12 Best Questions to Ask a Life Coach in an Interview
It’s common practice to be inspired by the idea of getting a coach, then to be discouraged by the hassle of making it happen. Finding the right coach is not always simple, and you're bound to face some common questions in the process. One of the first questions you face: What are the best questions to ask a life coach in an interview?
At CoachRanks, we aim to help demystify the process of hiring a coach. For most, the search for the right coach revolves in large part around coach interviews. That is, life coaches typically offer free ~30 minute sessions for potential clients to get to know them. Hence, the importance of preparing some good questions to ask a life coach in an interview.
In this article, we cover twelve questions worth asking in your coaching interviews. Our list spans a few key areas, from questions about a coach’s practice, to the outcomes they help drive, to their pricing, and more. We hope this list helps you in your search!
Questions About Their Coaching Practice
Our first few interview questions fall under the category of simply learning more about a coach’s practice. Every coach brings a unique offering to the market, highlighted by certain philosophies and specialties. This is a great place to start as you check for compatibility between your needs and a coach’s ability to meet those needs.
1. Can you describe your coaching philosophy?
This question opens the floor for a coach to tell you about the driving ideologies behind their practice. Does the coach lead with a pragmatic approach? Are they a bit more spiritual? Do they view the purpose of coaching in ways that resonate with you? Getting some early answers here will reveal quite a bit.
2. What are three things you specialize in under the umbrella of life coaching?
At CoachRanks, it’s our own philosophy that a great coach should be able to articulate their key areas of expertise. A coach who claims to be able to do everything often is a master of none. For some, this generalized life coaching approach may be okay. But for better match-making success, it’s wise to ask a coach about their specialties to see if they overlap with your needs.
💡 Pro tip: A coach’s online profiles may provide further insight here. For coaches who have spent some time on their positioning, it’s common to see areas of expertise listed on their website or social media profiles.
3. Do you have any certifications or training that is relevant to your practice?
To build off the previous question, proof of some type of legitimate training is a plus. Training and/or certification does not necessarily guarantee quality service, but you should familiarize yourself with some of the top life coaching certifications. If nothing else, a track record of continuous learning suggests a coach takes the profession seriously.
Questions About Client Compatibility
To build on the previous section, this category aims to go a level deeper in regards to compatibility. Coach-client compatibility can truly make or break a successful engagement. We recommend asking as many questions as needed to feel confident and comfortable moving forward with a coach who shows promise as a good fit for you.
4. Could you describe your ideal client?
To get straight to the point with compatibility, ask a coach to describe their perfect client. Just as you’re searching for the perfect coach, they should be searching for their perfect clients—aka people who they are fully confident they can support successfully.
💡 Pro tip: Ask a coach this question before they ask you to open up about your situation. This mitigates the natural inclination a coach may have to tailor their answer to whatever information you provided in an effort to sound like a great match.
5. How do you customize your engagements for each client?
Coaching is a highly personal experience. That means great coaching should be customizable. While coaches have their go-to practices, ideologies, and approaches, there is always a need for some wiggle room on personalization. Test a coach’s ability to provide bespoke services by inquiring about the steps they take to get to know each client and provide a tailored experience.
6. How do you handle confidentiality?
Once again, coaching is personal! Expect to develop an open flow of communication with your coach in order for them to provide the best service possible. This is the nature of coaching. As a result, you may share private or sensitive information about your life, work, or relationships. A well-established coach should have a solid answer to this question to put your mind at ease that all information will be treated with complete confidentiality.
Questions About Client Outcomes
At the end of the day, people try life coaching because they seek some type of result. Whether it's gaining clarity around life direction or reaching a new milestone in your career, tangible outcomes represent the North Star of great coaching. Here are some interview questions to help with this category.
7. What are the most common outcomes you help your clients achieve?
This may be another angle to better understand a coach’s expertise. For example, a confidence coach may tell you that they help clients improve their communication skills and reduce anxiety. You’ll get a wide range of answers from different coaches, and again, the key here is to gauge how much a coach’s answer resonates with your situation.
8. How do you measure success and progress with your clients?
A well-established and organized coach should have a solid answer to this question. Great coaching is structured and intentional—and that means having systems in place to ensure it’s working. Whether it’s periodic check-ins or reflective exercises, make sure any coach you’re interviewing has a plan for making sure the engagement is providing value.
💡 Pro tip: Ask a coach if they use any tools or apps to assist in the coaching process. Progress tracking can be much more powerful when it takes place outside of just live sessions (for example, via a project management tool like Notion or Asana).
9. Can you share a success story from your coaching practice?
Sometimes outcomes are better articulated through a real example. By asking for a quick case study, you’ll not only gain some insight into the outcomes achieved, you’ll also learn about the coach’s clientele. In other words, the example will shed light on the type of client who enjoyed success with the coach. You can then assess whether or not that client perhaps shared your same challenges going into the engagement.
Questions About Pricing & Commitment
Ahh, pricing. Unfortunately, life coaching can be expensive, and this is where some people hesitate to move forward. It’s completely understandable. What’s most important when interviewing is making sure you gather all the data you can on a coach’s pricing, packages, and commitment policies. Later on, you can review this info and make a sound decision that aligns with your financial situation.
10. What’s your pricing?
This one is obvious because it can be the ultimate deal breaker. But never be afraid to ask this question straight-up! You can’t make a wise decision about a coach without this information. Coaches may review their pricing with you in a number of ways—some charge by the hour while others offer fixed-pricing packages that last for a certain number of weeks or months.
11. Do you have different packages or programs and what comes with each?
Coaches who have been in the business for a while understand the importance of offering flexible packages. Some clients may want weekly coaching, while others want bi-weekly or monthly. Some may want 30-minute sessions while others want 45 minutes or hour-long sessions.
💡 Pro tip: These variables can often be configured to create a package that matches your budget. For example, a coach may offer hour-long monthly sessions at half the price of weekly 30-minute sessions.
12. How flexible are you with scheduling and/or canceling sessions?
You’ll be wise to collect some information on any coach’s policies around schedule sessions, canceling sessions, and terminating an engagement altogether. While these factors might not come up in practice, it still helps to know whether a coach is rigid or flexible. It’s common for coaches to require a certain commitment at the beginning (say, three months) to ensure they don’t invest too much time in someone, only for that person to cancel within just a few weeks.
When to Move Forward with a Coach
Moving forward with a coach may feel like it requires a leap of faith. But it should be a leap that makes you excited and optimistic about the self-improvement ahead. When to move forward is entirely your decision, but here are a few pointers to send you on your way:
Listen to your gut: If you’re on the fence, keep looking!
Limit your risk: Ease into coaching with someone who allows for a short initial commitment.
Do your digging: Coach interviews are key, but don’t underestimate how much additional info you’ll gather from a coach’s online materials.
Start when you have space: Coaching only works when you have the time and space to really dig into the process.
On behalf of CoachRanks, we wish you the best of luck in your search for the right coach. For more guidance and best practices to help you in your search, make sure to check out more of our blog posts here.
