Perhaps you’ve only recently come out of university, and you’re feeling a little lost about the whole “building a career” thing. Or perhaps you know exactly what role or salary range you want to go after but are missing the confidence. No matter what your situation is (whether it’s confusion, fear or uncertainty stopping you), a career coach can help you identify the right career path for you and equip you with what it takes to present yourself as the ideal candidate.
To aid you in taking that first step and coming closer to landing your dream job, we’ve compiled a list of some of the top career coaches in the world: 25 of them, to be exact! So, let’s dive right in and take a look at these coaching experts, their areas of expertise and the services they provide.
The 25 best career coaches
When you’re looking for a reliable career counselor, you’re looking for someone to help you transition from lost, frustrated employee to thriving professional. The people listed below are famous for doing just that!
1. Tammy Gooler Loeb
Tammy Gooler Loeb has been offering one-on-one executive and leadership coaching based on customized plans for over 30 years. Each plan incorporates actionable steps and a way to track and manage progress, helping clients reach their goals. Besides leadership coaching, she also provides guidance on career transitions and advancement, for people who feel stuck in workplaces and positions that no longer serve them.
To get a flavor of how Tammy works, there are free resources you can access on her website, including a link to her career podcast, The Work from the Inside Out, and a downloadable workbook.
2. Julia Toothacre
Julia Toothacre is a coach and strategist with over 10 years’ experience in guiding people towards career clarity. When developing her action plans, her objective is to help clients regain control over their current lives and their future. Then, she provides support as they take the necessary steps to get to where they want to be in their careers.
On her website, you’ll find links to her podcast, Ride the Tide Collective, that can help answer some of your career-related questions, as well as other resources, like a résumé strategy guide.
3. Kyle Elliott
Kyle Elliott is a high-tech career coach with Silicon Valley managers and leaders among his clientele. Though he works with professionals of all seniority levels, he has extensive experience in guiding executives and people in leadership positions. His mission is simple: to help people find jobs they love by first empowering them to embrace their unique qualities.
Elliott’s services include career coaching, interview coaching and business mentoring. Some of the key outcomes he helps his clients achieve are increased revenue, a better work–life balance and overall job satisfaction.
4. Tania Mendes
Tania Mendes is a career success coach that specializes in helping women get hired, promoted and paid what they’re worth. Her approach to kickstarting her clients’ career development involves various methods in addition to mentorship, such as self-assessment and networking.
Tania offers an eight-week group course called “Revamp Career Camp”. The Camp is designed to equip participants with precious tools, skills and knowledge, like how to negotiate, highlight their best assets in conversation and establish a strong personal brand.
There’s also the “9toThrive Bootcamp”, which is split into three phases and entails personality and strengths test taking, weekly goal setting, interview preparation, mindset shifting and résumé writing — to list a few.
5. Jenny Logullo
Jenny Logullo is a writer and career coach who helps people reconnect with their true needs and stop holding themselves back. She’s the founder of Workplace Worth Academy, a one-on-one coaching program that’s made to motivate clients to take the leap and pursue opportunities they otherwise might not have.
Jenny offers consulting support on a range of topics, from job search strategies to portfolio creation, side hustles, entrepreneurship, confidence coaching, and more. Her website also gives you access to some freebies, like an ATS-friendly résumé template.
6. Jason Treu
Jason Treu is an executive and team-building coach who offers both mentorship and training to seasoned professionals in leadership roles. Over the last 15 years, he’s worked with managers in companies like Apple, HP, Pixar, Netflix and Sony — and, from his experience, even the most remarkable leaders plateau at some point, with no clear way out of it.
So, if you’re holding the reins to your company and looking for ways to maximize your team’s potential and efficiency, working with Treu will teach you how to build an effective, close-knit team.
7. Adunola Adeshola
Adunola Adeshola is a millennial career strategist. Her mission? To help young professionals find and secure roles they’re passionate about. If you’re the sort of person who dreads Mondays and seems to have an allergy to mornings, Adeshola’s coaching can help you uncover the missing piece to your career satisfaction.
Her client success stories include individuals who went from receiving zero calls to interviews to landing dream roles at companies like Google, Spotify and Vogue.
Besides her 90-day coaching program, she provides guides, checklists and templates on her website, and writes blog articles that can be accessed by anyone, anytime.
8. Andrea Martin
As of 2023, Andrea Martin has coached more than 100 women on their journey to improving their productivity and decision-making, as well as achieving career growth and work–life balance.
Her career program is designed to help people establish themselves as experts in their fields, attract great opportunities, and negotiate the salary that reflects their experience and knowledge.
To get a feel for her approach, you can read the blog entries on her website and listen to her podcast, Career Confessions, in which she discusses topics like career “growing pains”, personal finance and leadership.
9. Ramit Sethi
Ramit Sethi’s passion is helping people find theirs. Using personalized, easy-to-follow programs, he guides individuals in reframing their mindset around money and careers and setting their own rules in life.
Ramit has created several tried-and-tested courses, including “No-Stress Negotiation”, “Success Triggers”, “6-Figure Consulting” and “Finisher’s Formula” — which have been taken by more than 50,000 people around the world. He also has a blog, newsletter, podcast and New York Times bestselling book that can give you an insight into his methods and approach.
10. Bob Britz
Bob Britz has been helping people all over the world find work that’s meaningful to them for almost two decades. Whether you’re looking for a more financially rewarding job or wanting to change careers, Britz and his team will help you set and accomplish goals that matter to you. After all, you can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results, as he puts it.
Britz’s services range from résumé creation and networking strategies to career advancement and career transition guidance.
11. Domonique Worship
Domonique Worship is a career and leadership development coach on a mission to transform people’s lives. She follows a holistic approach to professional development, encouraging her clients to create a vision for their lives that centers on what matters most to them. Her core values as a coach? Connection, service and impact.
Worship’s one-on-one coaching program is a three-month virtual package that includes an initial two-hour “discovery session”, six one-hour calls, and unlimited email and text support. She also offers 90-minute strategy sessions that utilize meditation as part of coming up with the client’s five-year vision, and interview preparation support.
12. Melissa Carvalho
Melissa Carvalho is a former HR professional for Fortune 500 companies like Amazon and Walmart, who now leverages her knowledge to help people overcome the feeling of “being stuck”.
Her services include résumé and LinkedIn optimization (which, conveniently, comes with networking mentorship), clarity coaching that helps you find your direction and purpose, and career fulfilment sessions for boosting confidence and making excellent first impressions.
So, if you want to change career paths, find the path that suits you or access resources for effective networking and personal brand building, Carvalho has your back.
13. Pamella Pritchard
Pamella Pritchard is a career coach for… career coaches. Yes, that’s right! If you have long-standing expertise in your field and are starting to feel trapped in your 9-to-5, Pritchard can teach you the ins and outs of coaching others in your industry.
Her one-on-one coaching and group training program (titled “Your First Paid Client”) are designed to help clients adopt a can-do attitude, regain confidence and earn money doing something that aligns with their values.
If you’re ready to become your own boss and share your know-how with others, her programs could be just right for you.
14. Jackie Mitchell
Jackie Mitchell works primarily with women who want to take that next step in their careers but aren’t sure how. In her eyes, success is about how you position yourself, what actions you choose to take and how serious you are about aiming high.
She has created a four-week course called “Accelerator”, which covers different strategies for gaining a competitive edge in your field, and also offers private performance and leadership coaching. Mitchell also has a blog and a podcast called BenchTalk you can check out to get a deeper understanding of her approach to coaching.
15. Claire Wasserman
Claire Wasserman is a speaker, author and the founder of Ladies Get Paid, a platform for courses and resources on achieving fulfilling career paths. The courses are created either by Wasserman herself or other coaches and entrepreneurs, and can be accessed by anyone, anywhere. To give you an idea, some of the topics covered include developing a money mindset, designing your dream career and advocating for yourself at work.
Wasserman also offers one-on-one interview preparation to teach professionals the art of self-promotion and land their ideal job.
16. Ken Whitters
Ken Whitters offers one-on-one coaching as well as training and consulting for leaders. Some of the areas he specializes in include corporate culture, change management, team development and resilience. Over the years, he and his team have worked with clients in corporate giants and government agencies like Toyota, ExxonMobil and the Australian Department of Defence.
Whether you’re a manager or an aspiring leader, Whitters can help you achieve your potential as head of team.
17. Fabiana Leal
Fabiana Leal is a Brazilian expat living in Italy and a former finance executive. Experiencing the difficulties of finding work in a foreign place, Leal now offers support to expats, particularly women, on optimizing their job search.
To learn a bit about her approach, you can check out the free workshop on her website that helps clients become more visible and strategize their job search. If you like what you see, you can sign up for her course and learn how to land yourself more job offers as an expat — and how to negotiate better salaries.
18. Krista Demcher
Krista Demcher is the creator of the ACORN method, a five-step system that helps professionals identify their unique strengths and effectively promote their products or services. The approach entails reframing thoughts, building strategies, and improving confidence and communication.
Besides the group programs you can join alongside others, Demcher also offers consulting to entrepreneurs and business owners with her husband Brian. “Two brains on your business are always better than one,” as they say!
19. Stephanie Heath
Having experienced imposter syndrome as well as “doormat syndrome” herself, Stephanie Heath is on a mission to help people realize their worth. Then, she equips them with the necessary negotiation skills to request and land the salary that truly matches their skills and experience.
Heath’s area of interest is assisting non-native English speakers from around the world in finding USA-based work — six- or seven-figure positions, that is. Since founding her mentorship service, Soulwork & Six Figures, she has recruited more coaches and consultants to work alongside her.
20. Marlo Lyons
Marlo Lyons offers coaching to people feeling a little lost on the career front, and executive coaching to aspiring leaders and professionals looking for the next challenge.
Her career transition strategy is divided into five steps. It starts with helping clients identify their core values in order to find fulfilling work and guides them all the way through to the interview stage.
Her executive coaching, on the other hand, centers on teaching leaders and managers the art of inspiring their teams, building (or rebuilding) trust among employees, and scaling up their organizations.
21. Shereen Hoban
Shereen Hoban is all about helping her clients achieve sustainable success, whether that’s in launching their business or becoming an inspiring leader. To do this, she provides support on building resilience, reframing thought patterns and getting strategic about crushing objectives.
Hoban offers different programs including executive and career coaching, business coaching, and what she calls the “Elevate” program. The latter is a three- to six-month process that looks deeper into the narratives we tell ourselves that end up holding us back. It incorporates meditation and mindfulness and, as such, it can help set into motion any type of change, personal or professional.
22. Donna Shannon
Donna Shannon and her team provide a range of career services and courses. Besides coaching, the Personal Touch team provides writing guidance for professionals. From perfecting résumés and cover letters to optimizing LinkedIn profiles using keywords to attract recruiters.
As far as coaching goes, Donna and her colleagues offer hourly coaching on job searching, negotiation, and interviews, as well as a program called “The Down & Dirty Job Search”. The program can be done privately or in groups as a one-day workshop or a four-week course.
23. Kim Araman
Kim Araman admits to something that many may find a little peculiar: she’s always loved job interviews. Encouraging her clients to view interviews as first dates, she tries to channel their passion for what they do to help them make a great impression.
So, if you’ve been stopping yourself from applying to jobs that excite you due to fear, check out Araman’s personalized nine-week program. Her coaching is also suitable for professionals wanting to ask for a long-overdue raise or a promotion but don’t feel empowered enough to do so.
24. Mark Ross
Mark Ross harnesses the knowledge and insights he gained over a decade’s work on Wall Street to help finance professionals land their dream jobs. He offers three different types of one-on-one coaching programs: “Resume Coach”, where he provides guidance on résumé writing; “Rapid Coach”, designed to match you to your ideal profession and boost your interview and networking skills; and “Career Coach Pro”, which is a thorough six-month program covering topics from résumé coaching through to career consultation and interview preparation.
25. Jasmine Escalera
Jasmine Escalera is on a mission to help women of color build their confidence and gain enough career clarity to plan their next big move. Escalera has created a group coaching program called “Professional Quitters” that consists of courses, workshops and community support to jobseekers craving positive change. The name, as you might have guessed, comes from her advocating for people to quit jobs that don’t serve them.
Escalera also works with professionals who aren’t actively searching for work but want broader career, leadership or executive coaching.
How to choose the right coach
Though each career coach has something different to offer, it can be hard to narrow things down with so many choices. Considering the following points when making a decision can help ensure a great match:
- Write down what things you need help with. You can’t ask yourself “Who are the best coaches for my needs?” if you don’t know what your needs are!
- Consider your budget. Private coaching may not be right for you at the moment, but enrolling in a course could still be beneficial, for example.
- Do your research. In addition to looking up career coaches on the internet, be sure to ask your network and friends for recommendations.
- Narrow down your options to a few professionals. Once you’ve found some suitable services within your budget, make a list of your top three.
- Research their experience and certifications. Compare the few career coaches you’ve settled on with one another, taking into account their experience and qualifications.
- Have trial sessions with more than one coach. Book trial sessions or calls with the coaches you’ve selected to get a feel for what they’re like in action.
Final thoughts
No two career coaches are the same. Some have more experience working with leaders while others love to guide young professionals; and some are looking to support minority groups or women exclusively, who can be more vulnerable to discrimination in the recruitment process and the workplace.
Luckily, there are many people out there who genuinely thrive when helping others. And with the internet bringing together individuals from all parts of the Earth, you’re sure to find the right consultant to advance your career. All it takes is some time for research and commitment to your goals!
Have you ever worked with a career consultant before? Share your experience with us in the comments.