Career coaching is most effective when the coach understands the full picture before session one. This intake form captures career stage, current situation and frustrations, the ideal career in two years, specific goals like resume help or salary negotiation, and job search status — so your first session can focus on strategy instead of background.
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Career coaching is a broad discipline — the same coach might work with a recent grad who can't land interviews, a mid-career professional burned out by 15 years in the wrong industry, and a senior executive planning a pivot to entrepreneurship. A good career coaching intake form does the work of differentiating these clients before the first session, so the coach arrives with a relevant approach rather than generic advice.
This template is built around the most important career coaching questions: where is the client now (role, stage, situation), where do they want to be (specific vision), what specific help do they need (the goals checkbox surfaces this without requiring clients to know the terminology), and how urgent is the timeline. The job search status question is particularly useful — clients actively interviewing need different immediate help than those focused on long-term career development.
formformform makes this intake form simple to deploy in any career coaching practice. Share the link in booking confirmations, embed it on a coaching website, or include it in a client portal welcome sequence. Every submission arrives complete and ready to review.
Use your own copy to change labels, remove questions and add the details you need. Try the preview alongside this guide to see what respondents will be asked.
Review the starting questions and choices. You can change them in your own copy.
Casey Rivera
casey@example.com
(555) 567-8901
Marketing Manager — Acme Corp (or 'Currently Unemployed')
Describe where you are in your career right now. What's frustrating, unfulfilling, or stuck? What prompted you to seek career coaching?
Describe your dream career situation — the role, industry, company type, income, work style, and how you feel about your work every day.
Suggested uses, and why this starting point can help. Adapt the questions to your own process.
Use this as a starting point when you need the same essential information from each person. Review the questions against your process before sharing your copy. Review “Current Job Title and Company” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Use this as a starting point when you need the same essential information from each person. Review the questions against your process before sharing your copy. Review “Career Stage” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Use this as a starting point when you need the same essential information from each person. Review the questions against your process before sharing your copy. Review “Current Career Situation and Frustrations” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Use this as a starting point when you need the same essential information from each person. Review the questions against your process before sharing your copy. Review “Ideal Career in 2 Years” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Captures major, graduation date, internship history, and target industry for students navigating the transition from education to employment.
Ask for the context needed to understand the request before replying. This reduces the back-and-forth needed to establish the basic facts. Review “Timeline for Career Change or Goal Achievement” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Give participants a clear set of questions and keep the information together, making it easier to prepare, respond and follow up. Review “Are You Currently Job Searching?” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Gathers software role experience, transferable technical skills, and target company types for professionals pivoting into or within the technology industry.
Click 'Use this template' to load this career coaching intake form into formformform.
Customize the career stage dropdown to match your target client segments — if you specialize in executive clients, remove early career options.
Adjust the coaching goals checkbox to include the specific areas you coach in, and remove anything outside your scope.
Update the timeline options to match how you structure your coaching programs.
Set your notification email so each new intake arrives before the scheduled session.
Share the link via booking confirmation email or embed it directly on your website's coaching page.
clients often don't know what they want, but they always know what's not working. Starting with frustrations surfaces the real coaching agenda.
many clients come for 'job search help' but check 'work-life balance' and 'finding my passion,' which are the real underlying issues.
'a role in product management at a tech company with a team of five, making $150K' is coachable. 'A better job' is not.
it determines session structure immediately. Active candidates need tactical help now; career explorers need strategy first.
clients with a 30-day job search deadline need different sessions than those planning a 12-month career pivot. Use the timeline field to set realistic expectations.
if the intake reveals a client pivoting from finance to tech, your prep homework is to research that transition before session one.
Gathers software role experience, transferable technical skills, and target company types for professionals pivoting into or within the technology industry.
Captures major, graduation date, internship history, and target industry for students navigating the transition from education to employment.
Documents termination context, financial runway, industry target, and psychological readiness for professionals rebuilding after an unexpected layoff.
Captures break reason (caregiving, health, travel), skills gaps, and confidence level for professionals re-entering the workforce after extended time away.
Collects current quota attainment, deal size, industry focus, and specific sales skill development goals for individual sales professionals.
Gathers clinical specialty, burnout indicators, and interest in administration, consulting, or industry transitions for healthcare workers considering career change.
Documents military occupational specialty, rank at separation, and civilian career goals for veterans navigating the transition to private-sector employment.
Captures freelance experience, target role type, remote preference, and income floor for independent contractors seeking stable employment.
Collects current compensation, target offer, competing offers in hand, and negotiation anxiety level for professionals preparing for high-stakes compensation conversations.
Gathers C-suite role history, target company size and stage, board interest, and geographic constraints for senior leaders conducting confidential executive job searches.
Documents research specialization, publication profile, and target industry functions for PhD researchers and academics transitioning to corporate roles.
Captures current performance review feedback, promotion blockers, stakeholder dynamics, and timeline for employees working toward a specific role advancement.
At minimum: current role and career stage, what's not working in the current career situation, the ideal career vision, specific goals like interview prep or resume work, and timeline. Job search status is also highly useful for tailoring the first session.
Career coaching develops the client's skills, clarity, and strategy — it doesn't place them in a job. Coaches work on resume, interview skills, networking, and career vision; placement agencies source and match candidates to specific roles.
Yes — add fields for company name, severance timeline, and package details. The core questions (career stage, ideal career, goals, job search status) are directly applicable to outplacement clients who need to move quickly.
Ideally 48 hours before the session, so the coach has time to review and prepare tailored questions. Send the form link in the booking confirmation email immediately after scheduling.
Making it optional is recommended — some clients genuinely don't know which areas they need help with. The intake call itself can surface this. Requiring every field increases form abandonment.
Yes — adjust the career stage dropdown to focus on graduating students and early career. Add fields for major, graduation date, and whether they want on-campus, remote, or hybrid roles.
Gather client background, goals, and challenges before the first coaching session.
Screen and qualify senior leaders applying for executive coaching engagements.
Let prospects request a discovery call and share their challenges and goals upfront.
Gather essential client details before your first consulting meeting.
Gather client background and goals before the first therapy session.
Collect client health history, goals, and habits before the first health coaching session.
Track client wins, challenges, and insights between coaching sessions to keep momentum.
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