Stage 1 Success Stories

Elaine Transfers Her Skills to a New Profession

A client by the name of Elaine came to me after having spent years in the educational field. It had become increasingly bureaucratic and frustrating for her.

During the assessment and goal phase we found that she was particularly interested in being a consultant to corporate America. She could apply her educational skills in helping a corporation (primarily through Human Resources) do a better job of hiring and retaining employees.

Of course, she already had experience in developing curricula, being aware of student needs, and so on. Her desire fit perfectly into the current dilemma in American business of how to be sensitive to the needs of prospective employees in the face of rapidly changing employment practices.

We got together and wrote down several ideas about the role she could play in helping them do just that, applying some of her considerable expertise in helping companies out of the familiar rut of doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. She could help fashion up-to-date methods of hiring, training, and retaining the new employees of today.

Part of our strategy was to have Elaine go out and talk to 10 consulting firms or individuals in related fields about work conditions, work stability, what they liked and didn't like, the difficulties they faced, and their recommendations.

I also had her go out with consultants on assignment to help her narrow the field, giving her a better sense of the kind of clients she'd like to work for. She would also get a chance to see how she liked being a consultant day to day. (We'll detail how to use these techniques in the next few Stages.)

That may seem like a lot of work, but embarking on a new career is a big undertaking. You already know that there is no magic wand anyone can wave to ensure it will all come out OK.

You'll have to do the research, the homework and the legwork.

If you spend only a dime on preparation, don't expect to get a dollar back. But if you spend an entire dollar—meaning giving your search a 100-percent effort—you might just get two or three dollars back.

Life just works like that sometimes. And it's certainly worth some time and effort to land a satisfying position.

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