The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

You do not need to be accredited to begin coaching. At the time of this writing I know of no country which requires certification. However, long term, I believe it’s important for your career and for the profession of coaching.

A good reason to get certified is because you believe in the philosophy of the training school you choose. And, because you want to continually improve your coaching skills.

A bad reason to get certified is because you think that will get you more clients or in some way make you ‘worthy’ as a coach. My experience has been that it does neither. It might look good on the wall and it feels good to be able to say it – but in coaching two hundred clients, I think ONE asked me if I was certified. Don’t try and use it as a crutch – you don’t need it.

Ironically, the International Coach Federation requires at least 250 paid coaching hours under your belt before you get to their first certification level (ACC). So you’ll need to become confident coaching without the crutch of certification – which I think is a good thing. Use it to support your coaching; don’t rely on it.