.
Many career obstacles don't live in the CV – they live in the mind. Thoughts like "I'm not good enough for that role" or "Who am I to want this?" hold people back more than any rejection letter. Good career coaching works on this level too.
Your job doesn't exist in a vacuum. Family, environment, social expectations – all of it plays a role. Systemic coaching looks at the bigger picture and helps you understand your situation fully.
Alongside the inner work, there are concrete methods: SMART goal setting, force field analysis, decision matrices, or role plays for difficult conversations (e.g. with your manager or in job interviews).
The cost of career coaching varies widely – depending on the coach's experience, the format, and the scope of the programme.
As a rough guide:
|
Format |
Price Range |
|---|---|
|
Single session (60–90 min.) |
€80 – €300 |
|
Short programme (3–5 sessions) |
€300 – €1,000 |
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Comprehensive coaching package |
€1,000 – €3,500 |
|
Premium / Executive coaching |
from €3,500 |
Cheaper isn't automatically worse – but anything significantly below €80 per hour deserves a closer look. Good coaching requires training, experience, and ongoing supervision.
Important: Always ask what's included in the price. Are there materials, check-in calls, email support? Is a free introductory call available?
In Germany, yes – in certain cases. The Agentur für Arbeit and the Jobcenter can fund career coaching through the Aktivierungs- und Vermittlungsgutschein (AVGS). This voucher allows job seekers to access certified coaching services at little or no cost. Whether you're eligible is something to clarify directly with your local office.
Coaching doesn't make sense when you're in an acute mental health crisis, when you need therapy, or when you're not genuinely ready to change anything.
Coaching is not a substitute for psychotherapy. If you're dealing with depression, burnout, or anxiety disorders, therapeutic support is the right first step.
Coaching also tends to fall flat when:
Coaching works best when you're fundamentally capable of taking action – but need clarity, direction, or a nudge to take the next step.
ChatGPT can support career coaching – but it cannot replace a real coach.
AI tools are strong at structuring information, refining texts, or generating ideas. For initial orientation, sorting through thoughts, or preparing for conversations, they can be useful.
What AI cannot do:
Deep change happens in contact – between two people. No AI can replace that.
You find the right career coach by paying attention to three things: training, method, and gut feeling.
Beyond certifications: read testimonials, look at how the coach communicates – on their website, on social media, in the introductory call. Does the tone feel right for you? Do you feel seen, not judged?
Trust your gut. You'll be vulnerable in coaching. That only works with someone you genuinely trust.
I work with people who are at a professional turning point – wondering what the right next step actually is. Not just any step. One that genuinely feels good.
My approach is based on a clear conviction: Every person has strengths and needs that make them unique – and that's exactly where the key to the right career lies. It's not about adapting yourself to a job. It's about finding a job that fits you.
Part of that means looking at what introverted people often experience as a weakness – and what is actually one of their greatest strengths: depth of thinking, the ability to concentrate, analytical clarity, the capacity to listen and reflect. These qualities are not obstacles on the career path. They are the driving force.
My approach works on three levels:
Mind: What do you truly want – beyond expectations, pressure, and what you think you "should" do? What strengths do you bring, and how can you use them deliberately?
Heart: What do you need for work not to feel like a performance? Which needs – for quiet, meaning, autonomy, or depth – should your career fulfil?
Career: How do you shape your next step so that it aligns with your strengths, meets your needs – and therefore feels right?
Instead of standard recipes, I offer a process that starts exactly where you are right now. Strengths-based, holistic, at eye level – always with the goal that you end up not just knowing where you want to go, but feeling it: Yes, this is mine.
Ready for Your Next Career Step?
You know something needs to change – but you're not sure how or where to go? In career coaching with Corinna Behling, you'll find clarity, discover your strengths, and develop your next career step – one that truly feels right.