If the application just doesn’t work out and the job search only consists of setbacks, the time may be ripe for application coaching. Because an experienced and, above all, serious application coach can help you uncover weaknesses in your application and thus significantly increase the chances of a new job. To do this, however, you have to find the right offer. Here you can find out how you can do this, what costs you will have to pay, and what you can expect from application coaching.
Application coaching: What does that mean?
Before you look for an application coach, you should make one thing clear to yourself: Application coaching is not there to do all the work for you. So don’t expect the coach to prepare the application documents for you and look for the right job offer from a wide variety of job offers.
On the contrary: good application coaching is first and foremost helping people to help themselves. After the training, you should be able to make the right decisions yourself and to find the right path for you.
The help that a coach offers is not limited to the application documents. Often you will also practice how you can best sell yourself in the interview.
For example, you can clarify the following questions in application coaching with the coach:
- What professional experience have you gained so far?
- What skills and qualifications do you have?
- Are there professions or industries that are of particular interest to you?
- What do you particularly enjoy doing, which activities can you imagine particularly well in the future?
- Which strategy could be the right one for you and your job search?
Application coach, application advisor, application writer: The differences
If you are looking for help with your application, you will probably quickly find several different offers. And as if that weren’t confusing enough, the providers also give themselves very different names.
The problem: Neither application coach, application trainer nor application advisor are protected job titles. In contrast to the case with a doctor or a lawyer, anyone can call themselves a consultant who wants to sell a corresponding offer.
But this also means that no third party checks whether the offer is really serious – which can be quite a problem for you as an applicant.
To get an overview of the different names and offers, the following overview can help you a little:
- Application coach: Application coaching is usually done by application coaches. As already mentioned, this is mainly about helping people to help themselves. The coachees (this is what some coaches call their clients) should, for example, be helped with returning to work after parental leave or with finding their first job. Application coaching is often a good idea when it comes to a professional reorientation and you want to get a general overview of your options. Ideally, the coach has the necessary resources and knowledge to help you with these questions.
- Application advisor: While the offer of application coaching is more general, a consultant often takes care of a specific job. Suppose you already have a clear job offer and want to optimize your application documents precisely for this job. A counselor can help you with this. Because consultants often come from the industry for which they offer their advice. So you know what you are talking about and what the HR manager would like to read. You can also practice the interview with an application advisor because his practical knowledge will also help you here.
- Application writers: There is now a relatively large number of application writers online. The name already reveals what their service consists of: The providers write your application for you. Some even do it for around 50 euros. You have to decide for yourself how good the application will be. However, it is important to remember that the cover letter is the document that should set you apart from the competition. If you come around the corner with a generic cover letter that someone you do not know has written about you, it will be difficult. Because of the low price, no application writer will (be able to) take the time to take a closer look at you and, above all, the company to which you are applying. The result: a run-of-the-mill cover letter that won’t knock any HR manager off his feet. Our tip: If you need support with your cover letter, take a look at our templates and tips for cover letters and application documents. It takes a little more time, but it’s worth it. Because this way you can write a cover letter that is optimally tailored to your skills, knowledge, and, above all, personality.
You must not forget that there is no clear regulation as to which consultant offers which services. Therefore, you should inform yourself about this beforehand what the application coaching includes – and what not.
Procedure: This is how application coaching works
The process of application coaching is also not clearly regulated and can in principle be designed by any coach as he sees fit. Serious providers usually offer their potential customers a free preliminary talk. Because in the first step the coach and coachee should get to know each other to decide whether they want to work together.
In a well-done application coaching, things that are quite personal are often discussed. You should have an application coach to whom you can open yourself without reservation.
Often this preliminary talk also clarifies how many sessions are actually planned to achieve your goal. This is also important because some application coaching can be very expensive.
You should therefore make sure that your coach reacts as flexibly as possible and in a customer-friendly manner in the event of cancellations. After all, you can get sick now and then or other reasons can come in between why you cannot take part in application coaching. If you still have to pay the full amount for the session, that is of course annoying.
The costs of application coaching
People who want to do application coaching are often looking for a new job and not infrequently have no income. This raises the question of how application coaching should be financed, which can quickly cost several hundred euros over several sessions.
Fortunately, there are various ways to finance application coaching :
- With an education voucher: Some providers offer further education and retraining, which are funded with an education voucher. The employment agency bears the costs. Education vouchers are usually given to unemployed people who have been looking for a job for a long time or employees who are threatened with unemployment. If you belong to this group, it is definitely worthwhile to apply for an education voucher. With some providers, you can also use an education voucher to prove application coaching.
- With an activation and placement voucher (AVGS): There is also the option of having application coaching paid for using an activation and placement voucher. Here, too, the costs are borne by the Federal Employment Agency. To get an AVGS, you have to speak to your clerk at the job center or the Federal Employment Agency. You should have good arguments ready for this conversation because the activation and placement voucher is one of the discretionary services. This means that the clerk can decide whether you will receive the voucher or not. There is no legal claim to it.
- As a self-payer: If you neither get an activation and placement voucher nor an education voucher, you have to pay for the application coaching yourself, for better or worse. And that can be expensive. Because as different as the offers are, the prices are just as different. The lower limit for one hour of application coaching is on average 100 euros, while there are also offers for 250 euros per hour and more. Because the same applies to the costs: There are no rules or regulations that application coaches have to adhere to. Therefore, you can estimate the costs as you see fit.
Objectives of the application coaching: What chances do I have afterward?
Especially if you have to pay for the application coaching yourself, you are probably wondering what the coaching actually brings you. But even if the measure is free for you, something should get around it in the end. After all, you invest your time – and that is a scarce commodity in the application process.
You can achieve the following goals with suitable and serious application coaching:
- Increased self-confidence: In the application process and especially in the job interview or assessment center, a convincing appearance is half the battle. Application coaching can help you work on exactly that. If you know what you can do and what your strengths are, you can share this with other people. A good application coach will help you find that out. Because only those who are convinced of themselves can convince others.
- Forget about setbacks: Many applicants consider application coaching when the application process has been unsuccessful for a long time. Anyone who receives several job rejections one after the other knows the feeling: At some point, you have massive doubts about yourself and your abilities. With the result that the next rejection seems preprogrammed. Application coaching can help break this vicious circle. So you have your head free again to concentrate on the positive things and to approach the entire application process with a completely different attitude.
- Get feedback: Good application coaching tells you even more about yourself and your application. If you work with a good coach, you will get constructive feedback on yourself and your application. This can help you to gain new insights and to choose a different starting point for the next application round.