Photo: Georgia National Guard from United States (CC BY 2.0)
Job description
Sessions typically involve asking guided questions to surface a client's obstacles and blind spots, then building an actionable plan with concrete milestones and checking in regularly on progress. Because coaching is forward-looking rather than treatment-focused, much of the value comes from consistent accountability and encouragement between sessions rather than diagnosis or treatment. Most coaches work independently from a home office or over video calls, which means marketing, scheduling, and billing fall on them too, and income depends heavily on referrals and a personal brand rather than a steady salary.
Pros
- High upside earning potential, up to $150k
- No formal degree required, and hours (20-45 per week) are flexible and self-directed
- Work can be done remotely over video calls from a home office
Cons
- Income and reputation depend heavily on referrals and building a personal brand
- Requires building genuine trust quickly since clients share personal struggles
- Ongoing marketing and business development alongside the coaching itself
A typical day
The first session is at 9am by video: a client stuck between a safe career and a risky dream, and the coach's discipline is asking instead of telling — powerful questions, silence held long enough to work, and a commitment extracted by session's end that the client chose themselves. Notes and preparation fill the gaps between sessions, because remembering that a client's daughter had a recital last week is half the trust. Midday holds a discovery call with a prospective client (fit matters; coaches who take everyone help no one) and an hour on the business — the part no one romanticizes: content for the newsletter, invoices, a workshop pitch to a local company. Two afternoon sessions follow, one a hard accountability conversation delivered with care. The boundary gets patrolled daily: coaching is goals and action, not therapy, and an ethical coach refers out the moment a client's needs cross that line.
Tasks at the job
- Meet with clients to clarify goals across career, relationships, or personal growth.
- Develop actionable plans and milestones tailored to each client's situation.
- Ask guided questions to help clients identify obstacles and blind spots.
- Hold regular check-in sessions to track progress and adjust the plan.
- Provide accountability and encouragement between sessions.
- Market services and manage client scheduling and billing independently.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens mostly indoors, often from a home office or over video calls, with sessions scheduled around each client's availability.
The work depends on building genuine trust quickly, since clients share personal struggles that require real discretion. Income is usually built client by client, so marketing and business development are ongoing alongside the coaching itself.
Education necessary or common
No formal degree required; certification through a recognized coaching program (e.g. ICF-accredited) is common but not legally required
Licenses & certifications
- ICF credentials (ACC, then PCC) via an accredited training program — the field's meaningful standard
- Board Certified Coach (BCC) alternative
- Note: the field is legally unregulated, which makes real credentials matter more, not less
Related fields
Courses to take
- AP Psychology — motivation, habits, and behavior change
- AP English Language — listening and precise questioning are language skills
- Public Speaking — presence and clarity
- Business Math and Entrepreneurship — coaching is self-employment with all the math that implies
- Health — wellness foundations
Clubs, activities & competitions
- Peer counseling or peer mediation programs — structured helping-conversation practice
- Team captaincy — accountability leadership
- DECA — the entrepreneurship of a service business
- Volunteer mentoring of younger students
- Debate or speech — communication craft
First steps you can take now
- Practice a real coaching conversation: ask a friend about a goal using only questions for ten minutes — no advice
- Read about the ICF's code of ethics and the coaching-versus-therapy boundary
- Interview a working coach about how they actually built a client base
- Mentor a younger student formally through a school program
