HELPING QUESTION

Setting: K-12

 You are working with a student who is wants an internship in an engineering firm. The
individual is 16 and has work experience doing childcare and working in a family retail
business. She excels in school, earning A’s and B’s and also does quite well in sciences and
math. She is not certain about engineering, but wants to learn more. How would you use
helping skills with this client?

For reference purpose, let me assume the client’s name to be “Priya”.

Now, some of the known facts about Priya are-

a/ Age- 16 years

b/ Gender-Female

c/ Work Experience- Childcare taker & Retail Business

d/ Academic History – i/ Grades in A’s & B’s

ii / Strong subjects -Science & Maths

e/ Interested Field- Engineering

f/ Query- Wanted to explore and learn more about engineering field.

Making Priya comfortable and forming a baseline for myself to know Priya better I initiated the
conversation by asking her some general questions about her academic background in detail,
extracurricular activities she likes, her favorate subjects at school, movies, hobbies, etc.

The details about Priya after the conversation are as follows-

 Extracurricular Activities- Played Volleyball matches against other schools during school
days, also have an interest in Performing arts (Dramatics and school Plays)

 Favorate Subject- Physics

 Like to watch movies such as Interstellar (Science Fiction), Mission Impossible {Action
Movies}

 Hobbies- Playing Volleyball, Travelling

 Family Background-Father- Businessman, Mother-School Teacher, Sibling-younger brother

who is currently 13 years old.

Now, as her query is to know more about the engineering field, I as a career coach decided to switch
the interacting session to a coaching session with Priya. But before the session I gave a brief info
about coaching and how it works to Priya. The following information was shared by me to Priya
about Coaching-

 Coaching Focuses on Listening to the client, asking relevant questions to help them explore
and understand themselves better, and provide solution which the coach & coachee both
agreed upon.
 Coaching is based and grown out of positive psychology movement. It focuses more on what
is possible, what is right with the person, what are their strengths, what are they already
doing well. It focuses more on leveraging these skills to tackle what is going on in their lives.
 Coaches believe that their clients have the internal resources to deal with whatever they are
facing. Furthermore, Coaching is action and task oriented. It is based on the insight of the
client’s present situation which coaches termed as “Awareness” of the client.
 It is a process from being stuck in a situation and getting unstuck thereafter.
 A typical Coaching session is generally divided into 3 parts-
a/ Agreement-Coach & Client establishes mutual goal/goals
b/ Awareness- The client explores where they are now and where they intend to arrive (the
goal)
c/ Action- Client implements the new found idea/ideas into their life.

I also informed Priya about ICF code of ethics and the strict confidentiality of the session which I as a
Career Coach adhere to maintain at all times.

Priya agreed and I started with the coaching session. The following is the conversation script which
was noted from the coaching session –

Agreement-

Me (Coach)- “Hey Priya! Thanks for letting me know so much about yourself.” It was so nice to
know about you. So, tell me more, what else is in your mind today “? –(Attending)

Priya- “Well thanks for having me! So, as you know I am about to complete my high school by next
year, I am keen to know about pursuing engineering degree after class 12, and for that I want to
know more on it. “

Me (Coach) “Ya sure Priya…good to see someone showing so much compassion towards her
career. So, I heard a couple of things- First that you want to know more on pursuing engineering
after class 12, and also, I heard you say knowing more on it!”

So, Priya may I ask you why speaking about this topic is so important for you today? And could you
also let me know, what does – “more on it “means to Priya now? - (Attending & listening)

Priya- “Ya sure. I mean I was always fascinated by the engineering field and how engineers make
things work. For e.g.- In my childhood, most of the times I use to accompany my father to his vehicle
workshop factory where I use to sit and see how engineers and workers use to curve different design
and shapes from a single sheet of metal or the roar sound that use to come from the engine when it
was getting tested. I really felt that I was a part of all these and when I grow up I would too like to be
a vehicle designer myself. May be open my own company someday (she smiles). So, you can see it
for yourself right why engineering became so important for me.

And when I say more on it, I meant that I wanted to know more on the various departments that
engineering field has and which I should Choose in my career later.

Me (Coach)- Wow! That’s great, Priya! So, what I heard from you are- You wanted to be a vehicle
designer and own a business of yours someday and also you would like to know more on the
various engineering departments so that it becomes easy for you to choose a relevant dept. later
at college according to your likes and interests. Anything more you want to want to add here? –
(Attending & listening)

Priya- Yes, that’s exactly what I want now. Nothing much to add in these.

Me (Coach)- So Priya, after speaking to me for so long and sharing so much about you, your goals
and your love for engineering, what outcome are you expecting from this session today? -
(Attending & Reflecting)

Priya- Well as I mentioned in my last statement, I want to know more on the various engineering
dept. and maybe some clarity on the automobile design field as well.

Me (Coach)- Thank you so much for stating your desired outcome for today. And may I ask Priya,
what would be the impact of this outcome in your Life? - (Attending & reflecting)

Priya- I would be so happy and fulfilled that I am able to pursue what I always dreamt off.

Awareness-

Me (Coach)- So Priya, you mentioned your outcome for today’s session is to know more on the
various engineering dept. and maybe some clarity on the automobile design field as well, right? So
where do you want to begin? – (Attending, Listening, Questioning)

Priya- Lets begin with the various engineering depts. Well, I know the major ones like Mechanical,
Electrical, Civil, Computer Engineering etc. but I don’t know what to select, as I have no idea what
are the various topics that are covered under all these and if those are aligned to my interest area or
not. I don’t want to choose a dept. and regret later.

Me (Coach)- Well Sure! So, Priya, since you mention about your interest area, what do you mean
by this? -(Listening ,Questioning)

Priya- You know, interest area as in the things I like to do. For e.g.- I like to practical stuff rather than
reading theory on it or I like to draw and design things rather than calculating the numerical
values/aspects relating to it. So now you understand right, I want to choose an engineering field
where emphasis is more on the practical aspect rather the theory and where I wouldn’t feel bored
on have a feeling that to pass the examinations I have to read or mug up a lot!

Me (Coach)- Well, nice to hear all that! So, Priya, is all into practical stuff and she also likes to
design things but calculations and theory seems boring for her, right? - (Listening, paraphrasing &
reflecting)
Priya- yup…you are right. See I have little idea on the different engineering fields and I know that
most of the syllabus consists of theory and practical both. But I want to choose a field where the
theory portion is very less. I mean very less.

Me (Coach)- Well that’s interesting! So, how do you plan to figure out from all those various
departments, which has very less theory and is a good fit for you? - (Attending, Questioning,
summarizing)

Priya- Well, I can always surf the internet to know more about them. But as you know, google shows
more information than one could digest, right?

Me (Coach)- True! So apart from the internet, what different could Priya do to fulfil her need on
finding the right engineering dept for her? - (Attending, Questioning, Encouraging)

Priya- (After a long pause) … Well……you know Rohit, my maternal cousin who is now settled in
Germany called me that day to wish me on my birthday. While we were speaking, I recall him telling
me about this new trending filed in Engineering – “Robotics & Automation Engineering”! He also
mentioned to me about how automation is the key to the future. Sounds like an interesting concept
to me.

Me (Coach)- Hmmmm! So, do you think “Robotics & Automation Engineering” would serve the
purpose of finding the perfect engineering dept. for Priya? - (Questioning, Paraphrasing &
Reflecting)

Priya- Maybe. You See as I mentioned earlier also like to draw and design things. Maybe designing
robotic arms or maybe building a full human size robot isn’t going to be boring I assume, even it
contains theories which I may have to deal with! (Priya laughs)

Me (Coach)-Seems quite interesting to me! So, how would Priya make sure to know more and
much more on “Robotics & Automation Engineering”? – (Questioning, Paraphrasing & Reflecting)

Priya- That’s a good question! Well atleast I have just a single topic now rather then searching the
internet on various engineering fields and God knows what! And apart from searching on google, I
also have to call Rohit and take some notes from him as well.

Me (Coach)- Anything else that is coming to your mind now? (Encouraging)

Priya- Yes, since I stay in Delhi, maybe I can search for some undergrad colleges where Robotics or
Automation Engineering are being taught! Yes, I can do that too! (She smiles)

Me (Coach)- Well done Priya! I am so glad that you finally fond something to start with, isn’t so?
(Encouraging)

Priya- Yes, indeed! All thanks to you!

Action-

Me (Coach)- You’re most welcome Priya. Happy I could Help! So, before we end this session today,
could you mention me your key takeways from today’s session? (attending & summarizing)

Priya- Ya sure. So, as I was confused on selecting a particular dept for my undergrad in the whole
engineering field, I now realise the following thinks-
a/ I always liked to design and crate new things rather than mugging up theories.

b/ I feel Robotics or Automation Engineering is for me now and to be sure about it I have to take
some reference from the internet and also have to speak to my brother calling him to discuss on this
more.

c/ I could also search for some local colleges in delhi over the net which have robotics or automation
engineering dept.in them.

Me (Coach)- That’s Fantastic Priya. And finally, when do you plan to start with the execution of all
these mentioned takeways for yourself? - (Encouraging and summarizing)

Priya- I would complete all of them within a month or so and would definitely revisit you to discuss
on the outcomes and much more.

Me (Coach)- Sure Priya! Anything else that you would like to discuss now?

Priya- No

Me (Coach)- Thank you Priya so much for your time and hope to meet you soon again. Bye

Priya- Thanks and bye

Conclusion-

From the above mention conversation, we can see that Priya (the client) came to me (the coach) to
know on engineering and she took with herself with a roadmap of not only what she wants to study
at her undergrad (Robotics or Automation Engineering) but also a plan how to gather more
information to verify all about it (Priya’s takeaways).

The following helping skills (under coaching) were used my me (the coach) to move the conversation
forward with the client and bring awareness to the client in accordance to the competencies
mentioned by the ICF-

a/ Attending- Giving importance to the client, making them comfortable and letting them aware of
the fact that we are listening to them and they are important to us.

b/ Paraphrasing & Reflecting-Taking all that the client have mentioned into account and sending it
back to them in a way which would make them aware of what they said about themselves.

c/ Listening- Listening attentively to what the client is saying and also trying to figure out what they
are not saying/hesitance by noticing their facial expressions, body language, etc.

d/ Encouraging- Making the client believe that they are not alone in this and they have the “factor”
inside them which would help them to push themselves get unstuck.

e/ Questioning- Asking relevant questions to the client, which would make them aware of inspecting
where they are now and where they intend to reach (individualistic goal).

f/ Summarizing- Packing all the layers from the session and throwing it back to the client for re-
confirmation and action.