How to Become a Certified Coach

Technically, anybody can call themselves a “coach” and start offering coaching services. This is mainly because there are no laws or regulations in place dictating who’s really qualified to be a coach.

But should you start coaching people for money without any coaching knowledge or experience? That’s another question entirely.

Many people in the industry would say that the only way to coach ethically is to get trained and certified before you start offering your services to paying clients. To others, a certification simply adds to your credibility and shows clients that you underwent formal training.

Either way, if you want to start a coaching side hustle or full-time business, getting certified is a good first step. It’ll equip you with the requisite skills, knowledge, and experience to help your clients achieve their goals and start a thriving coaching business.

There’s widespread confusion and misunderstandings surrounding the term “coach.” What is a coach, and what does it really mean to coach someone? Here’s the International Coaching Federation (ICF) definition of coaching:

“Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” 1

The ICF’s coaching definition illustrates the unique skill set that you need to be a good coach. You aren’t necessarily telling clients the answers to their problems. Instead, you’re using coaching strategies to help them access that information themselves.

What coaches don’t do

A big part of learning what a coach is and what they do is understanding what they don’t do and how the job differs from similar professions. It’s important to understand that coaching is distinct from all the following roles:

• Consulting: Consultants tell clients what to do or give them the information or answers they need to solve problems, whereas coaches help clients find this information themselves.
• Teaching: Teachers deliver lessons designed to give students new knowledge. Coaches play a more interactive role with clients and focus more on helping them develop strategies and refine their skills.
• Mentoring: While the roles are similar in nature, mentors primarily share their advanced subject knowledge and experience with mentees, whereas coaches focus more on the client’s goals.
• Counseling/therapy: Counselors and therapists must abide by certain laws and regulations in their practice, and they’re specially trained to treat people with mental health issues.

It’s important to understand the scope of your role as a coach so that you don’t unintentionally do harm to someone who needs a different type of help than what you’re trained to provide.

Types of coaches

While there are general coaches out there, many have a particular specialty. Below are a few common types of coaches:

• Life coach
• Career coach
• Relationship coach
• Executive coach
• Business coach
• Team coach
• Sports coach
• Fitness coach
• Spiritual coach
• Financial coach
• Educational coach

The type of coach you are reflects the type of training you received and who your clients are. Figuring out what type of coach you want to become now will help you find the right training and certification program.

The ICF is the leading authority on coaching credentials. While their coaching certifications don’t hold any legal weight, they are generally perceived as the most reliable way of assessing a coach’s qualifications and capabilities.

If you want to become a professional and certified coach, then ICF certifications are the go-to credentials that you should consider getting. The ICF has three levels of coaching credentials you can apply for. The table below shows a breakdown of the ICF certification requirements for each type of credential.

ICF Credential Requirements

Source: ICF credentials and standards.

These are not levels that you progress through. You can start with PCC or MCC if you already have plenty of training and hands-on experience or if you need a more advanced credential for your coaching specialty.

In addition to getting the required amount of training and practical experience, you’ll also need to meet a few additional ICF requirements. In the next section, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to get ICF certified.

Other coaching certifications

In addition to the ICF, there are a few other organizations that offer accreditation designed to help regulate the coaching industry:

• EMCC Global
• Center for Credentialing & Education
• Association for Coaching

If you want, you can choose to get certified through a program approved by one of these organizations instead of one approved by the ICF. The important factor is ensuring you get quality training that has been properly vetted and assessed.

The ICF has a clearly defined pathway for becoming a certified coach. They also provide various resources for aspiring coaches. Here are the steps you’ll need to take to earn one of their credentials.

1. Choose your certification pathway

The ICF offers three different routes to certification. These options are distinguished by the type of program you sign up for. Below is a rundown of their key differences.

• Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP): Programs with this ICF accreditation are the most intensive and provide you with everything you need to apply for an ICF credential.
• Accredited Coach Specific Training Hours (ACSTH): These programs provide you with the necessary coach training hours, but you need to undergo a separate performance evaluation and mentor coaching to get certified.
• Unaccredited education: Technically, you may be able to get certified if you receive coach training from a program that isn’t ICF accredited, but you’ll need to provide supporting materials, and the ICF must review and approve your course.

ACC Certification Pathways

PCC Certification Pathways

You don’t have to choose your pathway before you receive coach training, but doing so is a good way to ensure you choose the best coach training program for you.

2. Enroll in a coach training program

You can only get certified by the ICF if you undergo approved training. The ICF reviews coach training programs, and they only approve institutions and courses that meet their criteria by providing beginner coaches with the foundational skills and knowledge they need to coach effectively and ethically.

You can find an accredited course by using the ICF’s education search service (ESS) tool, which is a directory of ICF-approved courses and institutions. You can find a wide variety of courses in various coaching specialties, and some are even online coaching courses you can do from home.

If you already underwent coaching training, you can also use the ESS tool to check whether your program qualifies.

3. Get experience

After you begin training, you’ll have to start accumulating hours of client coaching experience. There are certain requirements to meet as you train clients in the real world:

• ACC credential: You need to have 100 hours of client coaching experience (75 paid) across a total of eight clients.
• PCC credential: You need to have 500 hours of client coaching experience (450 paid) across a total of 25 clients.

A certain portion of your coaching must be done before you apply for certification. You’ll also need to attest to the experience hours you complete.

To provide proof of your coaching experience, you’ll need to first get the consent of clients to collect their information. Next, you’ll provide their contact details to the ICF so that the organization can verify your coaching experience.

4. Undergo mentoring and a performance evaluation (if necessary)

If you chose an ACTP pathway for your coach training, then you’ve already met the ICF’s mentoring and performance evaluation requirements. On the other hand, if you opted for an ACSTH or portfolio pathway, then you’ll need to undergo separate evaluations to get your ICF certification.

To meet the ICF’s mentoring requirements, you’ll need to meet one-on-one with a mentor for at least 10 hours. They will provide you with input and support to help you strengthen the skills you’ve learned during training.

As part of the ICF’s performance evaluation, you’ll need to record a 20–60 minute coaching session with a client (with their consent). You’ll then submit the audio and transcript for review.

5. Apply for your credentials

Once you’ve completed your training and met all the ICF’s additional experience, mentoring, and performance evaluation requirements, you’re ready to apply to become an ICF-certified coach.

To do this, you’ll need to first take the ICF’s Credential Path Survey. At the end of the survey, you’ll have the option to create an application for your chosen ICF credential.

6. Take the ICF exam

Finally, you’ll need to take a computer-based written exam that’s designed to test your coaching capabilities. You’ll also need to demonstrate mastery of the ICF code of ethics along with its core competencies.

Possible scores range from 200 to 600, and a passing score is 460. You can prepare yourself by reading more about the exam on the ICF’s credentialing exam webpage.

After you pass the exam, that’s it! You’ll receive your ICF credential and officially be an ICF-certified coach.

Because coaches don’t strictly need a certification, you may be wondering whether it’s really worth getting certified to coach. To help you decide, here are a few factors to consider before you start the coach certification process.

Cost of coaching certifications

How much it costs to get a coaching certification largely depends on the program you choose. ICF certifications cost anywhere in the range of $175–$900 to apply for, but you’ll also need to pay for coach training, which can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.

To give you an idea of the lower end of what you can expect to pay for a coach training program, the Life Coach Magazine named the life coach training program offered by the Universal Coach Institute (UCI) the most affordable ICF-accredited training program, and it costs $497. 2 Other programs cost over $10,000.

If you aren’t planning on applying for an ICF credential, then you can find very affordable coaching certifications for under $100. It all depends on what your goals are.

Time committment

How long it takes to become a certified coach varies. It could take you anywhere from 6 to 12 months to get certified as an ICF coach, depending on the program you choose and how quickly you gain the required experience.

This is because you’ll need to receive coach mentoring over the course of at least 3 months. On top of that, it will take another month for your application to be reviewed.

For other programs not accredited by the ICF, you could theoretically get certified in a matter of just days or weeks if you enroll in an intensive training program. However, your certification may not hold the same authority as an ICF credential.

Continuing education

Even after you become a certified coach, the process doesn’t end there. You’ll have to renew your ICF coaching credentials every 3 years, within 10 months of your renewal date. Each renewal will cost you $175 (ICF members) or $275 (nonmembers).

To renew your coaching certification, you’ll need to complete 40 hours of Continuing Coach Education (CCE). These programs will help you keep your coaching and business skills up-to-date. You’ll also need to do 10 more hours of mentor coaching stretched out over at least 3 months if you’re renewing an ACC credential.