Entry-level positions for aspiring Business and Career Coaches
Shaina, a Business & Career Coach, emphasizes that there's "no laid out path" into entrepreneurship or online business, encouraging exploration of one's skills and values through informational interviews—a strategy she credits with her own career success. This approach, combined with exploring contract work as a way "to taste the waters different places," allows for diverse entry-level experiences within these fields.
Networking, Career Exploration, Informational Interviewing, Contract Work, Skill Assessment
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Shaina Braun
Business & Career Coach
Anti 9 to 5 Life
Cal Poly SLO
N/A
Business Management & Admin
Coaching, Speaking & Writing
Consulting
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Many different backgrounds lead to success in this field, highlighting the importance of self-reflection on skills and values.
2. Informational interviews are crucial for understanding different career paths and work-life balances. This helps students find roles that align with their preferences.
3. Contract work offers a flexible way to gain experience with various companies and explore different aspects of the field before committing to a full-time role.
Transcript
What entry-level positions are there in this field that an undergraduate college student might consider?
The really cool thing is that everybody has a different background for how they got to their position. There's no laid-out path.
Even for people who have become more traditional doctors and lawyers with a set path, they still have unique experiences that prompted or encouraged them in that direction. I think that's so cool.
That's something I work with my clients on: finding the intersection of their skills and values. People have so many more skills than they realize or give themselves credit for.
So, if you're looking to get into entrepreneurship, online business, or even event planning, it's about getting creative and thinking outside the box. My biggest piece of advice is expanding your network and talking to people.
When I was graduating from Cal Poly, a professor encouraged me to do informational interviews. That's when I first heard the term. He told me not to ask for a job, but to ask about their life, their experiences, and what their current role looks like day to day.
He wanted me to understand it from a life aspect, not just technically. Are they working 60-hour weeks, and do you want that for yourself? Do you want something that allows for travel? That wasn't even on my radar then.
That made a huge difference in finding entry-level positions as well as contract work. I think that's not talked about enough. If there's a big company you want to get into, you can often do contracts with them.
Companies have different budgets for contract workers versus employees. So, that's a great way to get started. You gain a lot of different experiences and can test the waters in different places.