Career Coaching Practitioner

This course is part of the Career Coaching Practitioner program. Please note that the contact hours and materials for this course are being upgraded and expanded for the 2027 cohort; from 8 to 12 weeks, from 20 to 40 ICF CCEUs, with additional coach-approach and practicum content.

The ability to have effective career coaching conversations with clients and the people you support can accelerate their personal and career development.

Develop practical skills for facilitating meaningful career conversations and supporting people as they navigate career decisions. Grounded in Hope-Action theory, this course explores approaches to self-reflection, values, strengths, storytelling, metaphors, career decision-making and career navigation.

You’ll apply these approaches through reflective assignments, live online sessions, peer conversations and practice with a client of your choosing. The course is designed for coaches, counsellors, educators and other professionals who support career development and personal growth. It is intended to strengthen career coaching practice rather than provide a general coaching certification.

Benefit from a community-based learning experience, with an emphasis on the “being” and “doing” of career coaching.

By the end of the course, you'll be able to:

• use and apply the Hope-Action Theory, a model that connects career development, organizational coaching, and approaches to purposeful career conversations
• strengthen your clients’ relationship with themselves to enhance their abilities to make career decisions in a positive, confident and hopeful manner
• observe and work with environmental factors and influences in a resilient and sustainable way
• access personal and systemic resilience and adaptability through a process of personal mastery and reflective practice
• extend these traits into your career coaching practice with your clients and the people you support.

The Hope-Action Theory consists of seven competencies that can be developed and incorporated into all aspects of your life. It has been researched and taught for more than a decade.

Before registering for the course, carefully read and understand the program handbook.

Course outline

Pre-course work

• Orient to the Canvas learning platform and course requirements
• Complete the Hope-Action Inventory assessment
• Begin work with the Career Wayfinder textbook
• Complete an introductory assignment and connect with peers
• Identify a client to work with throughout the course

Week 1 - Career conversations and decision-making

• Introduction to career development conversations and career decision-making
• Introduction to Hope-Action theory and the Inventory assessment
• Reflective assignments and cohort connections
• Practical approaches to identifying key themes and goals

Week 2 - Strengths and self-reflection

• Storytelling and joy to uncover strengths and inform career decision-making
• Listening and authentic client support
• Strengths-based approaches to self-reflection

Week 3 - Values, uncertainty and self-awareness

• Paradoxical perspectives and uncertainty in career development
• Identifying values and patterns of flow
• Practical approaches to developing self-awareness
• Applying learning through client work

Week 4 - Mattering and environmental influences

• Developing a sense of mattering
• Exploring personal and workplace values
• Understanding how environmental and systemic contexts influence career development
• Using pattern identification to support career conversations

Week 5 - Courage, resistance and metaphors

• Working with courage and resistance in career conversations
• Introduction to metaphorical approaches
• Using the Career Wheel to explore career options

Week 6 - Applying metaphors

• Deepening skills in metaphorical approaches
• Identifying, expanding and reframing metaphors
• Applying metaphors with individuals, groups and teams

Week 7 - Mapping and personal style

• Using mapping and metaphor to support career navigation
• Reflecting on personal style through the Individual Style Survey 360 Assessment debrief
• Developing awareness of self and how you connect with the world around you

Week 8 - Hope into action

• Applying hope to practical career development
• Exploring group coaching with a career focus
• Consolidating learning and completing the final evaluation
• Reflecting on lessons learned and career development and life

How am I assessed?

Your instructors assess your assignments throughout the program and your capstone project with a focus on:

• how and when you put learning from the program into action with clients
• a submitted case study highlighting specific strategies you used with clients
• completing the Hope-Action Inventory, both yours and your client’s
• a self-reflection demonstrating your transformation journey.

Upon completion of all course elements, you receive an Advanced Practitioner Certification in Hope-Action Theory & Practice from Doubleknot Works, as well as a Letter of Completion from UBC Extended Learning including confirmation of completing 40 ICF Continuing Coach Education Units (CCEUs) for submission to the International Coaching Federation.

Expected effort

To be successful in this course, we recommend planning for a minimum of eight hours of work per week for twelve weeks. This includes participating in live weekly 2-hour sessions, watching webinars, reading, completing assignments, connecting with your learning triad, joining collaboration groups and client work.

Before registering for the course, carefully read and understand the program handbook.

Textbook and technology requirements

This course requires the purchase of the following textbook:

• A. Fruhling & N. Amundson (2024). Career Wayfinder: Discovering your career through delightfully practical projects. Doubleknot Works.

To take this course, you’ll need access to:

• an email account
• a computer, laptop or tablet under five years old using Windows or macOS with access to a video camera and microphone
• the latest version of a web browser (or previous major version release) a reliable internet connection.

One day before the start of your course, we’ll email you step-by-step instructions for accessing the course.

Course format

This course is 100% online and instructor supported with real-time classes. Live weekly online sessions are held Thursdays 3:30 – 5:30pm Pacific Time, and are recorded.

Join these weekly live sessions with your instructors by video conferencing to actively engage in shared learning experiences, and connect with fellow cohort members for discussion, experiential learning, and practice. Please note attendance for these sessions is mandatory.

You also take part in learning triads to practise new skills and receive in-the moment feedback. Share reflections and engage in learning conversations with your cohort through posts and ongoing conversations in a private online forum.

Outside of the live classes, access pre-recorded webinars and skill demonstrations. Read articles and book excerpts provided, and complete assignments to deepen learning. Gain access to resources and practical tools to support the implementation of new interventions with clients.