My Approach

MY APPROACH AS A CAREER CONSULTANT

Your career is a vital and central part of your life. But still just a part. It needs to work in the context of other parts of your life: your relationships, your priorities, your material circumstances, and, most importantly, your inner “self.” As a therapist, marriage counselor, ex-businessman, and career coach I am perhaps uniquely able to help move you in a direction that meets all of the above needs, not simply one that “makes sense” given your previous experience or in response to whatever testing results you may have obtained.

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INDIVIDUALLY TAILORED.

My work is individually tailored to the issue(s) you are facing. The one aspect of my work common to all my clients is that it is solution-focused (I like to get results: over 99% of my clients have received guidance well exceeding in value their investment in our work together, ranging from improved networking skills and strategies, to guidance on navigating internal organizational politics, to exploring alternative career paths and succeeding in new career directions*).

I will individually tailor a meeting program to accommodate your schedule. My experience over the years has been that 50 minute once-a-week sessions are fine for certain kinds of issues, but that others are more amenable to a schedule of less frequent sessions, allowing adequate time for you to begin taking the steps we decide on in our work together, including reading assignments and action initiatives.

COLLABORATIVE.

I am a strong believer in working collaboratively. We will set concrete, achievable objectives at the beginning of our work together. I frequently assign reading and written exercises, as well as tests, to stimulate new ways of thinking. Subsequently, I will monitor you on a regular basis to gauge your progress; if you’re falling behind, we will explore why, and how to fix the problem.

If, like most of my clients, you are interested in finding either a new career direction or a new job, I will supplement our work towards these goals with techniques on how to improve satisfaction with the current state of things until such time as you are able to make the desired changes.

20+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE.

For many clients I am proud to serve as a source of information, experience, and insight. For example, I often assist in improving LinkedIn profiles, resumes and cover letters, identifying new resources, perfecting interviewing skills, and suggesting specific networking strategies. Throughout, I will encourage you to provide me with feedback.

I operate from the belief that the best answer to my clients’ problems lie within them. As a result, I see my primary role as helping you tap into your uniquely valuable life experiences and wisdom – what have you felt passionate about, what’s worked for you, and what hasn’t? The “out-of-the-box” thinking I developed during my many years in advertising help me ask the kinds of questions that illuminate undiscovered possibilities, and the objectivity and years of experience I bring to this process enable me to see patterns of success or blocks to progress that are often invisible to my clients.

I know that the career work I do is unique in that it is based on my own background, with success in three entirely different careers, and three entirely different cities (NY, LA, and DC). As a result, I’ve learned a great deal about successful transition from personal experience. I pride myself on being able to listen, question and come to understand my clients in a way most therapists or life coaches simply can’t, because they haven’t been there and don’t know the territory.

My 3-Stage Process:

Stage One

STAGE

1

Self awareness. What are your strengths, your skills, your likes and dislikes, your values, your life goals? The answers to these questions will enable us to identify the most promising paths to explore. In this stage I will also identify and help you overcome any major obstacles to progress such as low self-confidence, discouragement, or procrastination.

Stage Two

STAGE

2

I will educate you on the pluses and minuses of various careers and craft a very specific program to enable you to gain the knowledge of these paths that is essential to making the best career choice.

Stage Three

STAGE

3

Marketing. Once having identified the most promising career choices, as a marketing expert I will work with you to ensure that your approach and job hunting materials are first rate.

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