Ask the Expert Dr. Kathleen Wells is a professional career coach and Director of Coaches That Care. She has coached thousands of clients through the stages of successful career development. Resume and Salary Q: I am a VP in the Pharmaceutical Business and I would like to look into becoming a career coach. Can you let me know if there is training or certification that is available. A: Dear Kathryn, Congratulations on considering becoming a career coach. I will tell you that my most rewarding work over the years has been working as a career counselor. There are two places you can go for certification, conferences and training. One is the International Coaches Federation and the other is the Professional Association of Resume Writers. Their web sites are www.coachfederation.com and www.parw.com respectively. Other than these, training is kind of hard to find, at least training specific to career coaching. An Internet search might bring up a few places to train, but I trained in an apprenticeship type situation. I worked for a large national company, they trained me and I went on to become their head counselor before leaving and starting my own practice. Inherently you need to be compassionate, care about the success of your clients, upbeat and able to motivate them, and able to teach them the skills they need for success. Good writing and communication skills are essential. There are many books on job searches that would tell you what you need to share with them by way of types of resumes to use, interviewing and networking techniques, etc. You have no doubt reached VP by being self disciplined and motivated so undertaking study of this type on your own should be no problem. Then join the two associations I mentioned above and read their material. There is a huge need for good and ethical career coaches. If you are interested in life coaching as well, check out the Coaching University ( http://www.coachu.com/ ) and others on the Internet. Good luck with your new career!