Illustration of man on intersection of circles representing career coaching questions.

Answers to Your

Career Coaching Questions

If you’re considering working with a career coach, you probably have lots of career coaching questions. It’s so wise of you to be asking them: There are many different kinds of career coaches, types of career coaching, different intentions for career coaching, different career coaching services are available for you, and more.

Then, of course, are the practical career coaching questions like how much career coaching costs, how to find a good career coach, whether you can find a high-quality career coach online or if you should work in person with a Denver career coach, what kinds of assessments career counselors use, and whether you can use insurance to pay for it.

Taking the time to educate yourself about your options is so smart, because it helps you make informed decisions about the best path forward — for you.

Here are some of the most common career coaching questions people have, and some helpful resources to get you started:

Career Coaching Question #1:

What Should I Do With My Life?

This is the mother of all career coaching questions, and one that can only be answered after a process of deep introspection that gets to the heart of who you are and what you hope to accomplish with your limited time. 


If that sounds a little intimidating, don’t fret. Many people before you have found satisfying answers to these questions, often with the help of a good career coach or counselor. Once you’ve decided what to do with your life, you’ll be able to choose work that feels meaningful, satisfying, and in line with your most deeply held values.

Learn more about how good career counseling can help you answer that “What should I do with my life” question, and get the clarity you need to move forward with confidence.

Career Coaching Question #2:

What is Holistic Career Counseling?

Most people have never even heard of “holistic career counseling” much less considered learning about it. But if your hope is to create a career trajectory that is in alignment with your values, your personal priorities, and that makes you feel grateful for the opportunity to do what you love every day, holistic career counseling is something you need to know about.

When we dive into major career decisions without first building a deep understanding of who we are, what we enjoy, and what larger vision for our life we’re working to build, we’re likely to end up in jobs that feel meaningless, monotonous, and empty to us. We experience our professional role as “work” — a chore, a slog, and what we must do to get by in this world.


Unlike traditional career coaching that focuses primarily on identifying a career or landing a certain job, holistic career coaching prioritizes reaching a deeper level of self awareness first. and taking the entirety of your life goals into consideration. Once you understand the “why” behind your work, and understand the intersection between your personal and professional goals, you can design a career that’s congruent with your passions, talents, and larger life path.

Learn more about holistic career counseling

Career Coaching Question #3:

What is Professional Development?

“Professional development” may sound like a self-help buzzword tossed around by execs in business class, but at its core it’s about helping you become the best version of you so that you can create a working life that feels meaningful and rewarding — and one that helps you grow. 


Your career development process doesn’t end once you figure out what you want to do and land a job. In many ways, that’s just the beginning. As we grow and evolve throughout our lives, and advance in our careers, we are faced with new challenges and growth opportunities.

Some of this may be learning new job-specific skills, but for many, it’s often around important personal growth issues like emotional intelligence, leadership, communication, creativity, healthy boundaries, and more.

Not growing in these areas feels like getting stuck. But stepping up that spiral staircase of new growth and learning keeps us interested, engaged, and fulfilled with our careers. Wondering how that works? Read more about professional development and why it’s key to long term career success.

Career Coaching Question #4:

What is Emotional Intelligence?

For all the time we spend in school learning everything there is to know about the informational aspects of our chosen professions, there is almost zero instruction about what is, arguably, one of the most important aspects of long-term professional success and life-satisfaction: Emotional Intelligence.

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to understand (and manage) your own feelings as well as those of others. This degree of emotional know-how is your emotional intelligence, and it has a major impact on every aspect of your life, including your career. 


Without emotional in intelligence, the smartest, hardest-working person in the room is going to misstep and flounder… without even knowing why. Luckily, emotional intelligence is not fixed, and can be strengthened and improved with some focused training. When talented professionals invest in building emotional intelligence, it pays dividends not only at work, but in their personal lives too.

Learn more about what emotional intelligence is, and how to develop it.

Career Coaching Question #5:

What is a Career Path?

One important career coaching question to ask (and answer) involves your long term plan. Knowing what you’d like to do for a living is one thing, but arriving at the place where you’re ready and able to do it is another. Furthermore, most people’s career trajectories span many decades.

Once you’ve chosen a career that speaks to who you are and what you want out of life, you’ll need to plan a career path, step by step, in order to make your vision a reality — and keep moving forward in a positive direction.

Like any long journey, your career path will have peaks, valleys, twists, turns, and probably long stretches of monotony (and a few unexpected setbacks) too. How do you get clarity to chart a long-term course, and keep your hand steady on the helm through everything that lays ahead?

If you were setting off on a major journey you’d want a map and an itinerary. But many people on the journey of their lives just trudge along, not quite sure where they’re going or how to get there. It’s very easy to get blown off course — especially if you’re not clear about what the course even is.

Career pathing is the intentional process of creating a map and a plan for yourself to get where you want to go. Learn more about career pathing, and how to make it work for you.

Career Coaching Question #6:

What is Leadership Development?

People often advance in their careers because they are very good at the work itself: software development, technical writing, graphic design, or data analytics. Sooner or later, they may find themselves tasked with managing a team of designers, developers, or analysts.

Only then do they realize that effectively managing and leading a team requires an entirely different skill set than the technical skills that got them to this position in the first place. This is a major growth moment for many professionals, a fork-in-the-road that can lead to either intentional leadership development and management skills…. or frustration, stress, and backsliding into an easier role.

An important career coaching question is asking yourself what you need to learn in order to grow in this area. Leadership development coaching is the process of learning how to be a good manager, and a trustworthy leader capable of bringing out the best in others. Learn more about leadership development coaching

Ready to Grow?

Our experts know how to help you move forward, with clarity and confidence.

Career Coaching Question #7:

How to Choose a Career?

If you’re in the process of choosing a career, you might be feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and possibly even paralyzed by the enormity of the decision. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if someone could just tell you what to do? 


Sadly, no one can — but we can tell you about the process of choosing a career, so you can be sure you’re asking yourself all the right career coaching questions and arriving at an answer that reflects who you truly are.

To do it well, choosing a career involves a deep process of personal exploration and getting really honest with yourself. Here are some of the most important questions to ask yourself when choosing a career

Career Coaching Question #8:

What is a Career Coach?

One of the most important career counseling questions is the one that too few people ask themselves and seek answers to: What is a career coach? It’s a mistake to not explore this because there are many different kinds of career coaches. They do different things, and can help you in different ways. If you don’t have a clear understanding of that, it’s easy to get connected with the wrong kind of career coach — and waste your time, money, and emotional energy.

A good career coach is a career development specialist that help you grow and develop professionally, as well as personally. While anyone, regardless of education or expertise can call themselves a “career coach” and provide coaching services, the best career coaches are counselors (licensed therapists, actually) who have specialized Master’s degrees and/or doctorates in career counseling and professional development, specifically.

A great career counselor can help you choose work that lights you up and embodies your values, and help you reach the next level in your career through a process of professional (and often personal) growth. One part cheerleader, one part trusted advisor, and one part intrepid guide, a good career coach is an expert at helping you design one of the most important areas of your life — your career.

Learn more about what types of career coaches there are, how the process of career coaching works, and what (good) career coaches do.

Career Coaching Question #9:

What is Evidence-Based Career Counseling?

Many people are surprised to learn that just like there are evidence-based approaches to couples counseling, individual therapy, and life coaching, there are also evidence-based approaches to career counseling and coaching too.

Good career counselors use established theoretical models and a variety of reliable and valid assessment tools to help you get clarity about yourself, work through professional development opportunities, and build a career in alignment with your personality, values, aptitudes, and passions.

Learn about evidence-based approaches to personal and professional growth…

Career Coaching Question #10:

How to Find a Career Coach?

Here’s yet another ten-zillion dollar career coaching question: How do you find a career coach? Or more importantly, how do you find a really good career coach? If you Google “career coaches near me” you’re going to be flooded with options — but how do you sort through them in an informed way in order to connect with a good one (and avoid a questionable one).

Fun fact: Because the coaching industry is entirely unregulated, it’s rife with self-professed and charismatic “coaches” with slick websites, great hair, and very well-produced social media accounts… who may or may not have the type of professional expertise needed to help you construct and actualize a positive career path that’s in alignment with your values and life goals.

But even beyond that, there are many different kinds of professional career coaches and counselors. They have different types of training, work in different environments, and offer different kinds of services — all of which can be very helpful depending on where you are in life and what you want to get out of career coaching

 If you’re thinking about getting involved with a career coach, it’s important to educate yourself about the different types of career coaches and counselors available to you, and learn what career coaching questions to ask a prospective one so that you can find a career coach that will be most genuinely helpful to you.

Learn how to find a career coach…

Ready to Grow?

Our experts know how to help you move forward, with clarity and confidence.

Career Coaching Question #11:

How Much Does a Career Coach Cost?

To people just thinking about finding a career coach, this can be one of the first career coaching questions they ask. When it comes to the cost of career coaching, there are as many price points as there are career goals, from fabulously expensive celebrity coaches who charge their clients thousands per session, to community workforce programs that offer free vocational counseling for people who struggle to find stable employment. 


As you might expect, the type of coaching you’re likely to receive in these different settings varies significantly. The real question is: How much will a career coach cost you? And, more importantly, how do you balance the monetary cost of career counseling with the long term value investment good career counseling can offer? (For both your lifetime earning potential, as well as all the things that are much more important to you than money).

Learn about the career coach cost for every type of professional growth.

Career Coaching Question #12:

Does Insurance Cover Career Coaching?

Does insurance cover coaching? Is there such a thing as “coaching insurance?” Here’s what you need to know about health insurance and coaching… 

Career Coaching Question #13:

Can I Gift Career Coaching?

You can support a loved one through their career exploration and professional growth work by gifting them career coaching with an expert career counselor.

Career Coaching Question #14:

Career Coaching Services?

Here at Growing Self, we offer many career coaching services to support your career development including Denver career coaching, online career counseling, leadership coaching, emotional intelligence coaching, and more.

Learn about all our career coaching services

Career Coaching Question #15:

Do You Offer Resume Writing Services?

While our specialty is in-depth career counseling for personal growth and professional development, we also get career coaching questions around whether we offer specific “job getting” coaching services like resume writing, interview coaching, networking, Linkedin profile coaching, etc. Yes, offer resume writing services, interview coaching and more.

Learn more about our “job attainment” coaching services, including resume writing services

Career Coaching Question #16:

More Career Coaching Questions?

If you have more career coaching questions not covered here or would like to know more about our career development services, we’re here to help. We’re available by phone, email, and chat, and our client services team is happy to answer any of your questions personally. Get in touch, anytime.

Career Coaching Question #17:

How to Start Career Coaching?

If you would like to explore career coaching services at Growing Self, the first step in getting started is to schedule your free consultation session with the career coach of your choice. In that first free meeting, you can discuss your hopes and goals for your personal and professional growth, and how we can help.

If it feels like a good fit for you, you can then begin meeting with your career coach regularly until you’ve achieved clarity, confidence, and a solid plan to carry you forward into your bright future.

I do sincerely hope that these articles I’ve put together for you answer many of your career coaching questions, and that they help you make informed decisions.

In addition to these informational articles, we have tons more career advice blog posts for you here at GrowingSelf.com. I also have many career podcast interviews with top-notch career coaches and counselors generously sharing their insight and answering tough career questions — all for you, on the Love, Happiness and Success Podcast.

Your partner in growth,

Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby

Meet a Few of Our Career Coaches

Colorado Coach and Counselor

Ronni M.

M.A., LPCC

Illuminate Your Possibilities

Meet Ronni: a career counselor, life coach, and individual counselor with a caring personality and a flare for adventure. Whether you want to embark on a new career path, work on personal growth goals, or pursue greater life satisfaction, she’s here to support and motivate you to create positive change.

LP-denver-executive-coach-marriage-counselor-leadership-coach-emotional-intelligence-coach-linda-pounds-copy

Linda P.

M.A., LMFT

Thriving Personal & Professional Relationships

Meet Linda: a relationship expert and certified emotional intelligence coach with a unique blend of professional experience as a marriage counselor, executive coach, leadership coach, life coach, and therapist. She's here to help you understand yourself and others, improve your communication, increase your emotional intelligence, and cultivate positive relationships — both personally, and professionally.

Tania C.

Tania C.

M.B.A., M.A., AMFT (she/her/hers)

International Love, Life, & Career Coach

Meet Tania: a relationship coach, career coach, dating coach, and executive coach with a unique blend of experience, education, and training, and a nuanced cross-cultural perspective. As a relationship expert and a career expert, Tania can help you build passionate and fulfilling relationships while thriving in your professional life.

Dr. Lisa S.

Dr. Lisa S.

Ph.D., LPC, CCC

Expert Career Counseling for Professional Empowerment

Dr. Lisa is a career counselor and professional development coach with over 20 years of experience helping professionals reach their highest potential. She helps you create new levels of success in your personal and professional life through positive, empowering career counseling and coaching.

Susan H. M.A., LPCC

Susan H.

M.A., LPCC

Empathetic, Insightful & Growth-Oriented

Susan specializes in helping clients reach their goals and achieve a sense of purpose and fulfillment. She has a warm, honest, and collaborative style. Whether you’re seeking support in your career, or want to be a better version of yourself, Susan will walk alongside you and support you as you create positive change.

“My career coach was so very warm and kind. She is also very insightful and helpful. I feel safe and I can be completely open to her. I came to her for help with my career and a fresh, professional, and third-person obejective perspective. Our work has given me new perspective, and the courage to move forward.”
– Former Client

The therapists and career coaches of Growing Self have specialized education and training and years of experience in helping people achieve their personal and professional goals. We use only evidence-based strategies that have been proven by research to help you get clarity and direction, have better relationships, feel happier, and design your ideal life.

This website is devoted to your wellbeing, and offers loads of free information and actionable advice that you can start using today to create positive change in your life. Browse around to meet our experts, get free advice on our blog, listen to a podcast, or take our “How Healthy is Your Relationship” quiz. Or, if the time is right, you can schedule a free consultation with any of us to talk about your situation — and, most importantly — your hopes for your future.

Ready to Grow?

Our experts know how to help you move forward, with clarity and confidence.