Success Studies

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:

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, Defense, Technology, 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:

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:

Derek Maxwell was global technical support manager of electrical, mechanical, marine and drilling systems for an industry-leading, offshore drilling company.

Industry:

Energy, Oil and Gas, E-Commerce, Retail, Supply Chain

Function:

Technical, Maintenance, Systems, Process, and Quality Engineering; Management; Training

Challenge:

When the pandemic roiled the industry where he’d spent 30 years and cast his company into bankruptcy, Derek was laid off with little prospect of finding similar work. 

Process:

Self-reflection prompted Derek to consider different industries and to build out his social capital.

Landing:

Derek landed as senior manager of engineering and supply chain and site manager for a distribution center of a multinational retail corporation.

Study:

As the global manager of technical support for an industry-leading, offshore, deep-water, drilling company, Derek Maxwell oversaw all the maintenance engineering projects for seven drill ships. His responsibilities included maintenance of the drill ships’ electrical, mechanical, and marine and drilling systems, as well as offshore personnel training. His career in the drilling industry spanned 30 years and multiple countries, ranging from his native Scotland to his current home in Houston, Texas. He felt lucky to have never faced significant unemployment in all that time. But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Derek’s luck ran out.

“My company got hit hard by Covid and went bankrupt. It was acquired by another company and after a six-month transition, they laid off most of my team and me,” said Derek.

Derek took two months for himself before launching a job search. When he finally did, he found the job search to be intolerable.

“It was very difficult,” said Derek. “I redid my resume and prepared a cover letter. I tried LinkedIn, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter. I reached out to people I knew in my industry, but they were in a similar situation. The industry was having such a terrible time. There were no contracts being awarded, no new work going on. People in my network were focused on keeping their own jobs and couldn’t help me in my job search.”

After four months of job searching with few results, Derek hired The Barrett Group (TBG).

“What I liked about The Barrett Group is that it focused on a lifestyle change versus a job change,” said Derek. “The Barrett Group program begins with a self-evaluation. You work on yourself first before going out into the job market.”

It was a great change for Derek because the status quo was no longer an option.

“Initially, I thought I would stay in the same industry, but it became quite evident that the industry would not improve for a couple years,” said Derek.

Derek derived enormous value from the Clarity Program and the self-reflection he was encouraged to do.

“I really like the Clarity Program and my Clarity coach, Scott Brown. He is very good at what he does,” said Derek. “He got me to look internally. He got me to consider the social and financial parts of my life, my goals past and present, and where I see myself in the future. He made me think more than I’ve ever done in other similar courses. To be honest, it’s probably one of the most valuable things I’ve done in a long, long time.”

Derek had typically attended to business first in his work and social niceties second. In Clarity, however, he came to see things differently.

“Scott taught me to better balance my desire to get on with work and important social skills. I realized that it is more advantageous to your business if you first take the time to ask someone ‘How are you? How’s the family? Can I help you in any way?’ Even better is when you allow yourself to enjoy that conversation rather than doing it as a perfunctory exercise.” said Derek. “Think of a garden. You’ll get much better results when you prepare and plow your field before sowing your seeds than just walking across a field chucking seeds around.”

In the next phase of the TBG program, Derek worked with his career consultant to build social capital beyond his contacts in the oil and gas industry.

“In my discussions with Barbara Limmer, I realized it was not sensible to be narrowly focused. I would have to get out of my comfort zone. At first, I thought I’d target chemical plants – I live near a lot of them. But Barbara encouraged me to think of other industries where my skills would transfer, too. With that perspective, I could pursue a job in any industry in the engineering world, or any company with manufacturing processes,” said Derek. “My one restriction is that I was unwilling to move from Houston because my wife has a high-level job there.”

With the help of the TBG team, Derek overhauled his resume and produced several versions that he could use in different circumstances. Barbara taught him to do advanced searches on LinkedIn and play around with search terms. Then he got busy reaching out to friends, family, and business contacts. It wasn’t easy at first, but it turned out to be the key to his success.

Two weeks after reconnecting with an old friend on LinkedIn, an article popped up on his LinkedIn feed that Derek’s friend had ‘Liked’. The article highlighted some impressive aspects of the multinational retailer where his friend worked. After Derek read it, LinkedIn’s algorithm began ‘feeding him’ more content about the same company – including a job ad for a role of senior manager of maintenance and supply chain operations. Intrigued, he applied.

After two interviews, Derek was told that he was overqualified for the role – but then he was invited to apply for a more senior role.

“The role was for senior manager in engineering and site engineer for a distribution center in Houston with 5 million square feet and over 2,000 workers. After another three interviews, a site visit, and a discussion with the senior VP, they gave me an offer.”

Derek credits Barbara with prepping him well for those interviews and TBG’s compensation negotiation reading materials.

“Barbara and I reviewed interview techniques and how to ask for the best possible offer. I ended up negotiating a better base rate, a signing bonus, and more PTO. It was a bit nerve-wracking, of course, but I felt comfortable using the language from the TBG worksheets. I used them almost word for word.”

The process and quality engineering at his new company are very different from what Derek has done before, but after several weeks of training, he was ready to start his new role.

“I was about one and a half steps outside my comfort zone, so I had to push myself. But I feel really confident now. They said they’d see what I can do in this position over the next year. If all goes well, they will have me take over for the general manager.”

Derek is delighted with his new career path. His new worksite is closer to his home than he’s ever been, and he’s very pleased with how nice and helpful the people and leadership team are at his new organization. He is also now a true believer in the benefits of social capital.

“I did not find this job opportunity through social capital directly, but I did indirectly. I never would have seen the recruitment ad from my new company if I hadn’t reached out to my contact two weeks earlier. This opportunity didn’t match my LinkedIn search terms. I found it to be quite astonishing that social capital works!”

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

Client:

Joel Engle was pastor of a midsize, nondenominational church.

Industry:

Religious Organizations, Advertising & Marketing

Function:

Ministry

Challenge:

After a long career in pastoring, Joel decided to shift industries completely, but he needed help to do it. 

Process:

Joel reflected deeply on his goals, then he learned how to leverage his social capital to explore the unpublished market for opportunities to realize those goals.

Landing:

Rekindling an old friendship led to Joel’s being offered a position as chief growth officer for an advertising and marketing agency, a role that Joel calls his dream job.

Study:

For nearly 15 years Joel Engle enjoyed a career as a church pastor. In the churches in which he served, his efforts to develop and implement marketing strategies, improve organizational branding and communication, and make administrative and financial changes succeeded in raising income and growing congregational engagement and membership. 

Joel was pastor for a midsize, nondenominational church, where he expected to finish his career, however, after guiding the church through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, Joel began to rethink his career path. He decided to step down to give himself some space to reflect on his next move. 

When some weeks later friends offered him an executive position at a church staffing firm, he was delighted to join them. He came to view that opportunity as a great gift, because the work revived in him professional interests that had fallen dormant during the years that he’d spent pastoring. 

Prior to becoming a pastor, Joel had had an equally long career as an entrepreneur, especially in the Christian music business. He now began to ponder whether he might be able to take the rich skillset he had developed over the past several decades between these two careers and parlay it into a role outside the church world, and at a comparable income. It was a nerve-wracking crossroads to be at, though, and Joel wanted professional guidance. 

“What I was considering was a massive career change. I felt like I was leaving my tribe. It was a moment of existential crisis for me, and I had to get my bearings straight,” said Joel.

After the new year, Joel started The Barrett Group program (TBG). 

“David Black, my Clarity coach, was fantastic! He and I connected on so many levels. I have tremendous respect for him,” said Joel. “Our sessions seemed simple at first, but they built upon each other. Towards the end, he asked me to write about my dream job. I typed out where I wanted to live, what my office was like, and how my family fit into the picture. I’ve been through coaching and personality assessments before, but not like this. David’s insights and the simple tasks he assigned me gave me a clearer vision of myself and my goals. I felt so hopeful!” 

Joel was equally happy with his career consultant and his experience in the next chapter of the program.

“Lori Chevalier was also fantastic. She was super skilled at everything. As she took me through the program, she interrogated me about my career experience to uncover details about my skillset,” said Joel. 

Those details were essential to Joel’s branding campaign. 

“I thought I already had a good resume, but man! When the TBG team got hold of my resume and LinkedIn profile, they overhauled them in a way that made such good business sense,” said Joel. “They used language that is not my vernacular. And the way they told my story, by incorporating skills, results, and numerical values from my background to quantify my experience, really showed off how much I had accomplished – and I had been careful not to pump things up!”

Joel learned LinkedIn Analytics and other technical skills, too. Joel very much appreciated the comprehensive education he got from Lori. Before long he was pleasantly surprised to see people connecting with him on LinkedIn. But the most critical component of the TBG program for Joel was learning how to leverage his social capital. 

“I became convinced of the power of the unpublished market. I applied to so many published jobs and got nothing. Even when I worked with 3rd party recruiters, the results were nothing compared to when I began tapping into my network.”

As Lori had coached him, Joel began calling people among his social capital. It was challenging at first, but he developed confidence using the TBG method.

“Even though I’m an extrovert, I was out of my comfort zone making calls. No one wants to be that guy asking his friends for a job,” said Joel. “But that isn’t The Barrett Group method. Their concept is about paying it forward. About caring for other people, asking about them, and then offering your insight and wisdom. That’s exactly what I did, and it paid a lot of dividends!”

After about a dozen calls Joel reconnected with a friend he hadn’t been in touch with in about 25 years.  

“I did a pay-it-forward call to an old friend who is CEO of an advertising agency worth millions of dollars. He caters to the Christian business world,” said Joel. “As we caught up, he told me about a vision he had to grow a new vertical within his company that, as it turns out, requires someone with my exact skillset. I intuitively shared some ideas and my value proposition with him and then he asked, ‘Would you want to work with me?’ I wasn’t even thinking about a job!”

The two discussed and hammered out the parameters of a new role and, within two weeks, Joel was hired as the company’s chief growth officer. With the help of Lori and the TBG team, Joel negotiated a compensation package that was slightly more than what he had wanted.

“I worked the process and things went exactly to plan! It started with a phone call and resulted in my dream job. It really works!” said Joel. “Of course, the other side of my success comes from the training I received from Lori and David. It empowered me. Honestly, working with them was like taking a masters course in how to find a job. It was a lot of work, and it wasn’t without moments of doubt. But they gave me the skills and the encouragement I needed to get a C-suite position on my own. I could never thank them enough for that.”

Joel is elated to have successfully transferred his skillset to a new field – especially to a Christian-led company that shares his values. And he loves his new job.

“My friend and are I are a good match. And I didn’t even leave my tribe. Looking back, I can say without question that The Barrett Group program was worth the investment times 10! It could not have been more perfect. I can’t recommend the program enough.”

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 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.

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:

Barry worked 10 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a senior credit analyst.

Industry:

Banking

Challenge:

After an involuntary departure from the organization, Barry struggled to find another position that met his needs.

Process:

Barry revamped his resume and significantly improved his interviewing skills and confidence through numerous coaching sessions.

Landing:

Despite the Covid-19 related downturn, Barry successfully landed a position at a global financial services company as a senior associate of credit risk.

Study:

For ten years, Barry worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a credit analyst and credit risk manager. He oversaw transactions at numerous American and foreign banking organizations and liaised with the regulators of various entities. He enjoyed his career there until the confluence of a bad professional decision and unfortunate timing aroused the disapproval of his managers. Not long afterwards, Barry was squeezed out.

With seven children to care for, Barry didn’t have the luxury of time to undergo a lengthy job search. When his position at the Fed was eliminated, he accepted a new position within two months that turned out to be disastrous.

“It was the worst experience in my career,” said Barry. I took the job out of fear. I should have passed on it, but I got desperate. So much was bad about the job. I hoped things would change, but they didn’t.”

Back in the job market again after only two and a half months, Barry struggled to find a position in an industry where positions are increasingly scarce, especially in New York City where his family lives. It didn’t help that he is over 50.

“Many of the banks in New York City are moving operations to lower cost centers, like Dallas, Tampa, or India. Banking is a horrible industry for labor. And there is definitely an over-50 discrimination in my field,” said Barry.

After yet another failed employment venture, Barry decided to hire The Barrett Group (TBG).

“I hired The Barrett Group because I really needed help framing better answers during interviews about why I had left my former job,” said Barry.

Barry succeeded in that and more. Two components of the process proved especially valuable. The first was a professional resume makeover.

“The Barrett Group helped me revamp my resume. It is now a much better resume than the one I came in with,” said Barry. “That alone is worth thousands of dollars.”

The second, and even more valuable, benefit Barry received from his TBG experience was personal interview coaching, which he credits for doubling the number of good interviews he had.

“I did not interview well when I started,” Barry admits. “But after coaching, I went into interviews more confident and better prepared. I probably improved my interview skills by 30-40%. That makes a big difference in a competitive job market,” said Barry.

These newfound skills shone during the interview for a position in Dallas that he knew was a long shot.

“I lacked some important qualifications for the job, so chances were not high that I would get it. Still, they considered me! That’s thanks to the Barrett Group interview skills,” said Barry.

While Barry did not get that job, he was invited to apply for another position at the company – this time in New York City where his family lived – and got it.

Beset by the Covid-19 downturn, Barry’s job search took 11 months – longer than he anticipated. But, he figures, without The Barrett Group the job hunt might have taken another six months. He is thrilled to have landed – not least, because he won’t have to relocate. That’s worth celebrating for both Barry and his seven children.

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

Client:

Erik was a regional sales manager of an international plywood production company.

Industry:

Medical Devices & Equipment

Challenge:

Furloughed during the Covid-19 downturn, Erik couldn’t wait for an economic bounce and needed help making himself more marketable in a tough job market.

Process:

Working through each step of TBG’s methodology, Erik boosted his market appeal and job search preparedness, while aggressively cultivating his network.

Landing:

In two months, Erik scored numerous interviews and three offers, ultimately landing a position in a field that is both growing and insulated against the pandemic.

Study:

Erik was the western regional sales manager for the world’s leading producer of birch plywood when the pandemic hit. Sales dropped 65% globally and the company was forced to cut costs.

“I was a Covid-19 casualty,” said Erik. “The company cut my salary, making my position commission-only with a base, and said they would re-evaluate the situation in 90 days. I just couldn’t afford to wait that long without any guarantees.”

Under normal circumstances, Erik would have conducted a job hunt on his own. But this time was different. After sending out some resumes and getting no responses at all, he knew he needed a new approach.

“Sending out resumes and waiting for responses wasn’t going to work this time. Not in this market,” said Erik. “I needed to do something different to make myself marketable in an unmarketable market.”

When The Barrett Group popped up in a Google search, Erik was intrigued. He felt that hiring a career management consultant was an investment in himself.

“No one wants to spend money when they’re unemployed, but I took a long-term approach. My way of job seeking wasn’t working, and I had nothing to lose,” said Erik. “I would have been upset with myself if I hadn’t taken this step and 90 days later had no more opportunities than I did at the outset.”

Erik was nervous, but felt reassured knowing that if in six months he didn’t yet have a job, TBG would reevaluate its strategy for him.

“They don’t give up on you. They take you all the way to the end,” said Erik. “Knowing that made me feel more comfortable.”

After a week of assessing his career goals, Erik launched into his job search as if it was a full-time job. He developed a detailed road map for his job search, learned how to utilize LinkedIn in ways he never imagined doing, and learned the value of leveraging second and third connections, reaching out to people he knew and didn’t know. He was exhausted at the end of each week, but he developed a profound respect for the process.

“Initially, I expected them to do all the work for me. They didn’t. Instead of handing me a fish, they taught me how to fish,” said Erik. “Thanks to the career skills I learned, I feel much more knowledgeable and confident about any future job changes I might face.”

Thanks to the new tools he was given and his own tenacity, Erik had three offers within two short months. Ultimately, he accepted a position as a regional sales manager for a company that makes Personal Protective Equipment, which has seen 25% growth since last year. Moreover, he successfully convinced the hiring manager the value in paying him $20K more than they had budgeted. Erik couldn’t be happier with his experience with The Barrett Group.

“To be able to land a job in two months in this market with so many other qualified candidates – it was money well spent!”

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

Client:

Heather worked 15 years overseeing multi-billion-dollar projects as a construction scheduler for a major developer of resorts in Las Vegas.

Industry:

Construction

Challenge:

Heather wanted a change of both corporate environment and geography, but her job search efforts failed to gain traction.

Process:

Plumbing her LinkedIn profile revealed valuable connections to an ideal job at a major construction firm in the unpublished market.

Landing:

Before she even completed the TBG program, Heather was offered, at a whirlwind pace, a position as scheduling executive in Seattle.

Study:

As the director of corporate scheduling at a world-class developer of resorts in Las Vegas, Heather successfully managed upwards of 50 construction projects at a time, spanning multiple locations, each worth millions or even billions of dollars. She loved being a scheduler, but after 15 years with the same company she started to feel that her values were no longer aligned with the values of the company. She craved a change.

Heather started her job search by using Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and many other job search tools. But her search went nowhere. She just knew there had to be a firm out there that could help skilled, experienced executives transition to new positions, and she scoured the internet looking for it. Finally, she found The Barrett Group (TBG).

“It was obvious that I would not be able to find a new position doing what I wanted to do without help. I had never heard of The Barrett Group before, and I was so happy that I found it,” said Heather. “The Barrett Group process is incredible.”

Heather derived a lot of benefit from the Clarity program at the outset, not least of which was a realization that she wanted to move someplace with trees.

“The personality testing was wonderful. It was amazing to see how I’m perceived by others, and it has helped me be more cognizant of my strengths and weaknesses,” said Heather. “It was clear to me that the TBG team was using the information they gleaned from the test to tailor the program to me.”

A steps-driven person, Heather valued the very logical methodology of the TBG program. She appreciated that it was flexible enough to enable her to work through it at a pace that suited her. She learned a lot about how to manage LinkedIn, and spent much of her time working with it. And she was delighted by her resume makeover.

“The TBG team did an incredible job with my resume. My new resume makes me look like a million bucks!” said Heather.

Before Heather had even finished Phase 1 of the program, an opportunity popped up on LinkedIn that she thought would be ideal for her. To her delight, Heather found that 10 of her close connections had direct connections to the company in question. She started making phone calls and, though the Covid pandemic was in full swing, found herself, within a day, interviewing for the position. Within two weeks the hiring manager asked her how soon she could start.

Heather credits The Barrett Group for channeling the special kismet that produced such a rapid, successful career transition.

“It was thanks to the coaching I got that made this job opportunity come to fruition,” said Heather. “Before I hired The Barrett Group I would have seen the job ad, applied, not gotten it, and moved on instead of first reaching out to my network, asking them to talk to their connections, and have them put me in touch with the right people. That’s what The Barrett Group did for me.”

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