Success Stories
Our coaching staff has worked with 3,000+ clients and we have some wonderful and inspiring career coaching success stories to share with you.
We have lots of stories about resumes that got call backs, interviews that landed a job offer, and LinkedIn profiles that caught a corporate recruiter’s attention. However, the success stories we are sharing below are about the people who changed their careers and, really, their lives. We hope you can relate to them and then reach out to find out more.
Should Mary W. start her own business?
Mary specializes in a complicated piece of business software. She has a long history with the software, however, her current employer doesn’t nearly require all of her skills. There is a robust consulting ecosystem for this software and Mary is confident she can provide excellent value. While she understands the software she’s not sure how to run a business.
Mary and her coach zeroed in on this set of goals:
How does Mary ensure that she has a good pipeline of project work?
Mary needed a solid networking plan that included leveraging her network across the nation. She and her coach developed her strategy and messaging for a variety of scenarios. Then they established weekly & monthly goals and a process for reviewing her attainment. She and her coach also agreed on recurring meetings to see how she was feeling about her career change.
What systems and infrastructure does Mary need in place to run a business?
Sales was just one aspect of Mary’s business so she and her coach marched through a business plan helping Mary write the plan and address areas that needed more research and development. While doing this Mary kept a list of action items needed to make sure her business would run smoothly and her clients would have a professional experience.
How does Mary balance her client needs and the needs of her business?
Mary and her coach went through a few trainings on time management best practices as well as life-work balance sessions. They also came up with a way of tracking capacity and knowing what amount of time should be dedicated to her business during slow and busy times. Plus, this is a topic that they will cover during their recurring meetings. Mary is finding out that finding new clients is not easy. Fortunately, she is finding opportunities by networking with other consultants who need capacity.
How does Michael T. position for a promotion to management?
Michael worked for a Fortune 1000 company based in California. He took the job a couple years ago thinking he would easily get a promotion and become a manager, however, it still hadn’t happened. Michael wanted to take action and make his case rather than continue waiting for someone to notice him.
Michael and his coach started with these two goals:
What skills are needed to become a manager and where are Michael’s skill gaps?
Michael and his career coach looked at the position he wanted and how it was different from his current one. Fortunately, the skill gap was not very great and he could overcome his skill gaps by taking on different leadership roles and projects at his company.
How does Michael highlight his qualifications and get noticed as a potential manager?
Michael needed to re-brand his image as a leader rather than an individual contributor. His coach rewrote his resume to focus on accomplishments rather than responsibilities. Together, they also pulled out many of the managerial experiences from Michael’s previous jobs. The last piece was to craft a list of goals that Michael would review with his manager on a regular basis. The list would articulate Michael’s ability to lead and manage others, at the same time, reminding his boss that Michael has his eyes set on a managerial position.
How does Michael get noticed without appearing to forceful?
Michael was apprehensive about being “aggressive” but realized that he was going to be a good manager and just needed to make his desires known. After working with his coach, he also realized that his company needed his leadership and his management would be impressed by his approach to seeking a promotion. Michael is now talking regularly with his boss and making sure he’s meeting expectations and becoming management material in his eyes.
Can Estelle B. change her career?
Estelle never thought much about her career direction. She got into leasing commercial real estate years ago and just went with the flow. One day the light bulb went off! She realized that she wasn’t really happy and the stress of her job was taking away from the quality of her life. She called us wanting to know if there was something better out there for her.
Estelle and her coach developed a more specific set of goals:
What are Estelle’s skills, values, interests and personality?
Estelle started with a few career assessments and exercises designed to help Estelle realize what motivates her and where she excels and what job aspects detract from her job satisfaction.
How do those attributes provide insight into potential careers?
Armed with the results from her career tests, Estelle and her career coach worked through many different careers using their new framework for analyzing how they fit.
How does Estelle re-brand in order to change her career path?
Estelle identified a number of exciting paths – a few of them were quite a stretch from selling commercial real estate. Her re-branding process began with establishing which components of her real estate job were applicable and how to speak to them. After that her coach helped her analyze the employment marketplace and craft a few different versions of her resume. When the time came, they practiced her pitch through mock interviews and networking tips.
How does Estelle best position herself for success?
Estelle was an excellent client because she was patient with the career discovery process and kept her emotions – both high and low – in check throughout. She is excited about the new career directions in front of her. More importantly, she is empowered with the ability to understand how a job fits with her personality and interests.
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