As recruiters, candidates may approach you for assistance in determining what their new career should be when they are feeling stuck. As a recruiter you may not necessarily have career coaching skills, but candidates will often expect that you do. This can be perceived as a 'distraction' by some recruiters as they are usually paid to match people's current skills to jobs rather than offering full career guidance when change is sought.
However you can view this as an evolution of your consulting skill set, that requires more deftness as you need good coaching questions to coax the candidate's inner dreams & passions out and once determined you will need excellent persuasion and negotiation skills to get a client to take a punt on someone who may not have the level of experience required.
When people are dissatisfied they may know what they do not want to do, but not always what they want to do, which is why doubt about the ability to make a shift comes in. Once they know what they want, half the battle is won. Then it is working out what is needed to get there.
Here are some initial questions to help a candidate determine what they really want to do:
1. What do you like in your current job?
2. What do you dislike in your current job? Questions 1 & 2 will identify whether it's actually an entirely new career direction, they want or just a different company, different duties, different boss, different responsibilities etc.
3. What are you good at? If they have difficulty answering this question, ask them what their friends and family would say they are good at. Or use professional online tools.
4. What did you want to do when you were little? Some people harbour dreams from when they were little but never pursued, so e.g. if you always wanted to be a teacher but became a lawyer instead could you combine your skills with your dream and become a trainer for lawyers? Many people will pursue a version of their childhood dream.
5. What are your current values? This is critical as sometimes people's values change without them noticing; i.e. you may always valued a high income to pay off your mortgage, but now that it is paid off, you may value doing something else e.g. giving back.
6. What are your living expenses? If they need to totally retrain for a complete career change, do they have enough savings to pay all their living expenses? Minimum six month's living expenses is recommended.
7. How will it affect you (and your family, spouse, partner) if you cannot contribute the same financially as you have to date?
8. Can you straddle for a time? They can perhaps continue to work part time in their current career whilst retraining for their new career?
Usually by asking the above questions, candidates will recognize what they want to do. If not then it may be that they are unhappy or discontent about another area of their lives but haven't been able to identify which one or they lack the courage to change. Changing careers is a two pronged approach; first they must have clarity on what they want to do & why. Then they must know how and the how includes who will support them during this change. It is easier to make changes when you know what you want and you are surrounded by your own cheer squad. If they are surrounded by naysayers, they need to get away from them to give themselves the best chance of success. As a consultant you need to decide whether this is part of your service offering, so you can learn to do it well or alternatively refer them to a career coach or counsellor.