For adults · Launch League blog
Career coaching for career changers and pivots
By Nick Gonzalez, founder, U.S. Air Force veteranPublished
The short answer
Career change coaching is worth paying for when you know you want out but can't name what's next, or when you have a target and keep not moving. A good coach helps you test the new field before you quit, through conversations and real hours of the work. Need retraining money or job search help? Use free public services first.
The 40-hour rehearsal
Before you resign, do 40 hours of the new work, paid or not, on evenings and weekends. Forty hours is enough to meet the dull parts and short enough to fit around a job. If you can't find a way to do 40 hours of it, that tells you how hard the door is to open.
Who career change coaching is actually for
Most adults who think about changing careers fall into one of three groups, and only two of them need a coach.
- You know you want out, but you can't name what's next. A coach helps you widen the options, then narrow them with evidence instead of daydreams.
- You have a target and keep not moving. A coach adds deadlines, structure and someone to report to. This is the most common reason coaching pays off.
- You know exactly what you want and how to get there, and the obstacle is money or a credential. You probably need funding, a course or a job search service more than a coach, and some of that is free.
Test before you leap: the 40-hour rehearsal
The most expensive career change is the one you make on the strength of a feeling. My rule is simple: before you resign, do 40 hours of the new work on evenings and weekends. Forty hours is long enough to meet the boring parts every job has, and short enough to fit around the job you still have.
Ways to find the hours: a freelance project for a friend's business, weekend shifts, volunteering in the field, a short course with real practical work, or a few days of shadowing using vacation time. If you can't find any way to do 40 hours of it, that is information too. It tells you how hard the door is to open, and that is worth knowing before you've given notice.
Your old career is not wasted
People changing careers tend to undersell what they bring. In eight years leading operations at a 100-plus person company, some of the best supervisors I promoted came up from the tools: people who already knew how to run a schedule, deal with an unhappy customer and train a new hire, and just hadn't been asked to do it with a title.
Before you look at new fields, write down what you did in the old one in plain verbs: scheduled, trained, fixed, sold, calmed down, counted, built. Most of those travel. The question for a career change is rarely 'Can I start from zero?' It is 'Which of these do I want to keep doing, and where would someone pay for them?'
Use the free help first in Ontario
Before you pay anyone, know what is already paid for. Employment Ontario offers free one-to-one support from a counsellor, including help with résumés, interviews, training and job search. If you have been laid off, or have been unemployed for 12 weeks or more in a low-income household, Better Jobs Ontario can fund training: up to 28,000 dollars for programs of a year or less and up to 35,000 dollars for programs up to two years, toward tuition, books, transportation and a living allowance. Job Bank's trend analysis shows wages and three-year outlooks by occupation and region, which is the first check on any new field.
What a career change coach should give you
Whoever you hire, you should be able to hold these at the end:
- A short written list of two or three target fields, with the reason each one is on it.
- At least two conversations with people already doing the work.
- Evidence from real hours of the work, not just reading about it.
- A dated plan for the next 90 days, including what you'll do if the first target doesn't pan out.
- An honest view of the money: what the new field pays at entry level, and how long you can bridge the gap.
Red flags, and the money question
Be careful with anyone who guarantees you a job, sells a personality test as the answer, or pushes you to quit before you've tested anything. A coach can help you think about timing, but coaching is not financial advice. If the change means a pay cut, a loan or dipping into savings, talk to a qualified financial professional and to the people at home before you commit. The best career changes I've seen were boring on paper: tested first, funded, and agreed with the family.
Where Launch League fits
For adults, I offer Your 2027 Personal Strategic Plan: two sessions and a follow-up that turn the change into three to five goals, quarterly milestones and a first 90 days broken into weekly actions. It costs $495 plus HST. It suits someone with a direction and no structure, or someone deciding between two or three options. If you need retraining funding, start with Employment Ontario.
Questions
Quick answers
- Am I too old to change careers?
- Age changes the arithmetic, not the answer. Later in a career you usually have more transferable skills and fewer years to recover a long retraining cost, so lean toward moves that reuse what you already know. The 40-hour rehearsal matters more, not less.
- Should I quit my job before changing careers?
- Usually not. Test the new field while you still have an income, unless the current job is harming your health. Quitting first turns a career decision into a money emergency, and money emergencies make poor career decisions.
- Do I need to go back to school to change careers?
- Sometimes, for licensed work. Often not. Check the actual entry requirements and talk to two people who hired recently. Many fields care more about evidence you can do the work than about a new credential.
- How long does a career change take?
- There is no reliable average. A move into a related role can happen in months; a move that needs a license or apprenticeship can take years. Your 90-day plan should say which kind yours is.
- Is a career coach the same as a recruiter?
- No. A recruiter is paid by employers to fill roles. A coach is paid by you to help you decide and plan. Both can be useful, but only one is working for you.
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Sources: International Coaching Federation, what coaching is · Employment Ontario · Better Jobs Ontario · Job Bank, trend analysis (wages and outlooks). Coaching is not therapy, medical, legal or financial advice.