Vicki Tillman Coaching

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Career Coaching

Why Doesn’t Insurance Cover Career Coaching or Life Coaching?

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I have often been asked: Why doesn’t insurance cover Career Coaching or Life Coaching?

Why Doesn't Insurance Cover Career Coaching or Life Coaching? VickiTillmanCoaching.com

Why Doesn’t Insurance Cover Career Coaching or Life Coaching?

I often have clients ask me: Why doesn’t insurance cover coaching?

The answer is simple.

Well, sort of. Health insurance covers things that need healing. Insurance companies call this: medical necessity.

If you are sick and go to your primary care physician or a specialist, they work with you to heal the problem. During the process, your doctor my slip in a tip about exercise and nutrition. However, if he suggests that you go to a nutritionist for eating tips or trainer at the gym, it is unlikely that they will be covered by insurance.

Your nutritionist and trainer are interested in building your health but they are not healing something that is sick. (Sometimes, if your sickness is related to your eating patterns, you can get insurance for your nutritionist.)

When you come for Life and/or Career Coaching, your health insurance company is not going to cover your sessions. They do not regard your coaching needs as *medical necessity*. In other words: Insurance feels like your lack of fulfillment and stress due to a rotten job are things that are *sickness*.

In Life and/or Career Coaching, we are not working on healing. We are working on fulfilling.

  • We are working on helping you to fulfill the potentials that God placed in you to develop.
  • We are working on helping you find and fulfill a meaningful life.
  • We are working on helping you discover your gifts, build branding and skills to launch a new career.
  • We are working to help you dream big dreams and set goals to bring them to pass.

Counseling is a healing profession, just like your family doctor or her physician’s assistant and nursing staff are healing professionals. They are all helping something that has a medical diagnosis get better.

Coaching is a fulfilling profession. It is just as valuable to your growth and potential as counseling is. You get the joy of knowing that you are directly funding your future!

It’s worth every penny.

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Contact me today for life changing Life and/or Career Coaching. If you are local, we will work in person. We can also coach by phone or Skype.

Why Doesn’t Insurance Cover Career Coaching or Life Coaching?

What’s the Difference Between Coaching and Counseling?

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Ever wonder What’s the difference between coaching and counseling?

What's the Difference Between Coaching and Counseling? VickiTillmanCoaching.com

What’s the Difference Between Coaching and Counseling?

Counseling is about healing.

Coaching is about fulfilling.

When you work with a counselor, you are feeling sadness, anxiousness or other emotional/mental distress. You need healing. Counselors help you through the process of healing.

When you work with a coach, you are feeling that something has to change:

  • you need a new job because you’ve been downsized, you’re graduating from college, or you just know there’s a better fit somewhere
  • you are in a quarter-life crisis or mid-life crisis and know there has to be more for you
  • you’ve been through relationship loss and you want to rediscover and recreate yourself
  • you feel like you’d like to know yourself better, to fulfill all God created you to be
  • you want to rebrand yourself
  • you want a deeper walk with God
  • you want to do the pre-marital work of SYMBIS

Your coach walks with you through the process of fulfilling your growth process.

Coaching is usually very non-directive. Your coach will ask you “powerful questions” that guide you through your own self-discovery process. Coaches are not consultants who tell you what to do (although they may suggest some resources for you to explore). Instead, coaches know that you already have your future inside you, it simply needs to be discovered.

Coaching loosely follows a 3-part process:

  • Discover: Clarify your knowledge about yourself, uncover new knowledge about yourself
  • Dream: Allow yourself to dream big dreams for your personal, relational and/or professional present and future
  • Develop: Build the skills you need for next steps, create your brand, define your mission and vision, set SMART goals

When you have an initial meeting with a coach, she will generally:

  • ask you about yourself
  • ask you what your goals for coaching are
  • help you get started on the adventure of fulfilling your goals
  • suggest resources, if appropriate
  • help you choose homework/out-of-session work and set SMART goals

The following sessions will include:

  • celebrating your successes
  • clarifying long-term goals
  • setting goals for that session
  • suggest resources, if appropriate
  • help you choose homework/out-of-session work and set SMART goals

Coaching is SUCH a rewarding, life-changing experience. Don’t wait until you are desperate! Contact me to get YOUR coaching started!

But if you already are desperate for a change, for becoming who God truly created you to be, hurry and contact me. Let’s get the coaching process started. We will work in person if you are local or by phone or Skype if you are not.

What’s the Difference Between Coaching and Counseling?

How to Include Volunteer Work on Your Resume

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Done some cool service work? Here’s how to include volunteer work on your resume.

How to Include Volunteer Work on Your Resume VickiTillmanCoaching.com

How to Include Volunteer Work on Your Resume

One of the most frequent concerns my career coaching clients express- whether they are professionals changing careers or recent college graduates- is having enough experience for a new job.

  • The seasoned professionals fear that they are locked into their present field.
  • The recent graduates have little job experience to show on their resumes.

What to do?

Show volunteer work!

I tell them: Volunteer work can be recorded on your resume in the same way that you showed your other work experience.

Here is how to include volunteer work on your resume.

1) Get started: Make a list of service work that you have done in recent years. This work can include:

  • Non-profits
  • Community organizations
  • Church or religious organizations

2) Give each service you have done a *job title*. This can be unofficial as in *Sound Technician at Town Holiday Events* or officially-given names *Treasurer for Snerdlyville Community Church*.

3) Write a job description for each volunteer job title. As in any job experience, you will use these tips:

  • Describe your jobs in terms of:
    • accomplishments
    • leadership
    • problems solved
    • challenges overcome
    • results and positive impact for the organization or community. Make clear what was changed by your work
    • note that it was a volunteer (unpaid) position
  • Include numbers, if possible, such as “Created program to feed 20 families in neighborhood weekly” or “Helped 10 troubled youth graduate each year”.
  • Note #hours you spent in total for a single project or weekly hours for more ongoing projects.
  • Include action verbs. This post includes some *power words*.
  • Include job-specific words. Look at the job description for the position you want. Catch the keywords that are important to the job. If the organization you are hoping for uses Applicant Tracking System, the keywords will help your resume get flagged for a viewing by human eyes (otherwise, the ATS will simply pass it by).
  • If you can specify the percentage of time you spent on each of the tasks you describe.
  • Don’t forget to include dates of service (just like you do on any job experience).

4) Add your new volunteer experiences to your career experience section of your resume. Simply integrate the volunteer positions into your job list.

5) Tweak your resume so that you have several versions. For each position you are interested in, adapt the resume by removing volunteer positions that have nothing to do with that job. BUT don’t sell yourself short. When in doubt, include the volunteer position (as long as you are still on a one-page resume required by many hiring professionals).

Trail Guide to Career Exploration for Adults VickiTillmanCoaching.com

I remind my clients that while we often volunteer to make the world a better place, we also reap the reward of making our resumes *better places, too*.

You can get started with your own career-change exploration by downloading: Trail Guide to Career Exploration for Adults.

For more tips and help in changing careers or starting out after graduation, contact me soon!

How to Include Volunteer Work on Your Resume

How to Prepare for a Big Interview

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Here is how to prepare for a big interview.

How to Prepare for a Big Interview VickiTillmanCoaching.com

How to Prepare for a Big Interview

Finally got that big interview you’ve been hoping for?

You don’t want to mess around with this one! Here’s how to prepare for a big interview.

*Research the company ahead of time. Know:

  • A basic history of the company
  • Company mission and values
  • If possible, find out who will interview you and read their Linked in profile(s).

*Rehearse answers to basic interview questions. Give examples from your life where possible:

  • Tell us about yourself. (How much can you fit in 1 or 2 sentences- make it an elevator pitch/squeeze your resume into 2 or 3 sentences.)
  • Why do you want to work for us?
  • What is your greatest strength/weakness?
  • Give examples of how you deal with conflict with colleagues/bosses?
  • What are your salary expectations?
  • How have you overcome challenges on your previous job?
  • Tell about a failure you’ve had at work and how you handled it.
  • How do you deal with unexpected events?
  • Give an example of your innovative thinking.
  • Of which accomplishments in your life are you most proud?
  • What have you learned about yourself during your career?
  • Who has mentored you? What made them good mentors?
  • How has your day been?
  • Why should we hire you?
  • Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
  • Be prepared for a couple of goofy questions (not all ask questions like this but when they do, they are looking for creative thinking and the ability to problem-solve…thus, there are no right/wrong answers)
    • What did you make for supper last night?
    • How many beachballs fit in a minivan?
    • What would you do if you won the lottery?
    • Describe yourself in 2 words.
  • Do you have any questions for us? Yes, you do. Here are some:
    • What are some goals you have for new hires?
    • What is a typical day for my job title?
    • What is the training process for this job?
    • What do you like best about this company?
    • What are some challenges the company faces in the next few years?
    • What is the corporate culture here?
    • Where will the company be in 5 years?
    • How soon should I follow up?

Be ready, be sharp:

  • Know where you are going ahead of time
  • Make sure clothes are clean, pressed and shoes shined ahead of time
  • Dress professionally (If possible, find out what people wear in the office and mimic that, otherwise go full professional.)
  • Bring several extra copies of resume
  • Arrive 10-15 minutes early

*Before you enter the building, do this:

  • Make sure buttons are buttoned and zippers zipped
  • Turn off cell phone
  • Put your hands on hips (arms akimbo) and count to 15 (gives a confidence-inducing dose of testosterone)
  • Put your shoulders back, chin up and Mona-Lisa smile (Keep it that way as much as possible the rest of the time at the company.)

*Upon entering the building:

  • Be warm and friendly to everyone you meet
  • Use a firm handshake

*During the interview:

  • Keep those shoulders back, chin up and smile where appropriate
  • Keep hands on legs, sit straight, don’t fidget BUT
  • Subtly match non-verbals of interviewers, if possible
  • When leaving the room at the end of the interview, walk confidently (shoulders back, chin up, smiling)

*After the interview:

  • Send a thank you note

Contact me for Career Coaching and help for the job search process.

You go! You’re going to do a great job at that big interview!

How to Prepare for a Big Interview