Coach in the Spotlight: Anna Weissenberg

How did you become a coach?

My first career was in news media with a broadcasting company in Finland.

I then worked as a producer, head of news desk and executive producer, staying with the same company for 15 years.

When we moved to Malaysia, I realised that I didn’t identify with being a journalist anymore. 

I took a career break and decided to study organisational management and HR. 

Luckily, I was given the opportunity to dip my toe into HR within my existing company.

In that role, I started coaching people – or I started doing something that I thought was coaching!

I really enjoyed it, nonetheless. I loved helping other people to develop their skills and support them with things like resumes and LinkedIn profiles.

At that stage, we decided not to return to Finland, but remain expats. Our next move was to Budapest, Hungary.

I knew I needed a portable career and realised coaching would be perfect. I’d already embarked on some formal coach training and, as I knew I wanted to focus on career coaching, I discovered Firework.

 

I started coaching people – or I started doing something that I thought was coaching!

 

Why did you decide to train with Firework?

I wanted more credibility as a specialist career coach.

There are so many people out there calling themselves career coaches, so it was important to me that I was licensed and properly trained. I didn't look any further after I found Firework, because I knew immediately that it was something I wanted to do.

I’ve benefited so much from the course, in a lot of unexpected ways.

Since completing my Firework training, I've created a mini programme off the back of what I learnt. I offer my clients six sessions and we cover all the phases of Explore, Dream and Discover.

Most of the time I use the programme as a toolkit though and pick out individual exercises to use with my clients. The strengths discovery exercises have been particularly useful.

I think the biggest benefit from gaining my Firework Career Coach licence was getting hired as a full-time career coach for a non-profit organisation. I was one of the few candidates with specialist career coach training and a licence. So, my day job is with this non-profit organisation based in Finland where I help international job seekers find jobs on the Finish job market.

I also have my career coaching clients within my private practice, and I get to use my Firework tools with both groups!

The Ideas Bank is one of my favourite tools and I always use it with my career change clients.

I also love the Ideal Job exercise because it helps the client paint a clearer picture of what they want and need from a new role, such as the values of an organisation, what the workplace looks like and who they want to be working with.

 

The biggest benefit from gaining my Firework Career Coach licence was getting hired as a full-time career coach for a non-profit organisation.

 

Who do you typically work with?

Most of my clients are in a situation where they’re feeling very unhappy in their careers, and they’re stuck or are confused about their next step.

A lot of them work for international organisations or have moved internationally which may be a contributing factor as to why they choose to work with me, as I have personal experience of expat life.

My clients come from different sectors, but a lot are from the media industry, because of my connections there.

Some have vague ideas about what they want to do next and have started to apply for new jobs. But most of my clients are at the beginning of career change, so they’re very stuck, and haven’t necessarily come up with many ideas or done much exploring yet.

I help my clients get clear on what they want to do next and start making some changes.

Some of my clients decide to embark on further study whilst others find a new career relatively quickly.

I typically work with my clients for around three months.

 

How did you build your coaching practice? How do you source your clients?

Completing the Firework course was great because I immediately had something I was able to package and sell to prospective clients.

I use Instagram and LinkedIn to drive traffic to my website, but my clients mainly come to me by word of mouth.

I’ve focused on telling everyone I meet what I do for my job.

I try to make myself relatable.

I might say something like, “I help people who don't know what they want to be when they grow up”.

Most of the time the person I'm talking to will say, “Oh I know exactly what you're talking about – I really need a career coach” or “I know someone who's in that situation”.

I’ll also try to help them in the moment too by offering suggestions or tools or resources so they can help themselves.

It’s a very effective way of sourcing new clients.

 

I’ve focused on telling everyone I meet what I do for my job.

 

What challenges have you come up against in your role as a coach and how have you overcome them?

When I completed my initial coach training and went out to get my first client, I found it very daunting!

I wondered who was going to buy into me as a coach and kept thinking it wouldn’t work out.

I think a lot of new coaches feel that way.

Looking back, I wish I’d had a package (like Firework) to sell, right from the beginning.

Luckily, I found a client who I had a great synergy with, and this really helped me build confidence.

The biggest challenge now is managing the balance between being a coach, being a consultant and being an adviser – because I'm all three!

When I’m coaching, I’m not giving any advice, whereas in my day job I'm expected to come up with ideas and recommendations.

It can be challenging to transition from one role to another, often on the same day.

A lot of people like me find this difficult, but I just try to be mindful of the situation I'm in at the time.

The positive side is that I'm gaining a lot of experience in these different roles, which is helping me access new possibilities for future work opportunities.

 

When I’m coaching, I’m not giving any advice, whereas in my day job I'm expected to come up with ideas and recommendations.

 

Is there anything else that you would have done differently or that you wish you’d known when you started out?

I struggled for a while with how to separate my roles as a career coach and a consultant, and whether I could combine them in some way.

Now I understand that I can do both and I can do whatever is useful and beneficial for my clients.

I enjoy all aspects of the jobs I do and I’m better able to be clear with myself and the client that coaching is different to consulting or advising.

When I have an initial call with my potential clients, I will explain what a coach does and doesn't do and that I won’t give them any advice unless they specifically ask for it and that would generally happen in a separate session, or after the session has ended.

I now have a level of confidence and intuition of knowing what role I need to step into and when.

 

I now have a level of confidence and intuition of knowing what role I need to step into and when.

 

How do you see your work evolving?

I want to continue working across these different areas because I love working with people who need help with finding a new direction.

I'm lucky that I'm able to run workshops and create courses for job seekers as part of my day job.

I’d love to develop an online course for my private clients too at some point.

 

What’s the most rewarding thing about being a coach?

Having been very visible as a journalist and then a producer, I find it rewarding to be in more of a supporting role now.

I really enjoy not being the person who is always thinking about my own career direction or where I need to go next but rather, helping someone else do that.

I love being able to focus on the client, gain their trust and be by their side throughout the coaching process.

It’s wonderful to see them grow, become more empowered and find greater career clarity.

Obviously, it’s great to see them reach their career goals too!

Careers and the world of work is something that has always interested me. I’m fascinated by how society works, and the job market plays a huge part in that.

When a person loves what they do for a living, then society benefits and it feels rewarding to know I’m part of that.

 

When a person loves what they do for a living, then society benefits and it feels rewarding to know I’m part of that.

 

How has becoming a career coach changed you?

I’ve always loved listening to other people's stories, and I’ve always had that curiosity as a journalist, but as a coach I can allow myself to become absorbed in the client’s world.

I like not being that person who needs to run something or oversee some process, product, or meeting.

Instead, when I’m with my clients I can just listen and see what comes up.

 

Anna Weissenberg is a Firework-licensed Career Coach who works with mid-careerists looking for a change. Following a 20-year career in journalism and news production, she now splits her time between her private coaching practice and working as a career coach for The Shortcut, an organisation which supports jobseekers to find meaningful careers. Originally from Finland, Anna lived for six years in Malaysia whilst building her coaching business and is now based in Budapest. Find out more about Anna at www.careerweiss.com