Situation:
A female executive in her early forties who holds a high level position, recently divorced, and mother of a teenage son with whom she has just relocated to a new school community. She is a recent survivor of breast cancer, and while undergoing treatment, promised to herself and her family to eliminate the excess stress in her life. Her car-to-train-to subway commute added up to two hours each way. She decided to leave her job and look for a total career change. Her feeling was that a fresh, unbiased look at her career preferences and options would point her in the right direction. The combined emphasis on career and personal values led her to Suzanne Harris for the objective feedback and personal and career coaching she sought.
Approach:
Suzanne Harris and the client began the coaching process with the administration of several assessments to identify the client's specific personality traits, career interests and personal values. With this data as the platform for discussion, they dove deeply into her past experiences – in particular, her achievements and successes. Suzanne used this anecdotal information with concrete initial feedback from assessments to focus on identifying and clarifying values and marketable strengths.
Upon aligning her career and personal preferences, the target identified for her new career search remained in the industry she served, just in a broader scope. Through the coaching, support and advice from Suzanne's professional experience, the client created a standout resume coupled with a compelling, well versed introduction which she perfected during her role play sessions with Suzanne. Additionally, she received coaching on networking skills and jumpstarted her search with several actual leads from her coach. Finally, the client has a well-defined sense of what type of job to take in the short run and how to build toward even greater satisfaction over time.
Results:
The client continues to search and interview for the “right” opportunity. To keep her feeling secure about her financial standing, she knows how much time she can devote to the search for the optimum position and what her next level choices might be. In the meantime, she has expanded her network with higher level contacts in the industry. She is very satisfied with her progress and the results of her career coaching and direction. She continues to receive "booster" phone contact from her coach.
