For parents and students · Launch League blog
Career coaching success stories: what real results look like
By Nick Gonzalez, founder, U.S. Air Force veteranPublished
The short answer
Real career coaching results are things someone else could check: a written plan in the teenager's own words, named conversations with people doing the work, a decision with reasons, and one thing tried, such as a job shadow, a course or a part-time job. Treat success stories without those details as advertising, not evidence.
The third-party check
A coaching result counts only if someone other than the coach and the client could confirm it happened: the person your teenager spoke to, the plan on paper, the course they signed up for. Feelings matter, but a result nobody else could check is a testimonial, not an outcome.
Why this page has no success stories yet
Launch League's coaching is new, and I don't have finished client stories to publish. I could write a composite ‘Sarah from Grade 11’ like plenty of websites do. I won't, because it would be made up, and a parent deciding where to spend money deserves better than fiction dressed as evidence.
When we do publish results, they will be shared with the family's permission, without identifying a minor, and with the kind of detail described below, so you can judge them yourself.
What real, checkable career coaching results look like
These are the outcomes I would want to see from any coach, mine included. Each one passes the third-party check.
- A written plan, in the teenager's own words, saying what they will test next and how they'll know.
- Conversations with people who do the work, with the job named. ‘Talked to a dental hygienist about her week’ is a result. ‘Explored healthcare’ is not.
- A decision with reasons, including a decision against something.
- Something tried: a job shadow, a workplace visit, a part-time job, a course chosen on purpose, an application sent.
- A follow-up some weeks later that shows whether the plan was used or filed.
Why those results, and not others
These are not arbitrary. OECD analysis of long-term studies found that teenagers who had career conversations, took part in workplace visits or job shadowing, or held part-time jobs tended to have better employment outcomes as young adults: lower unemployment, higher pay and more job satisfaction. The OECD stresses that these are associations from limited data, not proof, but they are the best guide we have to what is worth doing at 15 or 16.
Notice what isn't on the list: a personality type, a score, or a teenager saying they ‘feel more confident’. Those may be real. They just can't be checked, and they don't by themselves change what happens next.
A good result can be deciding against a career
Picture a teenager who has said ‘vet’ since age nine. She spends a morning at a clinic and finds that most of the job is anxious owners, routine procedures and long days on her feet. She comes home and says she's not sure any more. That is not a failure of coaching. It is a decision made on evidence, in a morning, instead of in second year of a science degree.
When you read a success story, notice whether every story ends with someone landing their dream. Real results include ‘we ruled this out’, and a coach confident in their work will say so.
How to judge career coaching success stories you read elsewhere
Run any testimonial through these questions before you let it persuade you.
- Does it describe something the client did, or only how they felt?
- Is there a time frame? ‘Within six weeks’ means something; ‘life-changing’ doesn't.
- Is it presented as typical, and does the coach say what most clients get?
- Could anyone check it: a named field, a named step, a follow-up?
- Are all the reviews five stars, posted close together, in similar wording?
- Was the reviewer paid, discounted or a friend, and is that disclosed?
What Canada's Competition Bureau says about reviews
The Competition Bureau has warned that anyone who writes or permits reviews giving a false or misleading impression to consumers could be liable under the Competition Act. Its consumer advice on fake reviews lists warning signs worth knowing: sudden spikes in ratings, new accounts praising a few products, gushing praise without detail, a company with only five-star reviews, and the same buzzwords repeated across reviewers.
How we will measure our own results
Our Sprint is built so its results can be checked: a written 30/60/90-day plan, at least two conversations with people doing the work, a family wrap-up, and a check-in at 90 days to see what actually happened. Those are the numbers we will report as families finish, including the ones that don't flatter us.
If you've worked with any coach, or found your own way into work, and have a story worth telling, I would like to hear it. The good ones are usually the specific ones.
Questions
Quick answers
- Is it a bad sign if a coach has no reviews?
- Not necessarily. Every coach starts somewhere, and a new coach with no reviews but clear outputs, written terms and a refund policy is a better bet than an established one with glowing but vague testimonials.
- Should I ask to speak with a past client?
- Yes, as long as you ask for a parent who has agreed to be contacted. A coach should never share a teenager's details without permission. Ask that parent what their teenager did differently afterwards.
- How soon should we see results from coaching?
- Within two sessions your teenager should have a task that involves the real world. By the end there should be a written plan and named conversations. The truest test comes a few months later, when you see whether the plan was used.
- What if my teenager finishes coaching still undecided?
- That can be fine. Undecided with a plan to test two options, and having talked to people in both, is a much better place than undecided with nothing to go on. The question is whether they know their next step.
Next step
Want help with your teenager's next step?
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Sources: OECD Education and Skills Today, Preparing youth for work: what works in career guidance · Competition Bureau, online reviews posted by employees (2024) · Competition Bureau, Five-star fake out. Coaching is not therapy, medical, legal or financial advice.