Success Studies

Client:

Lawrence spent nine years as corporate counsel for a private firm that provides IT solutions for the digital workplace. 

Industry:

Legal, Information Technology

Function:

Leadership, Legal Counsel 

Challenge:

Lawrence sought an exit when a failed merger roiled his company, but after nine years in the same job, he needed professional help to be successful in his career transition. 

Process:

A natural introvert, Lawrence found executive coaching support invaluable in building and strengthening his network and beefing up his interview and negotiating skills.

Landing:

After a year of job hunting that included many disappointments, Lawrence landed a more senior position offering greater responsibilities and better compensation at an exciting, growing company.

Study:

Lawrence was contract counsel and project manager at a firm providing IT services that enables digital workplaces. He created multimillion-dollar agreements, counseled leadership on contract compliance and policy, and oversaw monthly reporting. He enjoyed the position, but, after nine years at the same job, he faced few new challenges and little opportunity to advance. When the loss of one of Lawrence’s largest accounts coincided with the aftershocks of a failed merger, Lawrence knew it was time to formulate an exit strategy.

After so many years at one company, Lawrence knew that his job searching skills were rusty and that he would probably benefit from professional help. His suspicions were confirmed when two to three months of job hunting on his own yielded few leads. He started researching executive coaching firms and found The Barrett Group (TBG).

“I tried job boards and LinkedIn, but what I was doing wasn’t working. I was concerned that I wasn’t prepared for a hard job hunt that would require good interview skills, an impressive resume, and finding the right people to talk to,” said Lawrence. “The Barrett Group offered services for everything I needed – and it also had the same name as me!”

Lawrence’s journey started with TBG’s Clarity Program. 

“Clarity highlighted goals of mine that I hadn’t prioritized, and it compelled me to consider what a career change could mean for me and my family. It made me step back and realize where I was going wrong,” said Lawrence. “I hadn’t thought about how best to advance my career to ensure my family and career were secure. If I had stayed on the path I was on, I could easily have ended up with a career that I was unhappy with.”

Lawrence had always thought it would be easy to advance his career but, he realized, it wasn’t happening. Clarity forced him to think about what he wanted and to design a plan to achieve it. 

“I asked myself, ‘Do I want to take any job coming down the pike, or do I want to make my own path?’” said Lawrence. 

In TBG’s Phase 2, Lawrence enjoyed working with career consultant, Greg Emslie, who was very thorough. Greg helped Lawrence understand and improve on all the elements of a good job hunt, like using LinkedIn effectively, interviewing well, crafting a good resume, and especially connecting with people. 

“I didn’t fully appreciate the need to leverage my network. I have always thought that education and accomplishments should stand on their own. It was hard for me to understand that the job market isn’t a meritocracy. Greg showed me that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” said Lawrence. 

Despite that lesson, Lawrence’s initial efforts to build social capital were seriously hampered by his natural introversion.

“I’m very introverted and it’s hard for me to reach out to people – even former acquaintances. I needed someone to help me step out of my comfort zone. Greg was very patient with me, and he pushed me when I needed it. He convinced me that I have to get my accomplishments in front of the right people if I want to be successful, and friends can point me in the right direction,” said Lawrence.

It took a while for Lawrence to follow through with the tasks Greg assigned him, but when he finally began putting in earnest effort, he saw results. He felt more comfortable connecting with people and the number of interviews he got really picked up.

Job hunting was much harder than Lawrence had expected, and doing so during Covid didn’t help. Throughout his search, Greg imbued Lawrence with confidence, which helped him stay the course of TBG’s program. 

“There were a few heartbreakers. I went through multiple rounds of interviews and felt like it was a good fit, only to lose the job to someone else,” said Lawrence. “That was rough.”

Then one day, after nearly a year of searching, he saw an interesting job on LinkedIn at a small, dynamic fintech company. He noticed that an old grad school acquaintance held a senior level role at the company and he reached out to her. 

“The fact that I could say to someone who worked there, ‘Hey, I know who you are!’ gave me an edge. I didn’t know her well, but having that connection really helped. She helped me get my resume on the desk of the right people,” said Lawrence.

Before long, Lawrence was offered an interview and then a job at a more senior level and a higher compensation than he had had previously. He is thrilled to have landed at a company with great people and close proximity to the executive team. 

“The company is not just interesting, it’s also growing. I’m in a higher position with more visibility, and I’m involved with some big deals with large companies and brands. Plus, the people at the company seem really happy to have me joining them!”

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Photo: 123rf.com

Client:

Divesh Singh was vice president of delivery management for a leading financial services provider. 

Industry:

Financial Services

Function:

Technology Solutions

Challenge:

After five years in his role, Divesh wanted a change, but his job search was hampered by his need for work visa sponsorship.

Process:

Divesh attributes his success to a nuts-and-bolts review of his job search efforts, from reworking his brand to learning how to build social capital to intensive interview preparation.

Landing:

Divesh landed a role as director of software development for an award-winning equipment leasing company that ticked off every one of his boxes.

Study:

Divesh Singh was the technology strategist and delivery manager of a securities lending trading platform for a leading financial services provider. He led and directed three teams, first, in engineering a real-time, global trading desk to replace the organization’s legacy system, and then operating the new platform for the firm. Over five years, Divesh prided himself on restoring his company’s business competitiveness and delivering operational excellence. But he was ready for a change. 

Accustomed to job changes throughout his career, Divesh started looking on his own. Despite his experience and talents, however, his efforts went nowhere. For months Divesh observed his peers land plum senior roles in their job searches while he struggled to get an audience for the roles he sought. He had a pretty good idea what the problem was. 

“I had a lot of difficulties in my job search because I have immigration requirements,” said Divesh. “I submitted applications to roles that felt like a good fit for me, but I wouldn’t get responses. Job applications often ask whether you need a visa sponsorship. If you mark “yes,” I think you get excluded from a lot of senior roles.”

Reaching out to executive recruiters didn’t help. So, Divesh decided to engage professional help. He discovered The Barrett Group (TBG), and started working with a coach in the Clarity Program.

“I found the conversations with my Clarity coach to be very helpful,” said Divesh. “I have gone through coaching and assessment programs before, but not from a job seeking perspective. With The Barrett Group, I discussed specifics of my situation with my coach relative to recruitment, and it was definitely good. I learned about my strengths, where I’m less confident, and areas where I need to change. I became aware of things that I didn’t know, and it was useful insight for me.”

Through the results of the various assessments he took, Divesh came to see how rebalancing elements of his personality would make him more effective, both in his job search and in the workplace. 

After Clarity, Divesh transitioned to working with his career consultant, Vivek Agarwal, whose skill in identifying Divesh’s unique needs and coaching him in those areas, turned out to be the most valuable aspect of Divesh’s TBG experience. 

“Vivek was brilliant!” said Divesh. “He is a very down-to-earth person. He was able to understand my situation, pick up on issues that were very specific to me, and adapt the coaching program to guide me through them. Whatever concerns I had, I was able to talk to him.”

With Vivek’s help, Divesh learned about all the different market access channels. He learned how to leverage his network and do better LinkedIn searches. He learned how to craft cover letters and respond to leads that came in. He was also pleased with the changes to his resume and LinkedIn profile.

“We reworked all the information on my resume and LinkedIn profile. The last time I’d changed the structure of my resume was more than 10 years ago. The new structure is good! I will continue to use it. On LinkedIn, I changed the summary statement based on Barrett’s suggestions and added recommendations to my profile, which I didn’t have.”

Divesh faithfully executed all the strategies and assignments that he and Vivek discussed. His progress felt slow initially, but he stuck to the program.

“I started working with Vivek from early or middle October,” said Divesh. There didn’t seem to be a lot of available senior roles, and the response rate was quite low at first. The end of the year is not always a good time to look for a job. But, by the end of November, I started to get responses. We set goals for me to get one or two interviews by the end of December.”

Using what he learned from Vivek and various TBG study materials, Divesh succeeded in getting two interviews scheduled by the end of December via targeted LinkedIn searches. He managed to line up interviews at two additional companies soon after that. He leaned heavily on Vivek to prepare for them. 

“Vivek guided me through every conversation I had and prepped me for every interview. We did a lot of role-playing,” said Divesh.

Divesh was delighted when his interviews at one of the companies resulted in a job offer. The company, a small, established, equipment leasing company, was looking for a director of software development. Divesh had a great series of interviews, including with the CEO. And again, Vivek’s coaching was invaluable.

“After the compensation number was agreed on, we discussed my visa requirements. I wanted them to sponsor my work visa with the goal of attaining a Green Card, and I asked them to pay for the costs. At first, HR said they couldn’t do it but, after consulting with Vivek, I pressed the issue. Ultimately, they escalated the issue all the way to the CEO, who approved my request.”

Divesh is quite happy with his new position and responsibilities. In addition to having his immigration requirements met, he is enjoying a higher compensation and a stress level that is halved. Best of all is his great new work environment.

“I’m part of the leadership team in technology, working with the CEO and reporting to the CIO. I work very closely with the CIO, and he is very easy to work with. It’s a good community!”

Client:

Ned was general manager of a sustainability solution provider startup in the agricultural industry.

Industry:

Agricultural, Startup, Advertising, Marketing

Function:

Leadership, Product Launch, Business Development, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service 

Challenge:

When the startup he led shuttered during the pandemic, Ned embarked on a job search that stretched out much longer than he ever expected. 

Process:

Ned consistently came in second place during his job search for reasons he couldn’t identify until he did a deep dive with his coaching team about specific areas he should work on in interviews.

Landing:

After 10 months, Ned received two job offers simultaneously and accepted a role of VP of business development for a small software company offering a digital advertising platform for pro sports teams.

Study:

When Ned’s employer, a manufacturer of adjuvants for the agricultural industry, decided to commercialize a new-to-the-world technology in 2019, it funded a spinoff to launch the product. Ned, director of marketing for the parent company, spearheaded the effort and applied, and was selected, for the role of general manager for the new startup. He built and led a small team, engaged with growers and brands, created demand, and expanded sales to 12 countries. They hit several key metrics, but the pandemic stymied sales in 2020, and the company folded.

“I put in a year and a half, but Covid was one of the main reasons that impeded the success of that product. We weren’t able to engage with customers face-to-face, which created problems,” said Ned. “The parent company didn’t want to support it anymore.”

Returning to the parent company was no longer financially attractive to Ned, so he began job seeking. He had a varied background, having worked in marketing on both the consumer-side as well as B2B, for public as well as private companies. He also had prior experience launching new technologies, so he felt optimistic about his prospects. He talked to his connections and headhunters and pursued some unique opportunities. After a few months, Ned took a contract position for a PC gaming peripherals company with potential to go full-time. It didn’t go well.

“I worked there for three months, but I knew after three weeks that it wouldn’t be a good fit,” said Ned.

After his contract job ended Ned pursued some other opportunities but, when nothing worked out, he decided to get professional help. 

“I had been using headhunters, but they don’t work on my behalf. They work on behalf of their corporate clients,” said Ned. “I wanted to find someone who would champion me. I needed to make an investment in myself.”

Ned engaged The Barrett Group (TBG) and began working through the elements of the Clarity Program with Justin Helman, his coach. 

“I was very happy with it. I liked the structure. I reviewed various documents, filled out very detailed information about myself, and took some tests. Clarity gave me an opportunity to evaluate myself in a ‘this-is-your-life’ moment and consider where I want to go. I have a diverse background, and Clarity grounded me. I decided I like small to midsize companies. I also realized that I’m happy to market any kind of product as long as it is not a commodity, is higher quality, and is something that is differentiated in the market.” 

After the Clarity Program, Ned was paired up with career consultant, George Schulz. Ned found him to be a good partner, and they soon realized, to their surprise, that their lives had previously overlapped. 

“I had met George before. We have some common friends,” said Ned. “George has a natural gift to make you feel comfortable. He is very creative and thoughtful, and I always looked forward to talking to him. I always got something out of it. He comes prepared and is always available. And if you seem to be going down a wrong path, he makes you take a step back and think.”

Ned valued working through the program with George. 

“First, we worked on my resume. It’s always a good investment to have a professional re-write it. TBG made some good enhancements. Then we worked through LinkedIn. I used LinkedIn a lot in my prior job, so I was already well-versed with it for finding sales opportunities. But I learned a lot from George about how to use LinkedIn to find job opportunities,” said Ned. 

When it came to building social capital, Ned learned to expand outside his comfort zone. 

“I am used to networking, but within my immediate social circles. George made me feel more comfortable pushing a few degrees outside of that – for example, with people from my alma mater. I was reluctant to call someone who might disregard me, but George convinced me that, if so, that person just isn’t the right person to find a job through. But you never know. He said, ‘Don’t be embarrassed. If you hold back on reaching out, you may be missing opportunities.’ George helped build my confidence lot in networking.”

As part of Ned’s overall market access campaign, George helped Ned connect with hundreds of recruiters, some of whom turned out to be good connections. Ned scored several interviews and, as his job-seeking efforts picked up steam, he relied less on George to prepare for them. But then he noticed a frustrating pattern. He consistently came in second in the hiring process.

“I had seven or eight “silver medals” in my job search. I never got the gold. Invariably, someone had more years of experience than I did, or the hiring manager liked me, but the CEO had a different vision of who should occupy the role. At one point, I was closing in on three different job opportunities and felt that I didn’t need the weekly calls with George as I prepared for the interviews. That was a mistake. All three jobs fell through, and I was back to ground zero.”

At that point, Ned re-engaged with George, who brought in a senior TBG consultant, Waffles Natusch, for a deep dive on Ned’s situation. 

“The three of us sat down to talk and Waffles asked pointed questions. We drilled down to some areas to be mindful of during an interview. For example, I should listen more, answer questions more succinctly, and take care not to talk over people.”

Shortly thereafter, Ned got two job offers in the same week, with a budding third potential offer. 

“Those meetings were really helpful. I was pretty down on myself, but George kept me going,” said Ned.

The offer Ned accepted was a VP of business development position for another startup, this time a small software company offering digital billboard services for pro sports betting. It’s a newly created job in a newly created market for the company. Ned thanks his brother-in-law for making a key introduction.

“I don’t have experience in this field but, thanks to the skills I worked on with George, I felt confident and was able to portray myself in the best possible light.” 

After working the TBG Program for 10 months, Ned was thrilled to have landed an exciting job at the right level, with great compensation and potential.

“A month and a half in, things are going pretty well! There were times where I felt in a rut during my job search, but regular engagement with George kept me energized and on path. That was the most helpful aspect of my job search experience.”

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Photo: 123rf.com

Client:

Dave was a senior software engineer for a small, private technology startup.

Industry:

Information Technology, Consumer Electronics

Function:

Technology, Software Engineering 

Challenge:

Dave had a history of getting jobs and not liking them, including the job where he was at the time, so he enlisted professional help to break the pattern. 

Process:

In-depth conversations with his TBG coaches helped Dave understand what he truly wants from his career and exercise the discipline necessary to pursue it.

Landing:

Within three months of starting his job search, Dave eschewed tantalizing opportunities at startups and accepted a role as software architect for a traditional, multinational consumer electronics company.

Study:

Dave was senior software engineer for a small, private, technology company based in Silicon Valley. When he took the job, he thought he would develop software and write code but, as often happens at small startups, he ended up wearing other hats. Within a few months, it was clear to Dave that the company was not a good fit.

“It wasn’t work I liked or what I wanted to be doing with my life. I felt unsuccessful at my job and that I wasn’t moving my career forward,” said Dave. 

Dave started thinking about leaving his job. As a software developer (a title very much in demand in today’s job market) with 30 years of experience, he was accustomed to getting four to five queries from headhunters each day. So, he kept an eye out for interesting prospects. But one day, a digital ad for career management services at The Barrett Group (TBG) popped up on his screen and caught his attention. 

“I clicked on the link and looked at the company’s website. It got me thinking. I have a history of getting jobs and not liking them. What is it about me and the jobs that I take that don’t work out? I wanted to understand, so I booked a call,” said Dave.

Dave recognized that throughout his long career, he’d never stayed longer than four years at any company – often he lasted only one or two years. He wanted a job that was different. He was also intrigued by the executive focus of TBG’s career management program.

“Because I’ve worked mostly at startups, I’ve always been a manager or director in practice, but not in title, because I’m the most senior person in the room. I would attend all the money meetings and the client meetings. I acted as the CTO but never had that title. I thought that The Barrett Group could help me get to the next level.”

Before long, Dave was meeting with TBG Clarity Coach Natalie Bybee. 

“Natalie was excellent! She was personable, smart, a good listener, and really helpful at clarifying things for me. Best of all, she called me out on my bull. Working with her, it finally dawned on me that, despite spending a lot of my career working at startups, I don’t actually like startups. I was going from startup to startup wondering why I was unhappy. At my age, you’d think that I would have figured that out by now,” said Dave. “That was a huge ‘Aha’ moment for me. That alone was worth the price of The Barrett Group Program.”

Dave admits that he finds startups to be exciting, interesting places, with lots of energy, youth, and money. That’s what always attracted him to them. But, once there, the pace of work and the expectation of long hours doing urgent tasks across multiple job functions is exhausting.

“I’ve had about 20 jobs in my career, but I’ve had a clear job description in only three of them,” said Dave. “I’ve spent a lot of time maturing companies but what I realized, working with Natalie, is that I don’t like doing that. I don’t want to be the one to mature the company. I just want to work in a mature company with guidelines and processes where there are clear boundaries and where people stay in their lanes. That’s what I crave at this point in my life.”

In his final Clarity session, Natalie coached Dave to think about what it is that he really wanted to do, keep perspective, have patience, and to try to see his goals through. 

“That sounds simple and obvious, but when you have lots of people calling you every day to invite you to work for them, it’s hard not to jump at all those opportunities,” said Dave.

Dave discussed these issues further with his executive career consultant, Barbara Limmer, in the next part of TBG’s program. 

“Barbara was great, too. I really liked her. She really seemed to care about my doing well and finding what I was looking for,” said Dave. “Barbara helped me break my job search pattern by reminding me of the goals that I had established for myself in the Clarity Program – that I wanted a more established company. That I didn’t want a startup. That I wanted a management position. If I told her about a position that interested me, she pushed back and asked me how it fit into my goals. I always felt that she had my best interests in mind.”

It was well-timed advice because Dave garnered recruiter attention as soon as he and the TBG team changed his LinkedIn profile.

“If you change a space on your LinkedIn profile it triggers recruiters to look at it. That was great, but I valued reworking my resume and LinkedIn profile more for the process than the product because it gave me the opportunity to talk about myself and my experience in a way that I would not have done otherwise.”

At first, Dave held back on engaging with recruiters until he was further along in the program, but Barbara coached him to respond to all the queries he received because timing is crucial in a job search. In these conversations, he found himself getting more interested in software architect positions and less excited about management positions.

“I started getting interviews immediately – for software people it’s crazy! In a week I’d have six or seven first calls and one or two first interviews. Barbara was awesome. She stayed on top of all my opportunities and gave me a plan for each one. She accelerated the course to keep up with me and customized it to meet my needs.”

Dave heard from recruiters from numerous startups, but one message came in from a large, well-established, multinational consumer electronics company looking for a software architect. Dave sent his resume. Within a week he had an interview. He interviewed a second time the following week. The day after that interview, he got a job offer. 

“What’s funny is that I tried to stall to buy time for a second interview at another company – which was a startup! Despite an offer in hand from an established company with a clear role that ticked all my boxes, I was tempted to follow my old pattern. I was given only 24 hours to make up my mind, however, and I accepted the offer. Barbara helped me navigate that emotionally.”  

Dave is excited to explore this new path in his career.

“My new team seems like the team that I’ve been craving,” said Dave. “I really valued the in-depth conversations I had with Natalie and Barbara about my career because they kept me from repeating the same mistakes.”

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Photo: 123rf.com

Client:

Paul Cabellon was senior manager of corporate communications for a privately funded organization with a mission to invent technologies that solve some of the world’s most challenging problems.

Industry:

Private Equity, R&D, Artificial Intelligence, Aerospace, Enterprise Software

Function:

Corporate Communications, Public Relations

Challenge:

Paul spent nearly 10 months job seeking after circumstances forced his employer to shutter operations, but he found himself coming in second place with every job opportunity he pursued. 

Process:

Through the Clarity Program, Paul was inspired to embrace the extraordinary and unconventional aspects of his career in his job search instead of conforming to traditional expectations of job candidates.

Landing:

Paul landed an exciting offer within about a week of finishing the Clarity Program and, emboldened by his experience, negotiated a significant hike in compensation from his new employer.

Study:

Paul Cabellon was senior manager of corporate communications for a humanitarian, private equity fund with a bold mission to invent technologies that solve some of the world’s most challenging problems, such as Ebola, malaria, and cold chain management for vaccines. Many inventions, including a mosquito zapping laser, bordered on the fantastic because they were created by some of the world’s smartest people who were given free rein to pursue their wildest ideas for the sake of saving lives. Paul’s role was to lead all branding and publicity for the organization – media relations, advanced technology and product launches, crisis management, VIP and celebrity engagement and more…and he loved it!

The organization was unfortunately closed in September 2020, and Paul found himself in the job market. With a career as rich and exciting as his had been, he never anticipated the trouble he would have in landing a new job.

“I took a deep breath because of the pandemic and started job searching. I was pretty aggressive, but the story of my job hunt is that I always came up in second place,” said Paul. 

Paul felt that he was doing all the right things. He sent out dozens of resumes to large companies where he had close contacts. He estimates that 75% of his introductions were networked, and he found it easy to get in the door and line up interviews. But his efforts weren’t yielding job offers.

“I eventually got some feedback from a recruiter that made me realize that I needed help in my job search. He said, ‘Paul, you are clearly the person who would take the company brand and communications to another level, but your approach would probably be too innovative for the average marketing team. Most companies are designing the next fly swatter, and you’re talking about mosquito lasers.’ I felt helpless,” said Paul.

Finally, nine months into his job search, Paul engaged The Barrett Group [TBG].

“I wanted an expert’s perspective on the situation. I knew I was missing something, and I was ready to do the work to figure out my problem,” said Paul.

The Clarity Program was eye-opening for Paul. Working with his coach, Lisa Levesque, he began for the first time in his career probing the question of where he would fit best.

“I’ve had coaches before, but they’ve always tried to change me to conform to the picture of what employers want. Lisa, however, encouraged me to embrace the distinctions in my career and to feel free, frankly, to show them off.”

“The value of the TBG program outweighed the cost in the first three days! Through Clarity, I recognized that I want a job in which I can have higher altitude conversations about vision, depth, architecting, and ‘What is the 5- and 7-year outlook for this company?’. That goal, alone, eliminated half of the positions that I applied for,” said Paul.

“There were at least two moments where I teared up because Lisa helped me admit against some of my own doubts that I have an amazing background. Yes, I have managed communications around plane crashes, bioterrorism attacks, nuclear disasters, and executive indiscretions. Yes, I do have a strong rolodex. And yes, I should flex that distinction,” he said.

Lisa coached Paul to target jobs that were in the unpublished market where job descriptions are less defined and where Paul would have more latitude to shape a role to his strengths.

To his surprise, within a week of completing Clarity, Paul had a job offer to be the communications director of a small, rapidly growing, pre-IPO startup in the geospatial intelligence industry. 

The opportunity stemmed from ‘irons in the fire’ prior to hiring The Barrett Group (and, ironically, came to Paul’s attention through a job posting), but Paul credits TBG both for helping him get the offer after he applied and for negotiating a considerably better compensation package.

“When the recruiter asked me to explain why I’d been unemployed for so long, a streak of boldness came out of me, thanks to TBG. I told her, ‘Everyone is looking for a normal, status quo, person. That’s not me. I’m the one who will take the brand to the next level. If your company launches rockets with your satellites on them and they crash, can your other candidates handle that? If you are looking for a truly innovative communicator, I am the guy you want.’ It’s because of Clarity that I could say that,” said Paul.

Paul knew he was taking a big risk to respond that way, but he didn’t want to waste anyone’s time. And it paid off. Over the next week, with the help of career consultant, Jerry Fronczak, he participated in multiple rounds of interviews, culminating with several members of the C-suite.

“I was meeting with all these very visionary people – who all had a different view of what they wanted from the new communications director. Jerry helped me think deeply about my broader conversational architecture for those discussions.”

When the initial offer came in much lower than Paul had hoped, Jerry helped Paul outline how to negotiate a compensation that better reflected the value that Paul felt he brought to the table. The final offer was more than 30% higher than the original. 

Paul is thrilled to be part of his new team. He thinks the culture is great and he is excited to help build the company. Meanwhile, his Clarity experience continues to inform the conversations and interactions he has at his new job. 

“Every week there is a flashback from my coaching where I’m demonstrating a newfound diplomatic energy in my work. In a startup everyone seems to have opinions about how PR should be done. But I’ve done a good job bringing my peers and leaders along. That came from Clarity,” said Paul. “I really wish I had known about The Barrett Group in week 1 of my job search. If I ever transition again, Barrett will be a part of that transition. Period!”

Client:

Vijay Sardeshpande was director of global IT business excellence for a large, private provider of healthcare for patients with cancer and cardiovascular disease. 

Industry:

Hospitals, Healthcare, Medical, Software, SaaS, Property Management

Function:

Process excellence, Operations, Quality assurance, Information Technology

Challenge:

Vijay was a contract employee and when he began job seeking near the end of his contract, his efforts yielded frustratingly slow progress. 

Process:

Vijay enhanced his appeal with hiring managers by polishing his brand – from resume to LinkedIn – and improving his overall job search skills.

Landing:

A referral from a former colleague helped Vijay land a role as director of process excellence with a multinational company that provides property management software, and new negotiation techniques boosted his initial offer by $20K.

Study:

Vijay Sardeshpande was director of global IT business excellence for a large, private health care provider that specializes in treating patients with cancer and cardiovascular disease. In his role, Vijay developed global business processes for large transformation implementations and led a group of business analysts in launching new software system initiatives. 

Vijay was a contractor and came to his position thanks to the referral of a former colleague who ended up becoming his manager. He enjoyed his role and hoped it would go full-time. Due to budget concerns, however, that didn’t happen, and Vijay began job seeking a few months before his contract was to end. 

He updated his LinkedIn profile, talked to people in his network, and started submitting job applications for interesting job openings. He targeted director-level roles similar to those he had had in the past: business excellence, process excellence, supply chain, and operations. He was indifferent to industry and company size. His search was purposely broad. Nevertheless, progress was sluggish.

“I sent 40-50 applications per week. I got a couple of interviews, but the feedback loop was slow. I got an interview at the end of April for one job that I applied to in early February. I was getting frustrated,” said Vijay. “I actually appreciated the rejection letters I got because at least I knew where my application stood, rather than floating around in the ether.” 

Vijay started to consider professional help in his job search. When a close friend recommended The Barrett Group (TBG), he made the jump. 

“I started with the Clarity Program, which was good. My coach, Julie Holifield, had me do the DISC profile. I have taken a lot of personal assessment tests before, but I’ve never taken one like that. I learned a different side of myself,” said Vijay. “What was interesting is that it shows how you adjust your natural behavior depending on whether you are at home or at work. I found the results surprising at first, but my wife helped me see how they made sense.”

Vijay also found his Clarity experience eye-opening because it demonstrated to him how his values and priorities had evolved from 10 years earlier. But it also confirmed that he was pursuing the right job function and that he was right to be targeting a variety of companies and industries. After two weeks, he moved to the next phase of the TBG program.

“I really liked working with Barbara Limmer, my career consultant. She coached me through the whole job search process from beginning to end,” said Vijay. 

The first thing they tackled was Vijay’s resume.

“The resume change was very helpful. It reads much better, and it’s easier to adjust to whatever role I’m applying,” said Vijay. “Even though I had paid someone to redo my resume before I hired TBG, I like this one better. The team made it look like an executive’s resume. I have even gotten compliments on it!”

Next, Vijay learned how to write a good cover letter and when to follow up after applying for a role or doing an interview. He found the lessons on how to use LinkedIn effectively and how to handle third-party recruiters super helpful. He also worked on bettering his interview skills.

“When I told Barbara that I don’t much care about geographic location or industry, she cautioned me against playing that up in interviews. Employers care about their industries and might be turned off if they think I am not committed to their industry, too. I think that may have hindered my job search previously.”

Vijay’s biggest challenge in the TBG program was the exercise Barbara gave him to expand his social capital. But Barbara talked him through how to make it easier.

“I felt awkward reaching out to people. I’m not the greatest at expressing myself through words. But Barbara assured me that is normal and that I will get more comfortable and confident with practice. She coached me on what to say, what not to say, and to focus on how we can mutually benefit each other. It’s a much better approach. I really needed help with that, and I did get better at it. Barbara helped a lot.”

Overall, Vijay found great value in everything the program covered.

“Barbara helped me tweak all the ways that I could make my job search better. She was a great sounding board. She walked the path with me and had my best interests at heart. She worked on everything. That is exactly what I needed. That is what coaching is all about – to make yourself better.”

Vijay saw his job search results improve while working with Barbara. He got more interviews, better feedback from those interviews, and more feedback from third-party recruiters. Within two months, Vijay was offered a position as director of process excellence at a multinational company that provides property management software for various real estate applications. He credits a referral from the same former colleague as before for opening the door to the opportunity and facilitating the hiring process. 

“My former colleague knew the hiring manager at the new company and advocated for me. She put me in touch with the hiring manager directly, which actually enabled me to skip a few steps in the typical hiring process. The same day that I met with the senior VP, they made me an offer.” 

When it came to negotiating that offer, Vijay surprised himself with how easily his TBG training paid for itself – and then some. 

“I have flubbed compensation negotiations in the past, but this time I was prepared! Barbara told me about several different ways to approach them. She said, ‘If they say this, you can say that.’ Just by following what Barbara coached me to say, I got an additional $20K!” 

Vijay is excited to have joined a great company with a great team doing what he enjoys most.

“What TBG offered me was great,” said Vijay. “It was money well spent and I’m definitely happy.”

Client:

Vinod was a customer success manager for AI solutions at a young tech startup in Canada.

Industry:

IT

Challenge:

After a new job in a new field went badly, Vinod sought a better fit. However, job prospects were limited.

Process:

By reworking his resume and LinkedIn profile, and learning interviewing best practices, Vinod learned to better market himself.

Landing:

Despite increasing competition in the wake of the pandemic, Vinod landed a 6-month contract as director of intellectual property at a higher annualized salary with the potential to go full-time.

Study:

After working eleven years as a solutions provider in the intellectual property (IP) and technology space in Ottawa, Vinod felt that growth potential was exhausted at his company, and even in Canada. He decided to explore opportunities in a new field with better long-term prospects and took a position as an artificial intelligence (AI) solutions manager at a young startup outside of Toronto. Soon after starting, Vinod realized the company was a poor fit and he wanted out. Only seven months into his new job, Vinod negotiated his departure and began jobhunting again – but this time he found himself at a big disadvantage.

“I was stuck. Most of my experience is in the intellectual property space. I was successful there, but in Canada there are few opportunities at my level. Meanwhile, I didn’t have enough experience in AI to target senior-level positions, and I wasn’t interested in junior-level jobs,” said Vinod. “In the U.S. there are more opportunities, but in the U.S. I need H-1B sponsorship.”

Although under pressure to land a job before eating up his savings, Vinod struggled to get his resume past applicant tracking systems (ATS). He had some good initial interviews in Detroit, but after he was ruled out of contention for several jobs by his need for an H-1B visa he decided to seek professional help. Vinod hired The Barrett Group (TBG).

“Working with Vivek [Vivek Agarwal, Vinod’s Executive Career Consultant and Program Manager] was fantastic,” said Vinod. “He gave me weekly assignments to work on, such as identifying my strengths and weaknesses in interviewing, improving my social capital, and identifying work experiences that might be valuable to a hiring manager.”

With the help of the TBG team, Vinod also polished up his LinkedIn profile and rewrote his resume to improve its chances of getting over the ATS hurdle. Vinod especially valued the experienced feedback from his interview coaching sessions.

“Vivek explained how to better market myself,” said Vinod. “He gave me great perspective on my mock interview responses and how to strengthen them. With his help, I learned how to discuss a weakness and make it sound like a positive attribute. I now feel more savvy and confident about how to answer interview questions.”

Like so many others, Vinod’s job search was stymied by the Covid-19 pandemic. An offer in March was quickly revoked. Another pending offer was postponed, then revoked. Just when he was on the point of panic in June, his networking efforts from months earlier finally bore fruit and Vinod was offered a 6-month, full-time contract position for a firm based in Seattle, for which Vinod’s skills align very well, with the intent to become permanent when the pandemic’s grip on the economy eases up.

“I am grateful this worked out. This position was very competitive and I feel lucky to have gotten it. I’m back in IP and, so far, it’s great!” said Vinod. “With luck, this job will turn into a full-time position. If it doesn’t, I will sync with Vivek again. Regardless, his coaching was valuable and will continue to be valuable.”

Some identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Photo: 123rf.com

Client:

B. Randall Willis was president and co-partner of a New York City-based, digital marketing agency.

Industry:

Marketing, Advertising

Function:

Leadership, Administration, Strategy, Marketing, Sales, Client Relations, Entrepreneurship

Challenge:

After 10 years in his role and 25 years in the industry, Randall wanted to sell his company, but he wasn’t ready to retire, and he lacked clarity on what to do next.

Process:

Randall proactively built his social capital, made peace with being a “square peg” with zero interest in fitting into a “round hole,” and leveraged TBG’s research team to explore companies that offered a good fit for his unique value proposition.

Landing:

After job seeking for more than a year, Randall found an ideal position with great growth and leadership potential at an internet marketing agency offering elements of both the corporate and entrepreneurial world.

Study:

When B. Randall Willis partnered up with the founder of a tiny, digital marketing agency in New York City in 2010, he planned to build the startup and grow it as successfully as he had started and grown a similar Boston-based digital marketing agency in the decade prior. Within five years, he grew the business to eight figures, cultivated a high-end client roster, and saw the company recognized as a “Top 5 Agency in North America” for five years running. After 10 years, Randall was delighted with his accomplishments but ready for a break. He sold his share to his partner and began considering what to do next. 

Randall got more time to think about his next move than he anticipated. Soon after stepping down from his role as president, the pandemic hit. 

“The pandemic created a big lifestyle change for me. We closed our apartment in New York City and moved to our summer home. I focused on some side projects, and I had one or two business opportunities that would have been amazing, but when Covid hit they all went black,” said Randall.

When the economy improved the following year and Randall’s career remained directionless, he decided to get an objective perspective on his situation. He engaged The Barrett Group (TBG) and started TBG’s Clarity© Program. 

“Clarity was a great exercise. My engagement with my coach, Scott Brown, was excellent. The work we did mostly validated what I knew, including things I didn’t want to admit to myself.”

One inconvenient truth that Randall confirmed is that he didn’t want to be hired by corporate America. He saw little alternative, though. Consulting didn’t interest him, and he had no appetite for building an agency from scratch again.

“I’m an entrepreneur, not a corporate guy. But I didn’t want to start another company. I have done that two or three times already,” said Randall. 

So, Randall resigned himself to look for a corporate role at an established company, specifically director of marketing or director of client services. He began working through the TBG program with his career consultant, Lori Chevalier, determined to follow it to the letter. 

“If Lori told me to wear red shoes or stand on one leg, I would do it.” said Randall.

With the help of Lori and the TBG team, Randall overhauled his resume and LinkedIn profile, and he learned about the importance of social capital in a career and how to cultivate it. Most importantly, Randall got motivated.

“The Barrett Group got me moving. I had just been sitting around waiting for the phone to ring before, but then I started calling people five times a week. One shortcoming I have is that I’m not a networking guy. I’m very social, good with clients, and I’ve closed hundreds of deals. But I’ve never interacted with my peers much. I was too busy building my businesses. Here I was looking for my next gig in life and realized that my network was stagnant.”

Randall found that the exercise of building social capital produced an unexpected benefit.

“It was very therapeutic. I called people I hadn’t talked to in 20 years and said, ‘I’m at a time in my life when I value my relationships and want to let you know that and to see how you are doing.’ People responded by telling me what I had done for them and how much they appreciated it. I can’t believe the nice things people said.”

Randall worked the program from A to Z but, as time went on with no results, he brought his concerns to the TBG team. He felt like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. 

“I’m a unique client for The Barrett Group. I’d be the best director of marketing for any company. I have 25 years of experience, I understand clients, profitability, teams, and production,” said Randall. “But a resume title of ‘director of marketing’ doesn’t describe all I have to offer. In fact, it puts me at a disadvantage because I’ve never actually had that title. I was a business owner and the boss of the directors of marketing at my companies.”  

Randall then began meeting with another career consultant, Waffles Natusch, who has expertise in client strategy changes. They rebranded Randall by rewriting his resume and LinkedIn profile, highlighting professional strengths over specific titles. More importantly, Waffles helped him address the essence of why he was looking for a job in corporate America when he did not want to work in corporate America.

“Waffles said to me, ‘Come on! You’re an entrepreneur. Your strengths are a corporate weakness. Corporate employers hire people to do one job. That’s not you – you have too many talents. Plus, they probably think you will steal their clients,’” said Randall. “Those comments were very beneficial. Waffles had the chutzpah to be very frank with me, and I really appreciated that. He really understood me. Working with Waffles was a game changer!”  

Buoyed by this fresh outlook, Randall employed a strategy that he had used during a previous career change: Identify marketing companies that were potentially good fits and reach out to them directly. The TBG research team helped by producing a list of 650 agencies for Randall to explore.

“I gave TBG certain criteria, such as agencies only in the Northeast and 200 people or fewer. I researched every company on the list and whittled the number to around 30. Then I reached out to them. Waffles helped me draft the language. About half responded, and I engaged in conversations with about two or three.

One company turned out to be an ideal fit – a small, internet marketing firm at which the CEO plans to retire and is seeking a successor. Randall was offered the role of head of client success, with the potential to become managing director within months and, ultimately, CEO and owner. This opportunity is the sweet spot for Randall between the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds.

“It’s better than I ever could have expected. It’s not too corporate-y. The team has some growing and areas for improvement that I can help with, but I am starting with a good team,” said Randall. 

Randall is thrilled with how his career change journey has ended.

“I’m an outside-of-the-box kind of guy,” said Randall. “I thought a career coach would try to make me corporate-y but, in the end, working with TBG, I came to understand how to go about a job search that is right for B. Randall Willis. TBG helped me find peace in who I am, who I am not, and then how to craft a suitable job search strategy.”

Client:

Keith Brown was executive pastor and administrative consultant for a large, multicultural Baptist church in California.

Industry:

Religious Organizations, Nonprofit, Charity, Healthcare

Function:

Operations, Administration, Business Development, Fundraising

Challenge:

Keith wanted to move to Houston and transition to a new industry, but he didn’t know what industry, and he had no local network to facilitate such a move. 

Process:

After thoughtful introspection, Keith decided on a new career in nonprofit business development, tailored his resume and LinkedIn profile to reflect his new brand, and actively cultivated contacts in this new field. 

Landing:

Within three months, Keith landed as director of development for a small, charitable nonprofit in the healthcare field.

Study:

As executive pastor and administrative consultant for a large, growing, multicultural Baptist church in California, Keith Brown led the administrative and financial teams supporting the congregation, oversaw capital generation planning, and was responsible for the overall strategic financial health of the organization. Keith’s job capped a 20-plus-year-long career in church administration. But he had begun focusing on another priority: Family. Keith’s close-knit family planned to relocate to Houston together. Timing was a variable in the plan and was dictated, at least in part, by the Houston housing market.   

“The Houston housing market is crazy. We looked at over 20 homes and bid above asking on two, only to be told that we were not even among the top bidders,” said Keith. 

Keith was prepared to stay in California until he and his wife could find a suitable home in Houston and Keith could find new employment. But then an opportunity for a great house at an affordable price arose that they couldn’t refuse. They snapped it up! The home purchase compelled Keith to put his search for a new job in Houston on turbo drive.

Anticipating this moment, Keith had begun months earlier laying the groundwork for a job search in Houston. He hired a resume writer because he hadn’t used a resume for over 20 years. 

“I benefited from personal relationships leading to job offers throughout my career,” said Keith. “I never even went through an interview process for the most recent position. I was consulting for the church, and they offered me a full-time position.”

Keith faced several challenges this time, though. First, he did not want to advertise his job search out of concern for how it might be perceived by his current employer. Second, he knew that career advancement meant eventually becoming head pastor of a church, for which Keith did not feel a spiritual call. He felt that his best skillset was fundraising, administration, and operations, not pastoring. Therefore, he decided to leave the faith community. But after 20 years working in a church, where should he go?

“I had no idea what I wanted to do, and I didn’t know how to begin. Yes, I had been an executive in a church, but does that translate into being an executive in corporate America?” said Keith.

Keith sought professional help and ended up hiring The Barrett Group (TBG) because TBG’s core methodology – to focus an executive job search on the unpublished market – resonated with him. Keith’s entire career has been a series of unpublished positions born of relationship-building, and he knew this approach had merit. 

Keith told the team that he needed to find a job in a hurry, so they accelerated the program, beginning with the Clarity Program©.  

“I enjoyed working with my Clarity coach, Julie Holifield. She was easy to work with. She had me take some personal assessments that revealed surprising details about how I come across to people and how I could communicate and lead people better,” said Keith. “That was very helpful. That kind of self-assessment is important when you are looking for a new position.”

In the next part of the program, Keith learned about the different elements of the job market.

“My career consultant, Anne Lipsitz, was a joy to work with. She taught me a lot about the unpublished job market. She also shared the power of LinkedIn with me. Oh, my goodness! I didn’t realize that LinkedIn had become a replacement for networking in person. I had a LinkedIn profile, but never used it, so I was starting at zero. Anne said my goal should be to get to 500 contacts, so I had to be aggressive about connecting with people.”

As Keith built out his LinkedIn profile and his network, he also researched industries for himself.

“As I spoke to people, they observed that I’d done a lot of fundraising at my church and exposed me to new terminology,” said Keith. “I realized, for example, that “development” is just another word for “fundraising” in the nonprofit arena. I could connect with that! So, I started looking for job titles like “director of development.”

With the feedback he got, Keith re-branded himself, changing his resume and LinkedIn profile. He began looking for opportunities in the nonprofit industry. Anne encouraged him to connect with people who are important in the industry, and she showed him how to use LinkedIn to reverse engineer his job search. Keith’s efforts paid off quickly. 

“Anne said many people don’t like to reach out to people. That is NOT one of my problems. I made phone calls to ask questions and offer my services to people in hopes they could help me. It only takes one person! At one point, I was introduced to a woman with a lot of experience in the development industry in Houston. She hit me with a lot of questions: Why do you want to move? Why do you want to do this kind of work? It was a sort of interview. Ultimately, she decided to mentor me. She said someone had done it for her years ago and she wanted to pay it forward.” 

Keith’s mentor championed him in his job search. She explained the big picture of how to be successful in his new career, how to revise his resume to gain notice from employers, and how to achieve his professional advancement goals. She made a commitment to connect Keith with key organizations and people. She even solicited private feedback on one of his unsuccessful job applications and shared it with him.

Before long, Keith landed a position as development director for a small, charitable nonprofit in the healthcare field. Ironically, the landing came about not from a personal referral, but from a LinkedIn job alert. Nevertheless, Keith credits the TBG program and everything he learned from it for the success.

“Weeks before I saw the job posting, I had reached out to the organization because of the reverse engineering I had learned from Anne and asked the CEO to be a networking partner. So, when I saw the job posting, instead of sending an application, I reached out to the CEO directly and asked for a Zoom call. She accepted. That call turned into an interview – the first interview she did for this role.” 

Keith got the job offer and leaned on the TBG team to negotiate a counteroffer, which ended up garnering him a better package. 

In his new role, Keith will be responsible for raising funds, expanding the organization’s reach, and gaining it greater exposure. He will also take classes on professional fundraising to earn additional accreditations in his field. 

“I’ll go out, meet new people, ask them for money, and have fun.” said Keith. “I’ve really enjoyed the TBG process. Because of it, I have landed in an industry with a lot of upside potential that I would never have considered before and met a lot of important people in the industry – not least my mentor who has the potential to open many doors to me in the future. Trusting Anne and the process made my efforts work.”

Client:

Diane had a distinguished corporate career when she decided to launch into a consulting role.

Industry:

IT

Challenge:

After two years in a consulting role, Diane realized that she preferred and wanted to return to a corporate environment.

Process:

Focusing on tools to leverage her social capital, Diane quickly saw successes but was holding out to find the right job – when an unexpected development demanded her attention.

Landing:

After an extensive assessment of an exciting opportunity, Diane found her path forward and negotiated a better salary, better perks, a better title and a sign-on bonus that more than covered her career management fees.

Study:

Long before engaging The Barrett Group, Diane had an exceptionally distinguished career, working with some of the most exclusive brands in the world. She had been a senior vice president for a designer and marketer of luxury tableware and then a luxury goods corporation, serving as a chief information officer for prestigious luxury brands. Eventually, a friend of Diane’s convinced her to make a change. “A good friend of mine owned a consulting firm and was preparing for a crucial launch. He was looking for someone to handle the operations side and to actually execute the launch. I thought it would be very interesting and was excited about it.” So, Diane made a leap.

And Diane landed. “We successfully launched the product.” But like with any leap in life, it’s not just about the jump and the landing, it’s also about where exactly you find yourself in the end. “After two years in the consulting world, well, it was something that just didn’t appeal to me. I realized I was more cutout for corporate positions.” And so, Diane determined that she needed to summon up the strength and courage, and time and energy, to make another leap.

From the beginning, Diane recognized that she needed certain skills—skills that she felt she lacked. “I was all over. I was in my late fifties, and for all of my career I had never had to network or seek employment. I was always sought out or retained by search agencies or whatever. So, I really didn’t have the skills or know-how to use products like LinkedIn and those kinds of things.”

Diane recognized the true value of such skills. She did not need to be convinced that better marketing, promotion, and use of technology can determine the success or failure of a brand. “So, I started to do some research, and I looked at a few different companies. The Barrett Group was one of them, and, basically, after speaking with two other companies, I chose Barrett. I liked what they had to say. I liked the process they described. And I thought they could be beneficial, helping me seek what I wanted to do.”

Diane quickly got to work together with her consultant. “So, I became very active. On a weekly basis. I did my homework with my consultant.” First, they focused on the tools needed to promote her brand, including her resume and her LinkedIn. “Learning how to use some of the more sort of hidden or secretive features of LinkedIn was extremely helpful.” They then used those tools to promote her brand through leveraging her social capital. “I re-established contact with a lot of my former coworkers and such, which was extremely helpful. I networked with people who were peers at the time I worked with them, but who were now in executive roles like CEO.”

Diane quickly got results. “I landed an interview with a sporting goods company in New York.” But the purpose of The Barret Group is not to find a job for their clients. It is to find the right job for their clients. Diane rejected the opportunity with the complete support of her career consultant. “I ultimately decided that it was not something I was interested in, based upon their structure and things of that nature.”

And then came a twist. “In the middle of all of this my friend sold his consulting company to a firm that specialized in SAP consulting.” The new management showed they appreciated Diane and offered her a new opportunity. “They asked me if I would stay on as the VP of operations.”

Diane and The Barrett Group pivoted immediately—together and in sync. “I spoke to my consultant about it, and we looked at the pros and cons of continuing my search or moving forward with the new management.” Diane was now at least tempted to stay. “In the end, I considered a variety of factors, like some of the things that were promised to me, some of the opportunities that I would have, and the fact that I would now be part of a much larger organization with more structure. So, I decided to stay.”

Although a decision had been made, neither Diane nor her consultant lost focus. “So, my consultant at Barrett and I switched gears and she helped me negotiate the package with the new ownership. She was extremely helpful, taking me through the steps to do that successfully.”

Diane’s consultant had proved her value to Diane during the decision-making process, and she proved herself again during the negotiations process, a necessary step to making her decision a reality. “I probably would not have negotiated the salary and everything else I ended up with, you know, the perks that came with it, the terms of the contract and all those other things. I can't thank The Barrett Group enough.”

“I had been a chief information officer. The operations officer role was something I had never really been in before. It was new and exciting, and I looked forward to it.” And, finally, like many Barrett clients, she of course had a better salary, better perks, and a better title, as well as one other outcome. “You know, I received a sign-on bonus that more than covered The Barrett Group’s fees.”

Quotes:

“I have talked to many people who have been considering The Barret Group and have successfully joined the company. I would say that if you really feel you don't have those skills, don't try learning them on your own, because time is of the essence, because most especially because the people I do reference calls with are sort of in my same situation, a seasoned professional with a lot of younger competition.”

“I would say that it was so worth the expenditure of fees versus the return. So there's a great return on investment.”

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Photo: 123rf.com