Jessica Harley is an exceptional career coach with a background in education and a passion for helping individuals navigate career transitions, overcome challenges, and achieve their professional goals. Based near Chichester, UK, Jess has been coaching for four years and qualified as a coach in 2021.
With a strong focus on personal growth and career clarity, Jess works with clients from diverse backgrounds, supporting them to build confidence, set meaningful goals, and unlock new possibilities in their careers. Outside of coaching, Jess continues to be involved in education through curriculum design work and various projects.
When not at work, Jess enjoys gardening and coastal rowing to keep fit. Last year she took part in rowing regattas in Spain and Scotland.
1. What inspired you to become a career coach, and how did your career journey lead you here?
In 2020, in her final year of university, I supported my daughter to secure a place as a trainee solicitor. It took 9 months – going from no knowledge of how to enter the profession to achieving a training contract with a top London firm. This experience was my first foray into coaching and left a lasting impact on me. It made me realise how deeply fulfilling it is to support others in achieving their career goals; a passion I knew I wanted to pursue further.
The period of lockdowns and having faced two redundancies in my own career also gave me a chance to re-evaluate my work and my own career goals. I had worked in education for my entire career, initially teaching in primary schools and latterly as a Senior Lecturer in primary education. Part of my role as a lecturer was mentoring trainee teachers and working with them in the classroom to improve their practice. Coaching was a natural progression on from this where developing positive relationships, giving feedback and support, and using questions to challenge and stretch trainees were a core part of the trainees’ professional development.
I trained as a career coach and I’m now helping a range of people at different stages of their careers to achieve their aspirations. I guide them through the same process I took my daughter through – although now as a qualified coach with a wealth of experience, and with many more frameworks and tools to support this!
2. What do you think sets an exceptional career coach apart from others in the industry?
Exceptional career coaches stand out for the following three reasons:
A blend of tools, frameworks and intuition
A support structure, a model for change and ongoing accountability are key elements to high quality career coaching. A great coach will adapt to each client’s unique needs and provide specific steps and processes to enable their client to see new possibilities and move forward. It’s not just about theory – the best coaches bring their own expertise and personal experience which allows them to deeply understand the challenges and issues their clients face.
The facilitation of transformative change
An outstanding career coach sees their clients’ potential and shows them that it’s possible for them to have the career they want for themselves. By using tailored strategies, they enable clients to see, act and think differently so that they can achieve the career satisfaction and success they desire. They know how to uncover what is blocking their clients’ happiness and fulfilment and stopping them from making effective decisions about their career. Critical to this is developing confidence about the change the client is aiming to achieve, whether it be a career change, a new role in the same industry / profession, or moving on after redundancy.
The balance of support and challenge
Empathy is at the heart of coaching. Great coaches listen deeply, communicate effectively, and create a safe space for clients to feel heard and understood. But they also know when to push their clients beyond their comfort zones. This balance between support and challenge helps clients grow, enabling them to realise their true capabilities and achieve meaningful progress.
3. What are the most common challenges your clients face, and how do you help them overcome these hurdles?
The most common challenge my clients face is finding themselves in a role that doesn’t match their values. They may have gone into a profession because that’s what they felt they ought to do due to peer or parental pressures, or their values may have changed over time. They feel unhappy and unfulfilled, which leads to a loss of confidence, confused about what direction to take, or if over a long period of time, burnout.
Clients come to me because they feel stuck and unable to know how to move forward in their career. I support them to overcome any fears of stepping into something new and lead them to see new possibilities and discover new solutions.
4. Can you share a success story where your coaching had a transformative impact on someone’s career or business?
I had a client who had left their job because they had realised what they’d thought was their dream job was not the reality. His health had suffered from being in a role that didn’t suit him, and he was very down when I first met him. He felt he had lost connection with what he wanted to do and what he was good at. Faced with a blank slate and only a small pot of savings to survive in the short term, he had no idea where to begin. In three months, he went from feeling lost to finding a job he loves.
The first stage of the coaching process included developing a deep knowledge of himself and his purpose. This stage is empowering as it begins to re-establish confidence and self-esteem. It forms a foundation from which the second stage, an exploration of meaningful work through career experimentation and networking, can open up the world of possibilities.
Two tools in particular had a profound impact in the second stage for this client: a personal SWOT analysis and an exercise on setting professional boundaries. The third stage involved developing a roadmap to what success would look like. My client felt empowered to take the first steps towards a new career, securing a role which leverages what he’s great at and cares about the most.
5. What role does mindset play in professional success, and how do you help clients cultivate a winning mindset?
Mindset shapes how individuals perceive challenges, opportunities, and their own capabilities. A winning mindset allows professionals to approach obstacles with resilience, embrace growth, and take proactive steps toward achieving their goals. It’s the foundation for confidence, adaptability, and sustained motivation in the face of change.
To help clients cultivate a winning mindset, I focus on the following strategies:
Shifting perspectives: I guide clients to reframe setbacks as learning opportunities and challenges as stepping stones for growth. This shift helps them handle uncertainty and develop resilience and a positive and proactive outlook.
Building self-belief: We work together to identify and challenge self-limiting beliefs. I support clients to recognise their strengths, building confidence along the way.
Encouraging action: I help clients break down their goals into manageable steps, emphasising progress over perfection. Taking consistent, intentional actions builds momentum and reinforces their belief in what’s possible.
6. What’s your advice for professionals considering working with a career coach for the first time?
The most important thing when looking for a coach is finding the right person for you – a great coach will help you achieve the outcomes you desire most in life and work and that’s different for each individual. Look at the coach’s experience, testimonials and their website. Does it inspire you to want to take action? Is the content motivating? Does their approach and their model for change resonate with you?
Most coaches offer a free discovery call so be prepared to meet a few before you make your decision. A discovery call will help you determine if you feel comfortable talking to them, if you like their style and approach and if you feel excited and hopeful about working with them.
7. What’s a skill or quality that you believe every successful leader or professional should develop?
Mastering leadership begins with you. You cannot be an effective leader of others if you’re not powerfully leading yourself first. If you’re grounded in self-awareness, self-management and self-development then you’re better equipped to navigate the complexities of team dynamics, make sound decisions and inspire those around you.
Self-leadership leads to resilience, emotional intelligence and clear thinking, setting a strong example for others to follow and fostering a culture of trust and mutual respect.
8. What are your ambitions for 2025?
I plan to develop an online course to continue to help a greater number of professionals who are feeling stuck and having challenges in knowing which direction to take their career. The benefits of a self-study course are working at your own pace, selecting the tools most effective for you, and having the flexibility to work through the content and tasks at a time of your own choosing.
I have observed that many graduates struggle to identify their ideal career path and feel lost when they finish their degree. I’ve worked with graduates who have started out in a career because they felt it was what they ought to do and have ended up feeling desperately unhappy. I plan to set up a group graduate coaching programme, which, alongside the coaching, would have the benefits of a support network to connect with others facing similar challenges.
And a personal one – I’m a member of a Cornish pilot gig club and row on the sea twice a week. I’m looking forward this year to improving my technique and stamina, as well as having some rowing adventures in different parts of the world.
Career Step Up would like to thank Jess for her insights and time – thanks Jess!
This article first appeared on Career Step Up.
