Frequently Asked Questions

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

What is coaching?
How does the process work?
What is the difference between career counseling and coaching?
How does career counseling or coaching differ from consulting?
How do the services provided by Bridgeway Career Development differ from therapy?
How long does the process take?
How often would I meet with my counselor / coach?
How much does it cost to work with you?
Are the fees tax-deductible?
What if I can't afford your fees?
What are your qualifications to help me?
How much advance notice does it take to get on your calendar?
What if I schedule a session and then I need to reschedule or cancel?
Will my health insurance cover my sessions with you?
For in person work, where are sessions held?
Is telephone-based work effective?
Will you work with me via email if I cannot schedule telephone sessions?
Do Bridgeway counselors use a bunch of tests to tell clients what careers they should choose?
If I'm ready to look for a job, does Bridgeway Career Development offer placement? Will my counselor introduce me to potential employers?
Can Bridgeway Career Development provide me with "insider information" about companies? How about names of hiring managers whom I should contact?
Can I send email to my Bridgeway counselor between sessions? What is your policy regarding this?
Will you write my resume?
What if I need medical, legal, or financial advice?
Are your services guaranteed?
Are services confidential?
What is your Web site privacy policy?
If I want to see if the "chemistry" is good between myself and a Bridgeway counselor, will you provide a complimentary meeting so that we can see if we work well together?
I may want to become a client. What do I do first?

Question: What is coaching?
Answer: The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as "an ongoing professional relationship that helps people produce extraordinary results in their lives, careers, businesses or organizations. Through the process of coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance, and enhance their quality of life. In each meeting, the client chooses the focus of conversation, while the coach listens and contributes observations and questions. This interaction creates clarity and moves the client into action. Coaching accelerates the client's progress by providing greater focus and awareness of choice. Coaching concentrates on where clients are now and what they are willing to do to get where they want to be in the future, recognizing that results are a matter of the client’s intentions, choices and actions, supported by the coach’s efforts and application of the coaching process."

Question: How does the process work?
Answer: As your counselor or coach, we will help you to develop and implement action plans to assist you to attain your life vision and goals. Our process uses inquiry, assessment, reflection, dialogue, and specific homework assignments to build your level of self-awareness, skill, responsibility, and ability to sustain momentum. We will provide structure, focus, feedback, and support. Just like with sports coaching, we will not do the actual work of achieving your goals for you, but we will help you to become the best you can be if you apply your time, energy, and hard work.

Question: What is the difference between career counseling and coaching?
Answer: Good question! Many career counselors and career coaches are still trying to sort this one out, and there is disagreement even among professionals in the field. Some people like to say that career counselors work more with the decision-making and assessment phases of career development and career coaches work more with the implementation / execution phase of career development. Depending on the approach of the professional you select, however, this generalization may not be true. Our professional staff use a style that integrates the best aspects of both coaching and career counseling.

Question: How does career counseling or coaching differ from consulting?
Answer: Consulting is usually considered more specific in the giving of advice or information. In areas where we have subject matter expertise, we are happy to provide our opinion(s), which clients are always free to accept or reject. We are not the type of coaches whose every response is, "Well, what do YOU think about that?"

Question: How do the services provided by Bridgeway Career Development differ from therapy?
Answer: We do not believe in the artificial distinctions between the two that we have sometimes seen asserted by others in the therapy and coaching fields. For example, we think it is simplistic to say that therapy is always about healing and coaching is always about growth. And we do not believe that all therapy focuses on the past while all coaching focuses on the present and future. Our coaching approach will examine a client's past if doing so seems relevant for the present and future. Coaching has in common with therapy the goal of helping clients to increase their happiness and effectiveness in the world. But whereas therapy can be oriented toward treating diagnosable mental health disorders, our services are not. If your Bridgeway coach determines that you may benefit from working with a licensed psychiatrist, psychologist, or mental health counselor, we will advise you of that and assist you in locating the appropriate resources.

Question: How long does the process take?
Answer: That depends on your goals to be achieved and your individual characteristics. Some clients hire us for strategic short-term consultation of one to three sessions. Other clients hire us for four to six sessions and then they are finished, and still others work with us on and off for several years as they meet their goals and set new ones. After we review your completed Client Questionnaire, we can provide you with an estimate of how long we believe your work with us will take.

Question: How often would I meet with my counselor / coach?
Answer: That's up to you, depending on the nature of your goals to be achieved, your preferred pace for the work, and your budget. We often recommend two, three, or four sessions per month in the initial stages of working together, and most clients taper to a less frequent "as needed" number after they feel significant progress and momentum has been generated.

Question: How much does it cost to work with you?
Answer: Answer: Our 2008 fees schedule is:
$200 per 50 min. telephone session.
$250 per 50 min. face-to-face session (provided in Seattle or Bellevue by Eric Jacobsen; in Mercer Island by Carolyn Kessler).

For all services, we ask for prepayment prior to each session. For telephone sessions, some of our consultants ask clients to call them so there may be long distance charges associated with your telephone service. For some clients, there are optional additional fees for assessment. Also, we outsource professional resume writing and clients who chose to hire a resume writer will pay the resume writer directly.

Question: Are the fees tax-deductible?
Answer: Often they are. Please consult with your financial advisor or review the IRS guidelines.

Question: What if I can't afford your fees?
Answer: Please contact us for a list of referrals who offer reduced-fee slots.

Question: What are your qualifications to help me?
Answer: Please review our bios here. Our staff is unique in that each of us has completed a Master's Degree or a Ph.D. in a behavioral science and each of us has 17+ years of experience in helping clients to set and attain ambitious goals. We stay up-to-date with best practices in career and leadership development, we each have business experience and understand how the world of work operates, and we pride ourselves in tailoring our approach to individuals with diverse learning styles and preferred modes of interaction. At Bridgeway Career Development, you won't get a "one size fits all" approach to helping.

Question: How much advance notice does it take to get on your calendar?
Answer: Depending on how busy we are, up to three weeks. Of course we will try to accommodate clients who wish to begin working with us sooner than that, but we encourage you to plan ahead to guarantee access to our services.

Question: What if I schedule a session and then I need to reschedule or cancel?
Answer: For face-to-face meetings, we require 24 hours advance notice if you need to reschedule or cancel a session. If you are unable to provide us with 24 hours notice (even if due to circumstances outside of your control), the session will be billable at full fee. For telephone meetings, there is a $50 fee if you are unable to provide us with 24 hours notice. We provide the same courtesy to you. If for any reason we must reschedule your face-to-face session and we cannot give you 24 hours notice, your next session is complimentary. If we must reschedule your telephone session, we will give you a $50 credit toward your next session.

Question: Will my health insurance cover my sessions with you?
Answer: No. For medical insurance to pay for treatment, it must be considered "medically necessary." While our services are aimed to improve your quality of life, they aren't medically necessary. In addition, mental health treatment covered by health insurance requires a DSM-IV ("Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders") diagnosis indicating the presence of a disorder. While our consulting staff includes psychologists and counselors, we do not treat mental disorders.

Question: For in person work, where are sessions held?
Answer: Eric Jacobsen meets with clients in downtown Seattle or Bellevue, depending on client preference. Carolyn Kessler meets with clients in Mercer Island.

Question: Is telephone-based work effective?
Answer: It depends. We believe that telephone-based consultation is highly effective under these circumstances: (1) For brief consultation on urgent, specific challenges, (2) For clients where a face-to-face relationship has already been established between our consultant and his/her client, and (3) For clients who reside in a geographic location in which no suitable career development professional is available. In these cases, telephone sessions can be convenient, time-efficient, and productive. We will review situations on a case-by-case basis and make recommendations regarding the advisability of telephone vs. face-to-face services.

Question: Will you work with me via email if I cannot schedule telephone sessions?
Answer: Though there are particular situations (for example, time zone differences and/or urgency) in which email coaching can be beneficial, it is not a method that we generally recommend for coaching sessions. We find email best used for quick communication between sessions.

Question: Do Bridgeway counselors use a bunch of tests to tell clients what careers they should choose?
Answer: Sometimes our counselors choose to use assessments to accelerate the career counseling or coaching process and to assist a client in the process of gaining self-awareness. Other times no formal assessments are used because a client may not enjoy participation in this type of assessment, has already engaged in extensive self-exploration, or can bring previous assessment results to the coaching process. The decision about whether to use assessments will be made jointly using the coach's professional judgment and the client's preference. If a client does wish to be assessed using formal tools, our coaches are qualified to administer and interpret a wide variety of assessments including career interest, personality, emotional intelligence, work style, and 360 type measures.

Question: If I'm ready to look for a job, does Bridgeway Career Development offer placement? Will my counselor introduce me to potential employers?
Answer: No. Bridgeway Career Development is NOT a recruiting or employment agency, we do not have knowledge of current job openings, and we do not provide personal introductions to employers. Recruiters are hired by employers to find candidates to fill jobs, while we are hired by individuals (or employers who sponsor individuals) to provide personalized career assistance. Recruiters usually are seeking very specific skills and professional track records in order to meet the needs of the hiring organization and their first priority is to do a good job in finding talent for the organization that pays their bill. We work with clients on personal marketing goals such as self-assessment, defining a personal marketing strategy, polishing a resume and/or cover letters, implementing a job search campaign, practicing interview skills, negotiating compensation with an employer, and planning how to achieve successes to facilitate advancement to the next career level. All of this is good prep in order to work effectively with a recruiter. If you are seeking a Seattle area recruiting company, please see this list.

Question: Can Bridgeway Career Development provide me with "insider information" about companies? How about names of hiring managers whom I should contact?
Answer: No. While a big part of career coaching is teaching a client how to conduct this type of due diligence and to gather market research to be used for decision-making, it is the responsibility of the client to track down this type of specific information. In some cases, we will recommend that you hire a professional researcher if we believe that doing so would provide you with the greatest return on investment for your time and money.

Question: Can I send email to my Bridgeway counselor between sessions? What is your policy regarding this?
Answer: Clients may wish to use email as a convenient way to check in with us regarding coaching progress and/or to ask quick questions to stay on track between appointments. In addition, clients may ask us to review journals, previous assessments, resumes, cover letters, job descriptions, performance appraisals, and/or correspondence with employers or colleagues. We read all materials sent to us and we do not charge ongoing clients for this time. We will send brief responses to such requests and emails and we will then address issues more thoroughly during scheduled face-to-face and/or telephone sessions.

Question: Will you write my resume?
Answer: We will coach you on how to write your resume and we will provide you with templates to make this easier for you. If you decide you would like for someone to do the actual creation or re-formatting of your resume document, we will help you to identify which professional resume writer to hire, with the goals being that you receive outstanding service, affordable fees, and quick turnaround since the need for a resume is often associated with a deadline to apply for a specific job position.

Question: What if I need medical, legal, or financial advice?
Answer: We are not physicians, attorneys, or accountants / financial planners. If you need services in these areas, we can provide you with referrals for these types of expertise (sometimes we will have specific recommendations, and other times we will refer you to an appropriate professional association to assist you to make the right match).

Question: Are your services guaranteed?
Answer: While we cannot guarantee the outcome of our services (due to individual client variables such as motivation and persistence and external variables such as the job market), we absolutely guarantee the quality of what we do. If you are a client and you are ever dissatisfied for any reason, please let us know so that we can resolve the situation.

Question: Are services confidential?
Answer: Yes, with a few exceptions mandated by professional ethics and law (mostly concerned with harm to self or others). We urge caution when you are sending us material via email (especially if you are using a work email address) because while we will keep your data secure once we receive it, research indicates that a large percentage of employers read employee email.

Question: What is your Web site privacy policy?
Answer: Please visit our Privacy Policy page for details.

Question: If I want to see if the "chemistry" is good between myself and a Bridgeway counselor, will you provide a complimentary meeting so that we can see if we work well together?
Answer: After we receive a completed Client Questionnaire (Word Document), we are happy to offer a complimentary 15 minute telephone consultation to answer any questions you might have and to evaluate whether our services are a good fit for you.

Question: I may want to become a client. What do I do first?
Answer: Please visit our Initial Consultation page for details.

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