Becoming a qualified Career Development Practitioner can be a highly rewarding and fulfilling professional step. Supporting other people to make great decisions about their careers – what could be more gratifying? This can be a natural progression for professionals working in people-oriented roles, such as human resources, recruitment, employment services, worker rehabilitation and teaching. The profession attracts operators who have high emotional intelligence and a passion for the ever-evolving world of work. Practitioners may lean towards the holistic, as they guide clients through career and life decisions that overlap into health, mental health, lifestyle and relationships.
Career Practitioners work across a broad range of professional contexts such as secondary schools, higher education, youth and community services, athlete development, defence forces, human resources, rehabilitation services, employee assistance programs, psychological services, jobs hubs, and government departments. For many Career Practitioners, it is not at all unusual to work a portfolio of gigs, combining a couple of days for an employer, a range of project work, and some moonlighting as a 1:1 career coach. The agility of this arrangement has increased as more and more practitioners deliver their services entirely online.
It is a highly skilled and complex service provision. But what may be lacking from the skill set of a newly certificated Career Practitioner is the business smarts to establish a thriving private practice. This is particularly the case for those emerging coaches who perhaps haven’t had a background in sales, marketing or KPI focused environments.
Career Practitioners are wholly committed to lifelong learning, and for many, this can include a steep learning curve into setting up and running a private practice. Here are 5 considerations for those transitioning into, or adding to their portfolio, a private practice offering:
- Entrepreneurial skills
Entrepreneurial skills are typically associated with building and running your own business. However, anyone can develop entrepreneurial skills. These skills are equally useful for professionals working within other organisations. According to the Career Development Association of Australia (CDAA) the entrepreneurial skills that are most relevant for Career Development practitioners are:
- Initiative and drive – turning ideas into action
- Optimism – maintaining a positive attitude
- Resilience – refocusing in the face of adversity
- Communication – listening and articulating and to influence
- Risk tolerance – a willingness to take calculated leaps
- Vision – the driving force and inspiration
- Innovation – creating new processes and products
- Leadership – challenging the industry status quo
- Problem Solving – thinking creatively to develop solutions
- Learning and Self-reflection – being at the forefront personal and professional development
Career Development professionals can develop the above skills through their commitment to Continuing Professional Development (CPD). They can also utilise their networks to seek guidance from mentors and other practitioner who have come before. Many Career Practitioners will take their curiosity into other fields and seek professional learning in a range of industries and professions. This enables them to continue to guide a broad range of clients, whilst also broadening their own understanding of the world of work. A skill analysis and career action plan (not unlike the process they might undertake with a client) can be a helpful roadmap for Career Practitioners who want to pursue opportunities for entrepreneurial growth.
2. Support for small business
Starting a small business can be an enormous undertaking, particularly for a solopreneur, such as a Career Practitioner beginning their own private practice. Exposure to small business basics and enterprise essentials will vary depending on the Graduate Certificate in Career Development Practice course (or equivalent) they have studied.
In Australia, there are many government-funded services for people starting a small business where you can access free advice across many of the fundamentals. Career Practitioners who are starting their own private practice will likely be eligible for this support. Accessing these services will assist to address any skills gaps with regards to entrepreneurial capability.
Another method for building your small business know-how is networking with other Career Practitioners who have done it. In general, the profession tends to be very generous and collegial when sharing tips, tricks and opportunities. There are also formal mentoring programs run by professional associations (such as the CDAA) that support emerging practitioners to gain help and guidance from more experienced colleagues.
Some other good starting points for Career Practitioners starting private practice is conducting some research about the Australia Tax Office requirements for sole traders. You can also find a broad range of accessible information at the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website. Professional Associations are also a recommended point of contact. Once you have a grip on what required, consider the other professionals you may need to gather around you to make this work: Accountant, Marketer, Social Media Manager, Administrator, Legal advice. Some things will be in your capacity to cover. But as you would say to your clients – know your strengths and weaknesses and build a plan accordingly!
3. Defining your target client
One of the exciting features of the Career Development Profession is that we are able to guide our clients throughout their lifetimes; from primary students to retirees embarking on encore careers. This suggests a broad and plentiful prospective client base. It is important you can define your ideal client, so that you can market your service effectively. If you try to be all things to all people, your message will be watered down, and you may struggle to be seen amongst the competition. Career Practitioners specialise in client groups, such as those with work-related injuries, defence force partners, athletes leaving their career sport, parents returning to work, mid-career professionals, higher education graduates, migrant workers, international students, young people experiencing diversity, disability employment services – the list goes on!
If you are starting out, you may or may not have a clear idea of your target market. It is useful to conduct some market research to better understand who is offering career development services, to whom and how. Research the costs competitors are charging and consider that in the development of your own business’ value proposition. A helpful exercise for stepping into the mindset of your ideal client, is creating ‘Buyer Personas’. This is a representation of your ideal customer which can then inform your approach to service provision marketing. It enables you to really ‘speak’ to your target client because you have spent the time really understanding and imaging the problems they face, their lived experiences and their capacity to purchase.
There are lots of free templates available online that can help you build a picture of who you want to provide Career services to. This process is ideally undertaken in the early stages of building up your private practice. However, it is also a good idea to check back in your buyer personas on a regular basis to ensure that your marketing and service provision remain aligned and responsive to the evolving needs of your prospective clients.
4. Systems for success
According to the Professional Standards for Australian Career Development Practitioners, Career Practitioners need to keep appropriate records of their clients and services provided. This information needs to be kept securely, with clients’ privacy and confidentiality upheld. Taking case notes can be a time-consuming aspect of private practice, so it is worth considering how you might automate or simplify aspects of this necessary process. Many practitioners used preferred career action plans or equivalent to document goals and next steps. Many use client databases to house data electronically, and to readily retrieve it when working with clients. You may want to explore applications or platforms that could be used for this purpose.
Invoicing and keeping track of your accounts will also be a necessary aspect of running your private practice. Again, there are many platforms that can do this for you. Research accounting software and take guidance from your accountant as to what would be worthwhile for you and cost effective to implement.
The success of the Career Practitioner and Client relationships hinges on the rapport and seamlessness of experience that you can offer. All aspects of your service provision contribute to a story of trust, ease and confidence. You are supporting your client with some significant life-changing decision-making! So, when you are making decisions about the systems and process you want to implement in your private practice, always consider the client experience as central.
5. Self-care and supervision
Running a private practice can be incredibly empowering for a Career Practitioner. You have agency over your time. The flexibility may be more conducive to a sustainable work/life balance. It can also be lonely in the early days, until you build your team. This is important to note when it comes to establishing sustainable practices for managing the impact of your clients on your own mental health. All those working in caring and therapeutic fields will understand the challenge of absorbing the worries, stresses, and challenges of clients. In other fields, professional supervision happens. This is where you can offload all that you have absorbed from your clients to another professional and have support to unpack and process any ethical dilemmas you might be facing. This practice is emerging in the career development field. In the meantime, Career Practitioner are advised to focus on creating those supportive networks of mentors and colleagues. Consider other methods of processing – this might be a regular self-reflective practice of journaling. It may be a conscious effort to get outside and reconnect. It certainly should be carving out time for activities that bring joy and mental relief. These strategies are just as important for sustainable success in private practice, as developing an effective marketing plan or finding a supportive business coach.
Closing
Career Practitioners who are considering private practice; either as a full-time gig or ‘off the side of their desk’ should consider the following when working through their business plan:
Building entrepreneurial capacity
- Accessing free small business support
- Defining the ideal client
- Exploring systems for efficiency
- Establishing strategies for self-care
References:
https://www.cdaa.org.au/common/Uploaded%20files/MemberResources/ACP/2016/Winter%202016.pdf
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/buyer-persona-research
