Career Documents Coach: review others' work

01

The coach's job: roles, boundaries and the first conversation

In simple words

A swimming coach does not swim the race for you. The coach watches, points out what to change, cheers what works, and keeps you safe. A document coach is the same: the resume stays yours, the decisions stay yours, and the coach helps you make it better and true.

Key facts

Before this course: Career Change Documents: gaps, pivots and portfolios (course 8.1.3). You can already write a career story, prove transferable skills, explain gaps, present foreign experience, build a portfolio and run a consistency check. Now you learn to do this for other people: review their documents, coach them, and teach others to review.
Roles: a reviewer reads and comments; a coach also asks questions so the person finds their own answers; a writer produces text for someone. This course trains reviewers and coaches. The person keeps ownership of their document, their words and their choices.
Professional codes help. For example, the 2024 Code of Ethics of the National Career Development Association (NCDA), a professional body for career practitioners, names principles that include autonomy (fostering a person's right to control the direction of their life), nonmaleficence (avoiding harm), objectivity (treating people equitably) and veracity (dealing truthfully). Many countries have their own professional associations and codes; follow the one that applies to you.
Stay within your competence. The NCDA code says practitioners work only within the boundaries of their competence, based on education, training, supervised experience and credentials, and that when a client's needs are beyond their scope they suggest suitable referral resources.
Things to refer elsewhere: immigration status and right to work, legal disputes with an employer, licensing decisions, and health or mental health concerns. Your job is to point to the official source, not to give the answer.
The first conversation (intake): the target job and one real posting, the deadline, what help they want (a quick check or a full review), anything they want kept private, and permission to keep or share their files. A simple coaching shape for the talk is GOAL (what they want), REALITY (where the documents are now), OPTIONS (what could change) and WAY FORWARD (what they will do next).

In scope for a document coach	Refer elsewhere
Is the target clear? Does the evidence match the posting?	"Am I allowed to work in this country?"
Is every claim true and provable?	"Can my employer do this to me?"
Is it clear, readable and consistent?	"Do I need a licence for this job, and will I get one?"
Does it share too much personal information?	Signs of distress, crisis or health concerns

In your country

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is the starting point for newcomers and lists free settlement services near you.
Source: IRCC, newcomer services: ircc.canada.ca/english/newcomers/services/index.asp

The immigration agency is US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Source: USCIS, Settling in the U.S.: www.uscis.gov/citizenship/civic-assimilation/settling-in-the-us

Minimum wages are set region by region by Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards; the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), under the Department of Labor and Employment, publishes the wage orders.
Source: NWPC: nwpc.dole.gov.ph/

The starting point for foreigners is the National Immigration Administration (nia.gov.cn). A foreigner needs a work permit to work in China.
Source: Joint ministry guide for foreign business people (2024 edition): www.nia.gov.cn/n794014/n1050181/n1050489/c1637910/part/1637927.pdf

The labour authority is the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), working through prefectural Labour Bureaus and Labour Standards Inspection Offices.
Source: MHLW, For Foreigners Working in Companies: www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/koyou_roudou/koyou/jigyounush

The Korea Immigration Service site has a visa navigator; immigration contact centre 1345 (from abroad +82-2-1345). The labour authority is the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL).
Source: Korea Immigration Service English site: www.immigration.go.kr/immigration_eng/index.do
Source: MOEL English site: www.moel.go.kr/english/main.do

Step by step

Write "Before this course: Career Change Documents: gaps, pivots and portfolios (course 8.1.3)" at the top of a new page.
Write a one-paragraph description of your service: what you review, what you do not do, and what you refer elsewhere.
Write five intake questions: target job and posting, deadline, kind of help wanted, anything private, permission to keep files.
Write a short referral list for where you live: the official immigration site, the labour or employment ministry, and a free employment or settlement service if there is one.
Practise one intake with a friend, using Goal, Reality, Options, Way forward. Let them do most of the talking.
At the end, read back what you agreed: what you will review, by when, and what they will do next.
Check: your friend can say in one sentence what you will and will not do for them.

Watch on YouTube

The GROW coaching model explained simplyTranscend International · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01The coach's job: roles, boundaries and the first conversation

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00

Voice

Read the video script

[Host] "A document coach is like a swimming coach. You do not swim the race. You help the swimmer swim better."
[Text on screen: Their document. Their words. Their choice.] "The resume belongs to the person. So do the decisions."
[Screen: two-column list, In scope and Refer elsewhere] "Know your limits. Immigration, legal and health questions go to the official source."
[Text on screen: Goal, Reality, Options, Way forward] "Start with a short intake: what they want, where they are, what could change, and what happens next."
[Host] "Clear roles at the start prevent hard conversations later."

Try it now

Write your one-page "coach agreement": what you review, your turnaround time, what you will never do (for example, invent experience or contact employers for them), how you store and delete files, and your referral list. Ask someone to read it and tell you one thing that is unclear.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Career Documents Coach: review others' work" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "The coach's job: roles, boundaries and the first conversation".

What the lesson teaches:
- Before this course: Career Change Documents: gaps, pivots and portfolios (course 8.1.3). You can already write a career story, prove transferable skills, explain gaps, present foreign experience, build a portfolio and run a consistency check. Now you learn to do this for other people: review their documents, coach them, and teach others to review.
- Roles: a reviewer reads and comments; a coach also asks questions so the person finds their own answers; a writer produces text for someone. This course trains reviewers and coaches. The person keeps ownership of their document, their words and their choices.
- Professional codes help. For example, the 2024 Code of Ethics of the National Career Development Association (NCDA), a professional body for career practitioners, names principles that include autonomy (fostering a person's right to control the direction of their life), nonmaleficence (avoiding harm), objectivity (treating people equitably) and veracity (dealing truthfully). Many countries have their own professional associations and codes; follow the one that applies to you.
- Stay within your competence. The NCDA code says practitioners work only within the boundaries of their competence, based on education, training, supervised experience and credentials, and that when a client's needs are beyond their scope they suggest suitable referral resources.
- Things to refer elsewhere: immigration status and right to work, legal disputes with an employer, licensing decisions, and health or mental health concerns. Your job is to point to the official source, not to give the answer.
- The first conversation (intake): the target job and one real posting, the deadline, what help they want (a quick check or a full review), anything they want kept private, and permission to keep or share their files. A simple coaching shape for the talk is GOAL (what they want), REALITY (where the documents are now), OPTIONS (what could change) and WAY FORWARD (what they will do next).
- In scope for a document coach - Refer elsewhere

The exercise I'm working on:
Write your one-page "coach agreement": what you review, your turnaround time, what you will never do (for example, invent experience or contact employers for them), how you store and delete files, and your referral list. Ask someone to read it and tell you one thing that is unclear.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "The coach's job: roles, boundaries and the first conversation" from the course "Career Documents Coach: review others' work".

Here's what the lesson says:
A swimming coach does not swim the race for you. The coach watches, points out what to change, cheers what works, and keeps you safe. A document coach is the same: the resume stays yours, the decisions stay yours, and the coach helps you make it better and true.

The activity:
Write your one-page "coach agreement": what you review, your turnaround time, what you will never do (for example, invent experience or contact employers for them), how you store and delete files, and your referral list. Ask someone to read it and tell you one thing that is unclear.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

Sources

National Career Development Association, 2024 Code of Ethics (PDF): www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/asset_manager/get_file/3395

My notes

I learned this

02