Career
Consulting Success Stories
NOTE: The
content of each story is true and represents some of the work done with an
actual client. Names have
been changed.
Seized an
Opportunity
Multiple Offers
A New Business
Creative Solution
A Portfolio of
Work
Underperforming
Products
Strategic
Consulting
Marketing
Consulting
Understanding
Your Value
SEIZED AN
OPPORTUNITY
Charles became unemployed when his company was
dissolved by the parent company and the operations merged.
As head of investment research, he was well compensated.
The economy had turned with financial service companies rapidly
downsizing and eliminating positions making his search difficult. We had
developed multiple resumes and a quality biography.
Based on his self-marketing plan, Charles actively
networked and interviewed in Boston, New York and other markets prior to
September 11th. In a strategy
meeting two days later, I suggested Charles call his contacts in New York
and offer to help. This might
lead to permanent work or perhaps a consulting engagement.
Either way, his income and contacts would increase.
Ten days later he was working full time in New York.
He has been promoted, has offices in both New York and Boston and
reports that he loves what he is currently doing.
Charles was also able to satisfy a desire of staying
in the Boston area to avoid relocating his family.
In fact, he was able to negotiate ultimately moving his position
from New York to Boston as part of a long-term plan.
A good plan for search, clear criteria for the
position he wanted, an understanding of his personal and family needs and
the skill to see opportunity were his keys to success.
MULTIPLE
OFFERS
Susan is a senior financial services executive and is
very active in a local not-for-profit.
She has responsibility for caring for elderly parents and needed to
find new work in Boston. Susan
is low key, presents herself well but is reluctant to promote her
strengths and self in a job search. Working
on this, we developed an approach to sell her results without feeling like
a braggart. Her work
experiences were organized into a STAR approach.
Susan developed a quality, focused self-marketing
plan, a resume and her unique “Perfect Job Description (PJD)”. The PJD allowed Susan to identify potential employers and
opportunities. She used the
PJD to focus on good opportunities and eliminate positions of lower value.
Structured networking developed interest by several potential
employers and three offers were made to her simultaneously.
Unusual for sure, but terrific for her!
Three offers at the same time provided a unique
opportunity to compare and contrast while evaluating each against her
specific criteria developed in our sessions.
The evaluation process was used to quickly eliminate one position
from consideration. This
position failed at least one of her “must have” criteria and did not
measure well against others.
The two remaining positions were essentially equal in
the evaluation. However, one
offered more money while the other position “felt” better. The
felt-better job did not fully respond to financial issues raised during
subsequent negotiations and Susan took the higher paying position. I
coached her in the new position acting as a sounding board as she
acclimated into her new company and situation.
Some time later Susan called and asked to meet – she had been offered an even better and higher paying job by the company she originally had felt better about. What should she do? We sat down together, reconstructed our evaluation process (with some updated criteria) and she determined that the new offer was what she wanted. She took the new position, has been promoted and reports that she and the firm are a good fit.
A NEW
BUSINESS
Don spent over twenty years in a well-known
technology company developing technology from concept to product.
He commercialized technology developing products working with
customers to define and meet needs. He
established manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution processes
into turnkey business units.
His interest was to develop a technology business of
his own to significantly improve the ability of broadband lines to deliver
volume and permit the increased sales of capacity without a corresponding
increase in actual capacity.
Career Consulting helped Don develop his business plan, identify potential customers, refine his product (including an adjustment of the balance of hardware to software in his technology) and develop his presentation to potential customers and funding sources. We worked together to evaluate the potential for international development of the innovative hardware and software for this venture.
CREATIVE
SOLUTION
Ian fractured his neck in a surfing accident.
Paralyzed from the neck down, he was airlifted home and began a
long and difficult - but successful rehabilitation.
Today he walks with a cane. His
gait is somewhat halting, but he is fully functional as an employee in his
chosen field. His employer went under which forced him to look for a new
job. His physical limitations
had not been an issue before, as his work history was excellent.
He wanted to make a significant career change.
He was deeply concerned that his cane would present a barrier in
the interview process. We
discussed the fact that such questions were inappropriate and should be
turned away if asked directly.
Ian’s concern was how do to deal with an oblique
question that might reflect a concern about his health.
Ian’s solution was positive, creative and added to
his self-confidence. In
interviews Ian told his story as an example of a major accomplishment. He gave appropriate details and added that, “If I can do
that, I can do anything”.
He now has that different career doing work much more
to his liking. He was
recently promoted in his new company.
A quality plan, good preparation and rehearsal for networking and interviewing while planning for the unexpected were keys to his success.
A
PORTFOLIO OF WORK
Manny spent more than twenty well-paid years in a
high pressure environment developing B-to-B products through innovation.
He found ways to take old products to new markets and found markets
for new products. When I met
him his stress level was incredible and he confided to me that he had had
indigestion daily for the past fifteen years.
Manny was lost.
He told me he needed and wanted to work and felt a strong need to
find a new company “like his old one so he could do what he had been
doing”. We spent time
together working on his plan and identifying target companies for
networking. Manny was never satisfied with the target companies, his
resumes, biography or his self-marketing plan.
It was clear that his dissatisfaction wasn’t about
materials and we talked at greater depth.
I encouraged him to take long walks with his wife to discuss their
future as empty nesters. They
agreed - it was time to take stock, evaluate the future to find a
different balance of work and life.
They came to see Manny’s unemployment as a
liberating moment in their life together.
They gave themselves permission to think uniquely and innovatively
about what they wanted. They
decided to create change.
Today, Manny has a new portfolio approach to work.
He has developed a long-term plan leading to an active retirement. His
portfolio of work brings three “jobs” together providing income
needed, work satisfaction and the free time they desired.
Manny works in commercial real estate with specialty
companies finding and outfitting space to unique needs and he has turned a
life long avocation into two specialty businesses.
Some day, when Manny and his wife are ready, he will pursue only
one or two of theses “jobs” and slow down a little more.
Manny has a career plan and is moving towards his
future. (He is also now
eating jalapenos and enjoying them!)
UNDERPERFORMING
PRODUCTS
Adam spent thirty years with the same company
planning and executing marketing plans.
His experience is broad and deep – and, he wanted to work on his
own. His wife was uncertain
about Adam “not having a job” and wanted him to simply find a new job.
We had a lot of work to do.
Adam’s broad work experience was a barrier to his
consulting focus. He freely
admits that he can do “most anything” in marketing, planning and
execution and that he was often guilty of straying off his plan whenever a
“fat rabbit” hopped by. We
worked to articulate his true marketing passion.
Adam excelled at making underperforming products
successful.
Establishing target companies was difficult.
Adam was well-known in his industry across the country but was less
well known locally. Larger
companies prefer to use “name” consultants while other companies were
too small to afford his services. We
defined his target market as companies in his industry with annual
revenues of $2 -20 million. Research
produced a list of companies in his geography, industry and size.
A plan of attack was developed.
Often new independent consultants can define their
first three customers as “a friend in the business”, “a piece of
good luck” and finally “the business is launched.” Adam’s business
is well past being launched. He
has customers inside and outside his traditional industry and has
customers away from his initial geography.
He has networked with a variety of other entities for referrals and
synergy. He is active in his industry nationally and is receiving
interest in his services from this exposure.
He has a dynamite web site.
A focused definition of his value and his marketplace aided Adam’s success. His wife sees that he does have a job – it is just different from the one he had the first thirty years. He has a home office and makes more than he did at his old company.
STRATEGIC
CONSULTING
Tom came to Career Consulting with experience in
banking and healthcare. He played a key role in returning a multi-billion
dollar organization to profitability.
A very personable, taciturn person, Tom wanted to become an
independent consultant working on strategic planning.
His wife was fully supportive of his plans.
Independent consulting can be difficult.
A good plan, product definition and a clear identification of the
first five or six paying customers are needed. I explained to Tom that people will buy independent
consulting if people know and like you and your work.
Tom’s quiet personality and passive approach required refinement
of his sales approach. We
worked together to develop his business plan (especially the financial
section), his sales approaches and his actual product offerings.
Tom had only one clear cut potential first customer
so his plan called for broadening his appeal to grow his business for the
long term. In addition, we
found ways to get his name in the marketplace as an expert and independent
consultant.
Tom developed three strategies. First, he broadened his appeal beyond healthcare and banking;
he expanded his reach to a third industry were he had good contacts from
his banking days. Second, he
had been active in a HR/Training area while in healthcare and he was able
to develop some Train-the-Trainer products around this specialized
expertise. Third, Tom
developed a sales approach combining networking, speeches and research
publication.
Tom has sold training products and strategic planning
products to get his business underway.
He has passed the three engagement/three customer threshold in
establishing a consultancy and has sold products to customers he did not
know in his previous work. His
research articles have been accepted for publication.
Tom’s business is established. He is meeting his overall business plan.
MARKETING
CONSULTING
Paul came to me wanting to be a marketing consultant
taking new products to market for small or new companies. His extensive career in marketing had been wide ranging and
successful. I helped him
understand what it means to be in business on your own.
We planned the business, defined the business, found
ways to meet potential clients, and established several ways to charge for
his services. We found ways
to get young entrepreneurs interested in the value of using a gray beard
as their marketing guru.
Organizing his experience into a series of vignettes
demonstrated his work and successes marketing products.
Paul’s self-presentation skills were honed to leverage his
maturity as an asset. His
approach - “I have been successful at doing what you need done – let
me show you how.” Paul
acts as the Chief Marketing Officer for small companies, start-ups or
their venture capital firms.
Paul’s success is based upon the very clear
definition of his expertise. He
is focused on smaller product companies across industries.
He is compensated in cash, options, product results or a
combination.
Today, his company is successful. He has added a number of associates and free-lance consultants who provide a variety of technical support. He provides heavy weight marketing management for companies who are not yet large enough to afford it.
UNDERSTANDING
YOUR VALUE
Mark is a senior market research and competitive
intelligence professional and manager.
He is the “go to” expert bringing critical information to the
senior management decision making process.
Only a few companies use information at this level of
sophistication.
His compensation was below market and we focused on
establishing his real value. Mark’s
long term goals included moving from staff work to head an operational
function.
Mark had never been unemployed and had not actually
looked for a job in many years. He
had been recruited to the positions he held.
Mark and his wife have small children and were concerned about many
issues relating to potential relocation.
I met with both several times to fully understand their needs.
We evaluated skills, interests, long term financial
goals, family issues and career goals. Mark created a self-marketing plan
incorporating two, parallel independent searches.
I rarely recommend such an approach but Mark’s intellectual
discipline and energy level proved up to the task.
An important part of our work was to conduct ongoing evaluations of
this dual approach.
One search was based upon the desire to stay in
Eastern Massachusetts and helped Mark explore consulting opportunities
(independently as well as part of a consulting firm), business ownership
(in an entirely new field), moving into operations (at a lower salary) and
others.
The second part of his search plan focused on growing
his career in a larger corporation. He
found several opportunities through his networking and with executive
search firms. He actively
interviewed in the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic region, and New York.
He is now in a position in the South.
His preparation and planning paid off – his
compensation has essentially tripled (living in a far less costly area),
with a much larger staff and role.
When I last spoke to Mark he was being actively recruited for an even larger opportunity. I will help him with that evaluation.