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:

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

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:

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

Client:

Bibi was chief administrative officer for a large university, where she worked for 24 years.

Industry:

Non-Profit Environmental

Challenge:

Bibi wanted a change, but she didn’t know how to navigate the modern job market.

Process:

After learning her professional value and best practices for a successful job search, Bibi had the confidence to try for her dream job.

Landing:

Leveraging the unpublished market, Bibi’s dream employer offered her a position and invited her to write the job description herself.

Study:

Bibi had spent 24 years working as an administrator of a large state university. In addition to leading a team of staff members across several divisions and streamlining administrative processes, she had significant financial and budgetary responsibilities. Bibi enjoyed her work for many years, but over time, she became disillusioned. The higher she rose in the organization, the less her values fit with the mission of the university. She decided to take a leap of faith and try to find a more fulfilling career.

“My job was so much red tape and yucky politics,” said Bibi. “When I realized that I could retire and get benefits, I decided to see what else was out there.”

After so long at the same organization, Bibi had no idea what opportunities there might be and little idea of how to pursue them. She enlisted help to write a resume and create a LinkedIn profile, then she began applying to job postings. A few months later she started using recruiters.

“I wasn’t getting any response. It was depressing and scary,” she said. “I realized then that I needed help navigating this new world of the job market.”

Bibi’s job search was clouded by the stress of having left her previous position without a clear Plan B. “I felt demoralized and needed someone to help me recognize my own value,” she said. “Recruiters weren’t the right answer for me. They are paid if you’re hired, which is a different financial motivation than for someone who is hired to help you find fulfilling employment. I wanted someone to help me process the circumstances of how I had left my last job, give me confidence, and guide me in the process of finding another career. I wanted someone who cared about helping me to succeed and who could tell me ‘This is what we think you can do.’”

That is when Bibi discovered The Barrett Group. After only one week, Bibi knew what she really wanted to do – and that her dream was within reach.

“I was eager to do something I really care about, which is working with trees. But I never, in a million years, thought I’d be able to do it.”

Bibi was paired up with a consultant that she found to be a great fit. He counseled her on what the job market is like and what her job search approach should be – namely, tapping the unpublished market. He and his team gathered information about environmental groups, specifically one organization of which Bibi was a huge fan.

“Waffles was so supportive in ways that went beyond pep talks. I appreciated that he didn’t just tell me things that he thought I wanted to hear. He was reality-based.”

Bibi felt nervous about contacting CEOs directly, but she did it. “Waffles told me that I will hear back from only about 5-10% of people, but when I do, I will experience magic.”

By Bibi’s account, Waffles was right. She got few responses to her emails, but one that she did get was from the CEO of the very organization that she was most eager to connect with. He invited her to meet and promptly told Bibi that he wanted her to work for him. As he had no specific position for her to fill, he essentially invited Bibi to write a job description for herself. Soon thereafter, he offered her a job – and a salary that exceeded the salaries of similar non-profit positions.

“What I learned about the unpublished market changed my whole approach to job seeking and led to a very successful ending,” said Bibi. “To say it’s a dream come true is an understatement. I’m still in shock! I would never have gotten this job without The Barrett Group.”

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

Client:

Erin was a field training consultant with an insurance company based in New England.

Industry:

Drug Manufacturing & Research

Challenge:

After several successful years working at her company, Erin felt that she had outgrown it and wanted help transitioning to a more senior role.

Process:

After first gaining clarity on her career goals, Erin revamped her resume and LinkedIn profile and worked hard to build her anemic network.

Landing:

Despite job hunting during the Covid downturn, Erin landed an “ideal” position as a senior manager in a challenging new field, in her first-choice city, and at a higher salary.

Study:

As a training manager for a national mutual life insurance company, Erin worked with agencies across the country setting up training plans and organizational structures. She had had spent most of her early career in academia and had only transitioned into the private sector four years earlier. She had saved the company millions of dollars, racked up achievements, and felt she’d accomplished her goal: to prove her business chops. She was ready to take the next step up the corporate ladder, however, her company offered few good opportunities.

“My goal in taking this job was to see if my education background would translate into business savvy. I proved it,” said Erin. “I was successful in my field. The problem is that there was no place to grow at my company – no next steps.”

Although naturally driven, Erin worried that she did not have the know-how to take her career to the next level. She perused job postings and submitted resumes, but she did not even find the positions she was applying for appealing.

“My resume was not good. I had a horrible network. I am a pretty good interviewer, but I clearly had a lot of work to do,” said Erin.

Erin was intrigued by the services offered by The Barrett Group. She was nervous about the financial commitment but the more she learned about the process, the more she saw the value in investing in herself.

“The Clarity coach and process impacted my life the most. I came away with a totally different perspective. Career management is not about looking for a job, it is knowing what you want from life and figuring out how your job can complement that vision.”

Although Erin was job hunting at the height of the pandemic, she worked hard with her Barrett Group team to pursue that vision. She collaborated with The Barrett Group to strengthen her LinkedIn profile, grow her network from 150 to 500 people, and revamp her resume and cover letter. Understanding how to align her value proposition with job postings and descriptions to successfully obtain interviews and the ultimate offer was a critical value add. Throughout Erin’s career transition, her Executive Career Consultant and Program Manager kept her motivated and buoyed her spirits when she saw job opportunities evaporate in the Covid downturn.

“Dan helped me keep realistic expectations. He also taught me how to talk about myself as a profit center to entice future employers. I could not have done that without him,” said Erin.

Erin transformed her network into a powerful social capital asset that ultimately determined the focus of her job search in Greenville, South Carolina, where she ultimately found an amazing opportunity in organizational development at a health and wellness firm. When she first heard back from the company, Erin and her coach both knew it was a good fit. Fully prepped, with research and interview preparation coaching she breezed through the interview and offer negotiations processes. Erin skillfully justified and obtained a signing bonus and a relocation package which when combined exceeded the total cost of her program.

“This position is exactly what I wanted. It’s a big role, a senior position, and it diversifies my resume,” said Erin.

For Erin, who swears she will never make another career move without a conversation with TBG, this job search experience has been priceless.

“If you want to substantially change your career, this is one of the best investments you will ever make in your life,” said Erin.

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

Client:

Matteo was senior director of worldwide supply chain for a leading designer and producer of luxury accessories.

Industry:

Luxury, Fashion

Function:

Operations

Challenge:

Soon after starting a new job, Matteo’s new company turned out not to be a good cultural fit, but his efforts to find another job weren’t yielding the results he wanted.

Process:

Learning how to “pay it forward” as he built his social capital unlocked untapped potential in Matteo’s network.

Landing:

Within four months, Matteo had four competing job offers, giving him the luxury of choosing the company where he felt the greatest kinship with his new team.

Study:

For seven years, Matteo worked for a venerable apparel company in New York City, culminating in a role as vice president of global supply chain. When the pandemic compounded existing economic pressures, however, the business struggled to stay afloat. Matteo saw the handwriting on the wall and put feelers out to his network for new job opportunities. He was thrilled when, before long, he was approached by a large, international designer and producer of luxury accessories, which offered him a role as senior director of worldwide supply chain. 

It was an exciting change for him, but unfortunately short-lived. Within months, it became clear that Matteo’s new opportunity was not a good cultural fit. He launched another job search, but this time things proved harder than the first search. 

“I started with a soft approach in the early summer. I hired someone to redo my resume and I took a couple of courses on LinkedIn,” said Matteo. “I used LinkedIn more heavily over time, but by late fall I had exhausted my network. I didn’t know where else to go to get referrals.” 

Matteo had a good network, but his efforts yielded few results. Frustrated, he turned to a friend who suggested he look at The Barrett Group for help.

“I spent a week researching The Barrett Group and decided to give it a try. I realized I needed very structured help and I found it with them,” said Matteo. “I really love that the program combines, holistically, several different elements of job searching, like coaching, clarity, and offer negotiation tactics – I call them weapons.”

Matteo began the Clarity Program in December and was surprised by how much he learned about himself in just four or five sessions. 

“My coach, Beata Piskorz, was very nice, very professional, and always available. Beata really challenged me to brainstorm different things about myself. She particularly homed in on character traits that emerged from my psych test that seemed a bit unusual,” said Matteo. “For example, I’m in the fashion industry, which is inherently uncertain, but it turns out that I like structure and compliance. Those traits lean towards industries where much is pre-determined. As we explored this, it revealed more potential career paths that I never would have thought to consider. It was an eye-opening moment.” 

Matteo discovered that he now had three avenues he could pursue in the course of his job search: 1) fashion and luxury; 2) innovation, and 3) consulting. 

“I was very excited by this information. We decided that I would not leave the fashion and luxury world, but that I would pursue all three avenues in my job search.”

After Clarity, Matteo transitioned to working with his career consultant, Isabelita Castilho. 

“Isabelita was a force of nature!” said Matteo. “I cannot say enough good things about her. She was also great about availability – and I was terrible about bombarding her with meeting requests. She is the kind of coach that is tough but in a fair way. She would sometimes tell me to stop and focus. I really appreciated that from her.”

The first things they worked on were Matteo’s resume and LinkedIn profile. 

“I had already hired someone to redo my resume back in July, so it was already in good shape. But The Barrett Group team made it even better,” said Matteo. With LinkedIn, I learned that your profile shouldn’t be a cut and paste of your resume. That change alone has been impactful. I also changed my header and picture. All this coaching was very beneficial.” 

For Matteo, the most valuable aspect of his TBG experience, however, was learning how to optimize his social capital.

“Learning about the concept of paying it forward from Isabelita was a lightbulb moment for me. I had a decent network and had always kept good relationships, but I realized from her that I wasn’t maximizing them,” said Matteo. “When I started to nurture my network using pro bono consulting in the way Isabelita suggested, that is when my job search really started to take off.” 

Matteo came to fully appreciate the power of paying it forward from his experience with two or three particular people in his network. 

“One of my contacts knows a lot of people and had provided me with some names a few months back, but nothing came of those contacts,” said Matteo. “After I hired The Barrett Group, I called him again and offered to put him in touch with a former boss of mine, who would be a great professional contact for this guy. During that conversation, he was surprised to learn that I was still looking for a job.”

That’s the moment that unleashed the potential of Matteo’s social capital. His contact provided him four to five more names at high-caliber companies that he could connect with. 

“That individual was responsible for two of the job offers I got,” said Matteo.

Matteo found that his paying-it-forward efforts quickly created a dynamic job search. Within two months, he had as many as four job offers, not to mention several other budding opportunities. 

“The most difficult part was making sure I was getting good offers from all the companies. Isabelita was always a point of reference for me. I tend to rush things during job offer negotiations, but she told me not to message the hiring managers too much or I might appear overeager and get a lower offer. It paid off!”

In the end, Matteo accepted a position as executive VP of operations and transformation for a luxury fashion company in New York City, where he got a great feeling about everyone he met.

“The human element is important to me, and, here, the whole team seem to be really good people,” said Matteo.

Matteo is thrilled by his new opportunity, and he knows that he has all the tools he will need if he finds himself in the job market again.

“This pay it forward thing is so easy, yet it’s such a powerful tool,” said Matteo. “Once you see the potential it can unleash, it’s fantastic! It’s one of the best things about the TBG program!” 

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