The Flashlight Model: Practical Coaching Skills for Career Development Conversations
September 28 - November 1 (Onboarding week Sept. 28-Oct. 4)
As a career development practitioner, you already guide clients through real, often high-stakes transitions. This course helps you deepen that work by integrating a coaching approach into your existing practice, so your conversations create more than just next steps. You'll build the awareness, knowledge, and skills to create productive learning environments and navigate conversations that strengthen the practitioner-client relationship, expand your client's perspective, and build the hopefulness and momentum that turn insight into action.
Career Development in Practice introduces the 5 core components of the Flashlight Model: Foundation Building, Opening, Exploring, Closing, and Implementing. Through cohort-based learning and practice with fellow practitioners, you'll sharpen your coaching skills and build confidence for yourself and the clients you serve.
By the end of the course, you'll be able to:
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Navigate and lead career conversations from beginning to end using the Flashlight Career Development Coaching Model
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Understand the different approaches used in career development conversations (coaching, counselling, advising, mentoring, teaching)
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Employ the different elements of the Flashlight Model to support client agency, hope, and forward momentum
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Reflect on who you are as a career development practitioner, identifying areas of strength and development in relation to coaching skills and presence
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Develop a network of career development practitioners
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Understand how a coaching approach to career development conversations connects with the Hope-Action Theory, Active Engagement, Creativity, and Career Wayfinding
Is this course for me?
This course is designed for career development professionals who have career conversations with clients, students, or direct reports and want to learn how to increase their impact and develop practical skills and depth in their practice.
This course is for people who:
- Are career practitioners, educators, and professionals supporting clients, students, or direct reports in their career development
- Want to increase their impact by developing coaching skills that build connection and foster agency
- Are curious about what it means to take a coaching approach, grounded in the International Coaching Federation's definition of coaching
- Enjoy learning in a community-based, cohort setting
Meet your instructors
Andrea Fruhling, PCC, COC, and Dr. Norm Amundson are a father-daughter teaching team that brings decades of combined instructional, academic, and practical experience to this course. They are recognized industry leaders, authors, and experts in career coaching and development, combining their coaching and counselling backgrounds, creativity, and global experience to mentor and teach in the career development and coaching field.
To learn more, connect with them on LinkedIn or visit Doubleknot Works
Course Curriculum
1 week of course onboarding, 4 weeks of cohort-based learning. Here's what you can expect. Note all scheduling is done in Pacific Time.
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Onboarding (Sept. 28 - Oct. 4): Get familiar with the learning platform, meet your peers, and begin exploring the Flashlight Model, including the Environment, through asynchronous course content.
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Week 1 (Oct. 5 - 11): Live sessions begin with an in-depth look at Foundation-Building, exploring Mattering and Creative Presence. You'll engage with asynchronous course content, meet your triad, and schedule your group work.
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Week 2 (Oct. 12 - 18): Learn strategies to connect and open conversations, considering how to ensure readiness, explore approaches, and create focus. Meet your learning triad, and begin putting what you're learning into practice.
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Week 3 (Oct. 19 - 25): Lean into uncertainty, learn how to stay curious, ask good questions, and engage your client in Exploring through lines of questioning. Ask questions and share learning during a group community call, and practice core skills to support that exploration.
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Week 4 (Oct. 26 - Nov. 1): Learning how to foster client agency and forward momentum through accountability. Develop strategies to Close well, and explore the importance of adapting. Meet with your learning triad to bring everything together and complete your final evaluation.
How am I assessed?
Our hope is that participants attending our courses are attending to deepen their practice and grow their coaching skills. Participants will be assessed and mentored throughout the program to ensure skills are developed and key concepts are learned. Weekly assignments are graded as complete/incomplete. The final assignment is graded complete/revise/incomplete, and participants will have the opportunity to resubmit assignments if a revision is requested.
Upon completion, participants will receive a Letter of Completion from Doubleknot Works.
Expected Effort
Participants can expect to spend approximately 5-6 hours of work per week for 5 weeks. This includes one week of onboarding prior to the course start, and 4 weeks of course engagement.
Onboarding expected effort (1 week): Approximately 4 hours of asynchronous work including webinars, reading, and completing assignments.
Course expected effort (4 weeks): Approximately 5-6 hours of work per week including participating in live weekly 2-hour sessions, watching webinars, reading, completing assignments, and connecting with your peers outside of live session time (on your own schedules).
Course Format
This course is 100% online and instructor-supported with live weekly sessions and small-group mentoring. Live sessions take place on Thursdays, 3:30-5:30 pm Pacific Time.
Live sessions will be held on Zoom and include instruction, discussion, skill practice, and peer sharing. Please note that attendance is mandatory, though sessions will be recorded in case of emergency.
Participants will join a learning triad to practice skills and receive in-the-moment feedback from peers. An instructor will join your group for one of your triad sessions to provide small-group mentoring.
Engage with peers through reflective posts and shared conversations.
Outside of live classes, participants will watch pre-recorded webinars, read articles, gain access to resources, and complete assignments to deepen their learning.