How to Become a Life Coach in North Dakota

If you enjoy helping others, have excellent communication skills and are self-motivated and organized, you may want to consider working as a life coach. Life coaches are professionals who are devoted to helping others go after their dreams and goals and better their lives. This might include helping them to set and achieve fitness goals, helping them work toward getting their dream job or helping with relationships.

Search Certified Life Coach Programs

Get information on programs by entering your zip code and request enrollment information.

Sponsored Listings

Requirements to Become a Life Coach in North Dakota

As with other states, there aren’t any specific educational or certification requirements to become a life coach in North Dakota. However, before you start offering your services to clients, you may want to consider enrolling in and completing a training program. There are several of these programs to choose from, including online and in-person courses. These programs can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months to complete, but most of them take less than a year. You want to be sure that any program you do enroll in has been recognized and approved by the International Coach Federation (ICF), since this career is not regulated.

Life Coach Training Programs in North Dakota

In-person training programs in North Dakota are limited. However, there are some accredited online options for you to choose from, including:

  • University of North Dakota. The University of North Dakota offers an online life coach program through its career training curriculum. This program takes six months to complete and is recognized by the ICF. All instructional materials, as well as the cost to take the certification exam, are included in the course fee.
  • American Life Coach Academy. The American Life Coach Academy offers in-person courses in several states. You will need to check if one is available near you, or you may wish to travel to one of the locations in which the course is offered. The in-person sessions take four days to complete and prepare you for Associate or Professional certification through the ICF. The ALCA also offers online courses. These take 16 weeks to complete (approximately 3-4 months). The online courses also prepare you for Associate or Professional ICF certification. There are mini-courses available, too, if you are just interested in finding out more about life coaching or need some continued education.

Life Coach Certification

Certification is not mandatory, but attaining certification through the ICF may help you build up a clientele and show off your capability as a life coach. There are three levels of certification available, and most ICF approved training programs will prepare you for the first and sometimes the second level.

The first level of ICF certification is the Associate Certified Coach (ACC). You must have a minimum of 60 approved training hours and 100 working hours. A lot of training programs will help you earn the working hours in addition to the training hours. The next level is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC). To receive this certification, you need at least 125 hours of training and 500 coaching hours. For the final level, which is the Master Certified Coach (MCC), you must have at least 200 hours of life coach training and a minimum of 2,500 work experience hours.

Life Coach Salaries in North Dakota

According to The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2015 there were approximately 17,500 life coaches employed in the United States, and they were making an annual average of $61,900. The BLS does not offer any data for this career by state, because the salaries for a life coach can vary greatly depending on a number of factors.

Many life coaches work part-time or do life coaching in addition to another job. ZipRecruiter.com reports that life coach salaries can range anywhere from $11,000 to $148,500. In North Dakota, the average annual salary is $62,360.

Working as a Life Coach in North Dakota

Once you have completed a training program in North Dakota or online and have completed enough experience hours to earn certification, you’ll be ready to promote yourself as life coach. You may choose to work for a wellness group that hires life coaches or work for yourself. You can work full-time or do life coaching on the side in addition to another job. If you work for yourself, you will be able to set your own schedule and decide what you want to charge. Some of the bigger cities in North Dakota, like Bismarck and Fargo, are great places to look for work; however, since life coaches can help so many people you should be able to find a job pretty much anywhere in the state.