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What Are the Different Types of Life Coaching Jobs?

Kristie Lorette
Kristie Lorette

Someone who chooses life coaching jobs devotes their career to helping their clients and providing advice to their clients on various issues. Life coaching jobs can fall into a myriad of niches including professional issues, personal matters, career help, health, personal relationships, professional relationships, religious guidance and more.

A professional coach tends to help guide clients to make decisions that pertain to their professional lives. This type of coaching may teach clients what behaviors they need to change or modify at work to get along better with coworkers. The sessions between professional coaches and their clients may also entail making career change decisions or working toward improving professional skills in preparation for a promotion.

A religious life coach may read the bible for guidance.
A religious life coach may read the bible for guidance.

A personal coach tends to work with clients on a myriad of personal matters, such as getting through the death or grieving process of losing a loved one. They may help clients deal with self-esteem or family issues, couples issues or managing the breaking up of a relationship. In some situations, personal and professional coaching jobs have a blurred line because some personal issues may affect professional ones and vice versa.

Life coaching can encourage teens to make healthier life decisions.
Life coaching can encourage teens to make healthier life decisions.

Career life coaching jobs deal directly with career issues. These coaches may be similar to a coach that deals with professional issues, but there are some differences. Career coaches tend to choose a particular niche. The niche may be to work in a particular industry, such as with finance professionals, or they may choose to work with a certain level of profession, such as management level or executive level professionals. some may even devote their time to only working with small business owners or entrepreneurs to work through their career issues, which tend to be totally different than professionals working for companies.

Life coaching can help couples become more intimate.
Life coaching can help couples become more intimate.

Health life coaching jobs tend to work with individuals that are dealing with a major illness or disease. These professionals work with clients to overcome the sadness and self-pity that sometimes comes along with being diagnosed with a disease. The coaches work with clients who are ill to give them strength to move, to fight the disease or to learn to accept their fate and to live the rest of their life to fullest.

Life-coaching can help people tackle self-esteem issues.
Life-coaching can help people tackle self-esteem issues.

Personal relationship life coaching jobs tend to deal with couples working through their problems. In some cases, the coach only works with one-half of the couple, while in other cases the coach works with both parties. These types of coaches helps couples learn how to deal with each other and their issues on a positive basis.

Religious coaching jobs tend to focus on personal and professional issues, but from a religious standpoint. These types of coaches do not have to be ordained, but simply focus their guidance and help from a religious standpoint.

Discussion Comments

Fa5t3r

@irontoenail - If you're looking for a life coach I'd make sure that you know what they are going to be able to teach you. The term is fairly general and you could end up with anything from counseling to fashion advice to career advice, to all of the above.

They all bring their own philosophy to the job, so you can't just take it for granted that they are going to be able to help you. You have to find someone who meshes well with the way you want to live your life.

irontoenail

@umbra21 - I don't know if life coaching programs are really there to help you avoid mistakes entirely. But then I don't think life choices should be seen as mistakes very often. It might feel like a relationship was a big mistake when you view it from the other end, but your perception is colored by the hurt and loss you feel at a breakup. Avoiding the relationship means you have avoided all the learning and fun times that you got out of it as well as the pain.

The same goes for a career. I mean, you could possibly have the perfect career where you can pick the perfect job for you right away and never do anything except advance it, but that would really narrow your options.

I think most life coaches would be more interested in teaching you to learn from your mistakes rather than attempting to avoid them completely.

umbra21

I wish that I'd had a life coach back when I was just leaving high school, although I guess I might not have listened to them. I look back on myself then and think I could have done so much better with my opportunities if I'd known a bit more about how the world worked and what my potential could be.

I didn't do terribly, of course, but I think if I'd had some outside advice like a personal life coach I could have avoided a lot of mistakes both professionally and in relationships.

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    • A religious life coach may read the bible for guidance.
      By: Magdalena Kucova
      A religious life coach may read the bible for guidance.
    • Life coaching can encourage teens to make healthier life decisions.
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    • Life coaching can help couples become more intimate.
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      Life coaching can help couples become more intimate.
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