Plain English
Career coach, executive coach, recruiter, reverse recruiter
Four roles, constantly confused, and the difference determines who is actually working for you.
The short answer
The question that separates all four is simple: who pays, and therefore who do they work for? An executive coach is usually paid by your employer. A recruiter is paid by the hiring company. A reverse recruiter and an executive career coach are paid by you. That single fact predicts almost everything else.
Executive coach
Hired by your company, usually through HR or your CEO, to improve your effectiveness in the role you currently hold. Focus is leadership presence, team dynamics, communication, executive maturity. Your employer typically receives some form of progress reporting. Useful, but it is not a confidential space to plan your exit.
Executive career coach
Hired by you, privately. Focus is your next move: positioning, market strategy, materials, negotiation, and the campaign to get there. Nothing is reported to your employer because your employer is not the client. This is the role that fits a confidential search.
Recruiter
Paid by the hiring company, either on retainer or on contingency. A good recruiter is genuinely valuable, but the relationship has a structural limit: they can only help you with the specific roles they are filling right now. They are not incentivised to help you think about your career in general, and they should not be expected to.
Reverse recruiter
A newer category, grown quickly since 2024. You pay them and they apply to roles on your behalf, often at volume. It is outsourcing the activity of searching. It can save time. It does not build your positioning, and at executive level the roles that matter are rarely won through volume applications.
Side by side
| Role | Who pays | Works for | Goal | Confidential from your employer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive coach | Your employer | Your employer | Perform better in current role | Usually no |
| Executive career coach | You | You | Get to your next role | Yes |
| Recruiter | Hiring company | Hiring company | Fill a specific role | Depends on the recruiter |
| Reverse recruiter | You | You | Submit applications for you | Varies, ask |
Which one do you actually need
If your company offered to pay for coaching and you are staying, take the executive coach. If you are planning a move and still employed, you need an executive career coach, because the confidentiality is structural rather than promised. If you are open to whatever comes, build recruiter relationships. If you genuinely have no time and are comfortable with volume applications, a reverse recruiter may fit, but understand what you are buying.
Questions people ask before they call
What is the difference between a career coach and an executive coach?
An executive coach is usually hired by your employer to improve how you perform in your current role. An executive career coach is hired by you, privately, to manage your next move. Different client, different goal, different confidentiality.
Is a reverse recruiter the same as a career coach?
No. A reverse recruiter is a done-for-you service that applies to jobs on your behalf. A career coach builds your strategy and materials and prepares you, but you run your own search. Reverse recruiting is outsourcing the activity; coaching is building the capability.
Should I use a recruiter instead of a coach?
They are not substitutes. A recruiter works for the employer paying the fee and can only help you with the roles they happen to be filling. A coach works for you across your entire search. Most executives use both.
Not sure which you need
The assessment and a 30 minute conversation will tell you, including if the answer is none of them.
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