Five mistakes you might be making with your clients

Being an effective job coach means engaging with our clients and building trust and rapport with them, so we can help them move into employment easily.  

But, if you’re not engaged in your super job coach state, you might find you make these five really common oversights when working with your clients.  

SITTING IN JUDGEMENT

How often do your perceptions and projections influence your ability to help ALL your clients? Do you take one look at a client and make a hasty judgement about their ability to find a job? As a coach, you must pay attention to how you perceive your clients and what you believe about them.

If you believe that every client has potential, you’ll find supporting them much easier, because you’re committed to helping them overcome the barriers and blocks that might be in their way.  

ASKING QUESTIONS THAT START WITH ‘WHY?’

This one is a biggie!

How often do we default to asking ‘why’ questions? For example, “Why didn’t you apply for that job?” or “Why didn’t you go to the interview?” Asking your clients why questions won’t help you move forward with them. So, what can you ask instead? Try using questions that start with ‘what’, ‘how’ or ‘what if’ instead, and see what responses you get.  

STUCK ON BELIEFS

Many of your clients may have unresourceful or limiting beliefs about their ability to find a job. For example, “I’m too old, no one will hire me”, or “There are no jobs!” These are big generalisations and beliefs that will hold your clients back.

You can help them flip these beliefs from being unresourceful to resourceful by gently challenging their validity. For example, “What makes you think you’re too old?” or “How do you know there are no jobs?”

MORE Ways to Change Your Thinking is one of the most powerful tools you can use to flip beliefs.  

YOUR GOAL OR THEIRS?

Sometimes, the outcome we want for our clients gets in the way of helping them get the outcomes they want for themselves. In other words, you want them to get a job you think will be right for them, without considering their values or strengths or interests.

It’s essential to understand what’s important to your clients when it comes to working (e.g., flexible hours, hands-on work, security) and the types of activities that energise them, before finding any job and assuming it will be a good fit for them.  

NEGLECTING TO RE-SET

Do you find you move between appointments without re-setting your physical and emotional state? This might mean you feel low in energy, unprepared, rushed, disorganised, or distracted. And if you’re feeling this way, your clients may pick up on this and respond or react to you in a similar way.

It’s important to take a moment before each appointment to consciously re-set your emotional state – grab a drink of water, take a few deep breaths, stand up, lift your shoulders back and head up (engage your power pose!) and make sure you’ve got your file notes ready to go. Put a smile on your face and use your words and tone of voice to show your clients you’re ready to listen!

If this feels all-to familiar, its time to take the next step!

And we have some excellent training that can help with that. If you join the Bounce Academy, you can access our free one-hour webinar ‘Connect: Engaging the Disengaged’.

It’s short and sharp – and full of brilliant tips and tools you can use to engage your clients faster and more effortlessly. It’s free to register with the Bounce Academy and once you’re in, you can unlock even more cool content!

You’ll learn:

Final thoughts…

If you’re finding it challenging to build trust and rapport with your clients, you need to develop your coaching skills.

Our Job Coach Certification course is the perfect way to help you feel more confident in helping your clients move into employment faster and more effectively.