As businesses lay off workers left and right, you may be wondering what you could be doing to prepare yourself for the next step in your career. It might be up, it might be over, or it might be out the door. You don’t know, and having some expert advice would really be helpful. Perhaps you’ve heard about an expert known as a career coach. Maybe you’re even wondering if this might be the year to hire one. However, before you hire a career coach, it is important to understand what a career coach can do for you, and what you can do with your career coach.

What a career coach can do for you:

If you are hunting a big promotion, hiring a career coach may not be the best move. You see, career coaches are not actually promotion coaches. A promotion is a short term move. A career is a lifetime move. Career coaches come in many flavors, but most are aiming to help you manage your whole career. They want to work with you on your 10 year plan, or your 20 year goals. The big presentation next week is a minor event in the course of your career.

Now, that information may come as a shock. This next bit will too. A career coach is not your mentor, and he or she is not your friend. You’ve hired this person to help you with your career, not sort out your personal relationships or inspire you to take up yoga.

Instead, a career coach is going to ask you some pointed questions, and expect real answers. Some examples of what you might be asked:

What do you want to spend your whole day working on? Why don’t you?

What kind of people do you enjoy working with?

How hard are you willing to work to be successful?

What personal relationships are you willing to sacrifice for you career?

It won’t sound like advice, and it may not be a clear path to the corner office. But a career coach can help you focus on your life long career goals, and the things you will need to do to achieve those goals. He or she will also work with you on the hard trade-offs you will need to make to be successful in your career.

What you can do with your career coach:

Once you have hired a career coach, you can expect to go through a career evaluation and a series of career planning sessions. You can do a lot of things in those sessions, but here are the three most important things you can do with your career coach: