Welcome to the career coaching and navigation professional certificate program. In this professional certificate program, you will prepare for a career in helping others navigate their career paths. By completing this program, you will gain valuable skills that can put you on a pathway to becoming a career coach or navigator, a rewarding career where you can put your dedication for helping people change their lives to work in your community. Career coaching and navigation addresses challenges you may have faced: searching for and finding work. When you are facing these challenges, the obstacles may seem impossible because of many different factors. Perhaps something unexpected has happened, such as the recent pandemic or returning to the workplace after a major life event. Even under the best of personal circumstances, we all face the demands of a constantly changing work landscape. Evolving technology, globalization and unexpected business trends can turn even the best made career plans upside down. That's where career coaching and navigation professionals come in. Career coaches and navigators are professionals who assist individuals in finding work by identifying and addressing obstacles that may stand in their way. When you become a career coach or navigator, you focus on taking the people you serve through a journey of career options, training and experiences that could include assessments, training programs, credentialing, technical school programs and development recommendations. Most importantly, career coaches and navigators partner with the people they serve to not only find a job that will help them survive, but help them discover possibilities of a sustainable career where they can thrive. If you are passionate about helping people change their lives, often by beating odds that they never thought they could overcome, career coaching and navigation might be a rewarding field for you. Listen to some of these reasons why others have pursued this career path. I've always had an interest in helping people, especially those in underserved communities and who had been labeled marginalized. I like to work with diverse populations and empower individuals to succeed. I want others to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I have a desire to empower others in their professional development and growth, providing sustainable work that provides economic stability for them and their families. In this professional certificate program, you will gain knowledge and skills needed to become a career coach or navigator, preparing you to help others in their career journeys to gain economic stability. Over four courses of the program, you will cover; Course 1, foundations of career coaching and navigating. This first course in the career coach and navigator professional certificate program will provide foundational knowledge of the career navigator and coach roles and will introduce relationship management, human centered coaching and navigating. Course 2, client intake, assessments, skill analysis and planning. This second course in the program will equip you with the skills and knowledge to recruit people, complete the intake process, assess a person's skills and work with the person to create an action plan. The third course in the program, supporting clients, will help you advise people as they move along their career paths, assist with job searches, interviewing and resume creation and set them up for success as they start their careers. The final course in the career coach and navigator professional certificate, career support community and resources will explore how the changing technology landscape affects that career landscape, and what to do about it? Develop skills for virtual coaching and career fairs, work with community organizations to develop referral relationships, understand funding sources and complete a capstone project that will help you prepare for the role of a career coach or navigator. Throughout this program, you will learn from experts who have worked as career coaches or navigators. The skills you will learn in this professional certificate program are applicable to other humans services jobs where employment development is needed. These jobs include a wide variety of roles ranging from workforce development specialists, vocational rehabilitation specialists, job coaches, career and college navigators, and other employment specialists. As part of this certificate program, you will have access to job search information to help start or advance your career in the job services field. To meet the needs and demands of roles such as these, the career coach and navigator professional certificate will equip you with the skills to introduce you to the career coaching navigation experience, equip you to help the people you serve in planning career moves and developing essential skills, prepare you to help people develop cover letters, resumes, portfolios, interviewing skills and create plans for long-term career management, engage community partners and businesses that can provide additional resources and support clients may need to meet their career goals. What will you need to succeed in this program? A high school diploma or GED, basic computer and Internet navigation skills, some knowledge of Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and email. You don't need previous experience in career coaching or navigation to successfully complete this professional certificate program. As you'll discover, career coaches and navigators come from many different backgrounds and have varying levels of experience. No matter what your background is or the branch of human services you plan to support, we are excited to have you participate in this program. Earning your career coach and navigator professional certificate is the first step. Applying what you've learned will be part of your ongoing journey as you help others. We hope what you will learn in this program will help sustain you in the journey.
