ICF program in Bangalore
If you are considering attending a certified ICF program in Bangalore, then you might have heard or read that there are two options ICF ACC or ICF PCC.
The above would be accurate if someone is looking for a certificate credential from ICF, but if someone is just looking for validation of having attended an ICF approved program then the entire ICF ACC or ICF PCC process is not required to get started. A simple course approved by ICF without ICF ACC or ICF PCC will do. This will be at least half the price of the ICF ACC level program and will allow a participant to test waters in Coaching, especially for those who are looking to become a Coach to create a second income for themselves, and then move into full time Coaching down the line.
Here are a few more points that people generally have when they consider attending an ICF Certified program. This post is to help understand aspects around that.
What is the value of ICF Certification?
ICF credentials may not be required to start coaching. It is better to understand what is coaching, coach for some time, get a feel for it, and then considering getting an ICF credential, however, if you are serious about a coaching career, and ICF credential is going to ensure that you get started with proper coaching background, experience, and mentoring. Getting hired for a Coaching assignment is not just dependent on ICF certification. It depends on many factors: the reputation of the coach, market buzz, coaching experience, industry experience of a coach, references, general work education and education background, testimonials, etc. Some of these factors together will determine whether a person gets an assignment or not. Yes, it has value if an HR or Leadership Development team has to do basic filtering about whom to hire as a Coach for a team, or an individual being considered for coaching. So yes, an ICF ACC credential at some point in your coaching career is a must. Even better if you a PCC training and credential.
Is ICF ACC required to start Coaching?
ICF ACC or ICF PCC is not required for coaching. In fact, many coaches out there did not start with an ICF credential. They tested waters and then later upgraded to ICF ACC or ICF PCC.
What is a good time to get ICF Certified?
There is no set answer to this question, as this is very subjective and depends on the person, their background, their financial background, prerequisites to get a particular assignment where ICF ACC or ICF PCC is mandatory to apply, etc.
If you are clear about your coaching journey and have a clear outcome for yourself, where you can see yourself doing this for life, then you can begin your coaching journey by becoming an ICF ACC level or directly going for ICF PCC level. ICF ACC is the starting level, and ICF PCC is the intermediate level from a credential perspective. If you are looking for the best ICF training programs in India to get started and are wondering what is a good time to become a credentialed coach ~ The best time was yesterday, and a good time would be to start today!!
Is ICF Coaching a good option?
Depends on which context we are thinking. ICF Coaching ~ from a perspective of attending an ICF Coach program or hiring an ICF Certified Coach. In both cases, there are so many factors involved.
How to decide which ICF Coach program to attend?
If you are looking to attend an ICF Certified Coach program in Bangalore / other cities in India or outside India, then some of the factors which are important are:
– Framework on which the ICF Coaching course is based. Here are few powerful frameworks of coaching: NLP, Meta NLP, NeuroSemantics, NeuroScience based method, and Emotional Intelligence.
– Structure of the course (number of days, classroom-based training, online instructor-led training, coverage, etc)
– Most important, the Facilitator delivering the Coach program
– Cost structure
Hiring an ICF Certified Coach ~ Factors in hiring a Coach would be:
- Experience of Coach
- Framework used
- Other generic ones – General industry experience, business experience, life experience
Will I get my ICF ACC immediately after the ICF-approved course completion?
The answer is “No”. To become an ICF ACC a person has to first complete the training hours, 60 hours (which is the ICF approved course being attended in this context), 10 hours of mentoring with a mentor coach. This has to be for a minimum of 3 months.
Complete 100 hours of coaching (mix of one-to-one & group coaching). Once these things are in place, the person has to submit the application with ICF, submit these requisite documents, and once they are validated; there is an online exam from ICF. After a person clears the exam, the person becomes an ICF ACC.
What are the job prospects after attending a Certified ICF Coach program in Bangalore, or in any other city in India, or outside India?
There are very few coaching jobs, where a company will employ a coach as an employee unless the organization is into hiring Coaches and deploying them for coaching assignments in organizations where coaching requirements are there. Coaching is a niche business where establishing oneself as a coach takes time. A person has to work towards building a coaching practice. Treat coaching as a business, where a person has to think like an entrepreneur and develop sales skills, marketing skills, networking skills, and consistently find ways to improve and get clients/assignments.
How easy it is to build a coaching practice?
This depends on many factors. Some of the factors are:
– What is your Sales and Marketing strategy?
– What is your Sales and Marketing budget? A larger budget means you can market yourself for a longer time, and gain attendance from prospective clients easily.
– Your network. How well you are connected with decision-makers in corporates etc.
– How your online branding and presence make a statement about you?
– General experience of a coach
The short answer is: It is not easy to build a coaching practice overnight, but it is easy depending on how much dedication, and desire a person has towards this. Patience level to stay put in the domain and continue to strive to establish oneself as a coaching business is organic + right marketing. Nobody can get you magically establish in a coaching niche. It takes time. Yes, you can speed up the journey by having a coach and mentor guide you through the journey.
What is the difference between different ICF approved courses available in the market?
The difference between different ICF approved courses is the framework on which the course is based, and the format of the program (online / classroom-based). ICF provides approval to various courses based on the ICF standards of coaching, and from an ICF perspective, it is the Coaching standard and guidelines which matter the most rather than the methodology of coaching. The methodology of coaching will differ from program to program, and hence ICF is ensuring compliance to coaching standards when they approve a particular program.
What is the best Coaching framework?
Different Coaching frameworks are present. It is difficult to say which one is the best. Considering there will be bad coaches using a great methodology, and vice versa are also true that there will be not so powerful coaching methodologies, but the coach using them might be good, and can still be effective as a coach.
But to answer this question: The best coaching frameworks are those which have very powerful ways to make changes happen faster: Meta Coaching, NLP Coaching, Neuro-Semantics, NeuroScience, Emotional Intelligence, Cognitive Behavioural Coaching etc. They are behavioral-based and better than run of the mill coaching frameworks which are pre-defined tool-based.