Hire a career coach by defining the role, setting pay from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, testing coaching skills, and checking references. BLS counts this role within Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors (SOC 21-1012): 353,310 jobs nationwide and an annual median of $64,330. The coach must know local employers and training options well enough to advise on career pathways, resumes, and interviews.
| Fact | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| National employment | 353,310 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Annual median wage | $64,330 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Annual 10th–90th percentile | $45,020–$104,770 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Hourly median wage | $30.93 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
How to hire a career coach: the short answer
Write duties that match the learners you serve—high school CTE students, adult evening learners, or both—then set a pay range from the BLS figures for SOC 21-1012. Screen for listening, pathway knowledge, and employer contacts. Confirm the hire with a mock coaching session and a short resume critique, then call references who saw the candidate work with learners.
This is not a generic student-services seat. The person you hire sits with a learner who cannot choose between welding and HVAC, walks through a resume that does not match a shop-floor posting, and names a real industry partner who is hiring. If they cannot do that in your labor market, the posting will not fill the need.
What a career coach does
According to O*NET OnLine (accessed September 24, 2026), people in this occupation advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance. Sample titles include Career Counselor, Vocational Counselor, Academic Advisor, and Student Services Coordinator. For a CTE career center or technical college, keep the job on career guidance: pathway choice, applications, interviews, and employer connections.
Core duties that belong in your posting include meeting with students and adult learners to explore career goals; helping with resumes, applications, and interview preparation; connecting learners with employers, training programs, and job openings; running workshops; and keeping accurate records of services. O*NET lists related tasks such as instructing people in job-search strategies, referring students to degree programs, trade and technical schools, and apprenticeships, planning career workshops and job fairs, establishing contacts with employers for internships and jobs, and conducting follow-up interviews to see whether needs were met.
Typical employers are colleges, career centers, workforce programs, and school districts. The coach works with instructors, a CTE director, and industry partners so advice matches the programs of study and labs you actually run. Face-to-face discussions, telephone, and email are daily work: O*NET reports 98% of respondents have face-to-face discussions every day, and 96% use the telephone and email every day. Put office hours, workshop nights, and employer visits in the posting so candidates see the real calendar.
Skills, knowledge and tools to look for
O*NET essential and transferable skills for this occupation include active listening, speaking, service orientation, and social perceptiveness, along with critical thinking, writing, and instructing. You need someone who can hear a learner's constraints, explain a career pathway in plain language, and stay useful when the first plan does not fit.
Tools and technology reported on O*NET include career assessment and exploration software such as ACT WorkKeys and Career Dimensions Focus 2, computerized testing programs, counseling software, case-management systems such as Athena Software Penelope Case Management, and office and presentation software (Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook, Google Docs, Microsoft SharePoint). LinkedIn appears among web tools. Require fluency with resumes, interviews, and advising records on day one; treat your specific student-information or case-management system as training after hire.
| Must-have before start | Train after hire |
|---|---|
| Active listening and clear speaking with students and adult learners | Your advising or case-management system |
| Resume, application, and interview coaching that matches local postings | Program-of-study maps, shop and lab tours, and dual-enrollment options |
| Working knowledge of local employers, apprenticeships, and training options | Advisory-committee contacts and student-organization calendars |
| Workshop delivery and accurate service records | Your report templates and follow-up cadence |
O*NET places the broader occupation in Job Zone Five. Respondents reported that some jobs require a bachelor's degree and some require a master's degree. Set education to match the learners and setting you have, then hire for coaching skill you can see in a work sample.
Setting the pay range
Use BLS figures for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors as the market reference, not as an exact rate for a CTE career-coach specialty. Nationally, BLS reports an annual mean of $71,430, an hourly mean of $34.34, and this spread of annual pay across the occupation.
| Percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th | $45,020 |
| 25th | $51,270 |
| Median | $64,330 |
| 75th | $82,870 |
| 90th | $104,770 |
Place the offer by your state's median, the mix of high school and adult caseload, workshop load, and employer outreach. A location quotient above 1 means the occupation is more concentrated in that area's employment than nationally. Compare your state with the BLS table; selected medians appear below.
| Rank | State | Employment | Annual median | Hourly median | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 45,140 | $86,500 | $41.59 | 1.09 |
| 2 | Alaska | 540 | $82,900 | $39.86 | 0.73 |
| 3 | Washington | 6,610 | $82,670 | $39.74 | 0.82 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 11,460 | $79,930 | $38.43 | 1.39 |
| 10 | Delaware | 1,700 | $74,070 | $35.61 | 1.54 |
| 12 | New York | 23,380 | $71,610 | $34.43 | 1.06 |
| 14 | Texas | 31,730 | $67,900 | $32.64 | 0.99 |
| 21 | Kentucky | 5,030 | $64,350 | $30.94 | 1.11 |
| 26 | Illinois | 13,580 | $62,420 | $30.01 | 0.98 |
| 32 | South Carolina | 6,460 | $60,340 | $29.01 | 1.23 |
| 49 | Florida | 22,800 | $53,140 | $25.55 | 1.01 |
| 51 | South Dakota | 1,000 | $51,830 | $24.92 | 0.96 |
If the job includes evening workshops, travel to worksites, or a split caseload with work-based learning, say so in the offer so the range matches the calendar, not only the title.
Writing the posting and finding candidates
Start from a career coach job description template and edit it to your program. Name the setting (comprehensive high school, shared-time career center, technical college, or adult workforce site), the schedule, and extra duties such as job fairs, employer visits, or support for a student organization. Write the title the way staff and applicants search: Career Coach, Career Counselor, or Career Advisor—then list the actual pathways.
State who the learners are and what success looks like: completed career plans, resumes that match local postings, interview practice, and documented referrals to employers and training. If the coach will share placement work with a work-based learning coordinator, say where advising ends and worksite coordination begins.
Post where career and technical educators look, including the ACTE Job Bank. Circulate the notice to advisory-committee members and industry partners; they often know coaches already working with their hiring pipelines.
Screening and interviewing
Paper screening should confirm coaching with learners, not only a student-affairs title. Look for resumes, workshops, employer contacts, and records. Then run a work sample that mirrors the job: a mock coaching session with a panel member playing a learner who is unsure which program to choose, followed by a short resume critique.
| Work-sample step | What a strong candidate does |
|---|---|
| Opening (2–3 minutes) | Asks about goals, constraints, and prior coursework before naming a pathway |
| Pathway discussion | Compares two programs of study using local employers, labs, and next steps |
| Resume critique (5 minutes) | Gives specific edits a learner can use on a real application |
| Close | Sets a follow-up and notes what belongs in the service record |
Score listening, pathway knowledge, and the quality of advice on the same rubric for every candidate. Interview themes: coaching approach and listening; knowledge of local employers and pathways; workshop delivery; record keeping and follow-up.
| Theme | Job-related question |
|---|---|
| Coaching and listening | Walk us through how you would help a learner torn between two programs of study. |
| Local employers and pathways | Which local employers and training options would you research in your first month? |
| Workshops | How do you structure a resume or interview workshop for mixed skill levels? |
| Records and follow-up | How do you document contacts so a learner does not drop after one meeting? |
Ask every candidate the same job-related questions. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (accessed September 24, 2026) states that it is illegal to discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information. Do not ask about age, family or pregnancy, religion, national origin, disability, genetic information, or other protected characteristics. This guide is general information as of September 24, 2026, not legal advice.
References, verification and the offer
Call references who watched the candidate coach, not only a former supervisor's title. Ask about rapport with learners, employer connections, workshop follow-through, and organization of records. Ask how the candidate handled a learner who stalled after the first meeting.
Verify any degree, license, or credential the candidate lists with the body that issued it before the start date. Follow your district's or college's own clearance process. Put duties, schedule, caseload, workshop nights, and pay in writing, using the BLS range as the market reference.
In the first weeks, walk the new coach through each program of study, the shops and labs, the advisory committee, and current industry partners. Sit in on two coaching sessions and one workshop so feedback is specific. A coach who can name your employers and your pathways by week three will give advice students can use.
More hiring guides
FAQ
What does a career coach do?
A career coach meets with students and adult learners to explore career goals, helps with resumes, applications, and interview preparation, and connects learners with employers, training programs, and job openings. They also run workshops and keep records of services. Typical settings include colleges, career centers, workforce programs, and school districts.
How much should I pay a career coach?
Use BLS figures for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors as the market reference. The national annual median is $64,330, with the 10th percentile at $45,020 and the 90th at $104,770. Place your offer using the median for your state and the scope of duties.
What experience should I look for?
Look for demonstrated coaching with learners, knowledge of local employers and career pathways, and skill at resume and interview preparation. O*NET lists active listening, speaking, service orientation, and social perceptiveness as core skills. You can train a strong coach on your case-management system and program-of-study maps after hire.
How do I test a career coach candidate before hiring?
Run a work sample: a mock coaching session with a panel member playing a learner who is unsure which program to choose, then a short resume critique. Score listening, pathway knowledge, and the quality of the advice. Ask every candidate the same job-related questions.
What should I ask a career coach in an interview?
Ask about coaching approach and listening, knowledge of local employers and pathways, workshop delivery, and record keeping and follow-up. Keep questions job-related. Do not ask about age, family or pregnancy, religion, national origin, disability, genetic information, or other protected characteristics.
