For parents · Launch League blog
How to choose a youth career coach: questions to ask before you hire
By Nick Gonzalez, founder, U.S. Air Force veteranPublished
The short answer
Choose a youth career coach by what they will produce and how they keep your teenager safe. Ask what your teen will have after two sessions, how conversations with people in the field are arranged, whether a parent can see everything, and whether the coach has a recent background check. A good coach answers all of it in writing.
The open-door rule
Every part of a youth coaching relationship should work with a parent able to see it: the schedule, the tasks, the introductions and the messages. If a coach needs a private channel with your teenager to do the job, it is the wrong coach, however good the results sound.
What makes a good youth career coach
I coached high school basketball for nearly 15 years. The coaches I respected were not the ones with the best speeches. They were the ones whose players could do something in March that they couldn't do in November. Career coaching is the same. Judge it by what your teenager can do afterwards that they couldn't before.
In practice, a good youth career coach does four things. They get your teenager talking to people who do the work, not just to them. They set small tasks in the real world between sessions. They tell you plainly what coaching can't do, including when your teen needs a different professional. And they run everything in the open, with you informed.
What questions should I ask a career coach before hiring? A list to print
Print this, or copy it into an email. Ask every coach the same questions so you can compare the answers side by side.
- What will my teenager have after the first two sessions?
- What will they have at the end, on paper?
- How do you arrange conversations with people working in the field, and how many are included?
- How do you decide which careers to explore? Is it a test, conversation, or both?
- What does my teenager do between sessions, and how long does it take?
- What will I, as the parent, see each week?
- How do you communicate with my teenager outside sessions, and am I copied?
- Do you have a recent background check, and may I see it?
- What is your training, and can I verify any credential you hold?
- When would you tell us coaching isn't the right help?
- What is the total cost, and what is your refund policy?
- What happens after the last session?
What parents should know before hiring a career coach for their teen
Start with safety, because it is the part you can't fix afterwards. A coach working with someone under 18 is in a position of trust, and the arrangements should reflect that from the first email.
These are the standards I would hold any youth coach to, and the ones Launch League works by:
- The parent applies, is told what is collected, and stays involved throughout.
- No private messaging between the coach and your teenager. Messages go to an address you can see, or you are copied.
- Video sessions happen with your teenager somewhere in the home where an adult is nearby, not behind a locked door at midnight.
- Introductions to professionals are arranged through the coach, with your knowledge, and your teenager's contact details are never handed out.
- The coach can show a recent criminal background check and tells you what it covered.
- Confidentiality is agreed at the start: what stays between coach and teen, and what you will always be told, including any risk to their safety.
Checking a coach in Ohio: the background check
In Ohio, criminal background checks are run by the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which compares fingerprints against its database. Fingerprints are taken at WebCheck locations listed on the Attorney General's site, and a check can include an FBI search as well as the state one.
Ask any coach whether they have had a fingerprint-based BCI check, with or without an FBI check, when it was done, and whether you can see the result. A coach who works with minors should expect the question and have the answer ready.
For the record: I have completed an Ohio BCI background check, and I will show it to any parent who asks before the first session.
How to find a career coach that actually delivers results
Ask to see the shape of the work rather than claims about it. A blank copy of the plan template they use. The questions they give a teenager before a career conversation. A sample of the weekly update a parent receives. None of these should involve another family's private information.
Ask how the coach finds people for career conversations and in which fields they can reliably reach someone. A coach with a real network will name the kinds of people, and will also tell you which fields are hard. Be wary of anyone who says they know someone in everything.
If you want a reference, ask to speak with a parent who has agreed to be contacted. Ask that parent what their teenager did differently afterwards, not whether they liked the coach.
Credentials: useful, but not the whole picture
The International Coaching Federation's Associate Certified Coach credential requires at least 60 hours of coach training and 100 hours of coaching experience, and the higher credentials require more. You can check whether someone holds a current ICF credential using the federation's Verify a Coach directory.
A credential tells you the coach has trained in coaching. It tells you nothing about whether they know how careers in your area actually work, whether they have a network, or whether they work safely with minors. Weigh it alongside the answers to the list above.
How Launch League answers these questions
A parent applies and stays involved. I never ask for a teenager's name or date of birth on a public form, I don't set up private messaging between a teenager and an adult, and professional conversations are arranged through me with a parent's knowledge. If the first two sessions aren't worth it, you get the whole fee back.
Questions
Quick answers
- Should I sit in on the coaching sessions?
- Sit in on the first, or at least the first few minutes, so everyone hears the same ground rules. After that most teenagers talk more freely without a parent in the room. Stay nearby, get the weekly update, and agree in advance what you will always be told.
- What if my teenager doesn't click with the coach?
- Give it two sessions; the first one is often awkward. If it still isn't working, say so and use the refund terms you agreed to. A good coach would rather lose the fee than keep a teenager who has stopped engaging.
- Is a career coach the same as a school counselor?
- No. A school counselor is free, knows your teen's school and courses, and usually has many students to support. A private coach has more time per student and works outside school hours. The best results usually come from using both.
- Can a coach help a teenager with ADHD or anxiety?
- A coach can help with structure: short tasks, clear next steps, regular check-ins. A coach cannot diagnose or treat anything. If attention or anxiety is the main obstacle, talk to your family doctor or a licensed professional first, and tell the coach what they recommend.
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Sources: Ohio Attorney General, background checks (BCI) · International Coaching Federation, credential paths and requirements · International Coaching Federation, Verify a Coach · International Coaching Federation, Code of Ethics. Coaching is not therapy, medical, legal or financial advice.