For three years Career Contessa has offered career coaching through the “Hire a Mentor” service, resulting in over 1,000 sessions.
Clearly, the demand here is indicative of a broader career management trend. Tailored, 1:1 development is the number one preferred method of career growth for the majority of millennials. However, most organizations have shifted the burden of career planning to the employee—leaving everyone left to figure things out on their own.
It can sometimes be difficult to turn to someone within your organization to have an unbiased conversation about your career. This makes Career Contessa’s Hire a Mentor service—a cadre of vetted coaches who have no agenda other than supporting you—a low-risk yet high value-add solution in approaching your career strategy.
Coaching—whether a one-time session or multi-meeting engagement—can help prevent you from “breathing your own exhaust.” It can also act as a great accelerant for your career—helping you get to where you want to go, only faster.
In their own words, below you will hear straight from the Career Contessa Mentors on what they are seeing as the most common career topics surfacing on these calls, the approach they take to advise the mentee, and the results the mentees are experiencing:
ON CAREER CHANGE
“Career pivoting can be a daunting process. I worked with a client for three sessions as she contemplated leaving her successful law work advocating for youth to a career in University Recruiting. We identified her transferrable skills and leveraged her passion for supporting young professionals. We also updated her resume and LinkedIn to reflect the common language of university recruiting roles and had a mock interview so she can be more confident in applying her past work experience. She is currently working in a University Recruiting role for one of the leading rideshare companies.” -Ginny Cheng
ON SALARY NEGOTIATION
“Salary negotiation can be daunting and I have seen how personalized advice goes a long way. After 'Gina' received an offer, we were able to assess what was most important to her and most meaningful for the company. This allowed her to approach her salary negotiation feeling confident about her abilities and how they'll help her do the role. She was able to approach the conversation collaboratively with a focus on how her skills will bring great value and therefore deserved higher compensation.” -Alyson Garrido
ON PLAYING THE LONG GAME
“I checked in recently with my very first client from Career Contessa. We connected in 2016 soon after I started working with the platform. At this time she had just begun to seriously explore a desire to go to grad school. The idea was daunting and created complexity in different areas of her life. We tackled it over the course of a few sessions, along with other topics, and stayed in touch over the years. Fast forward to now: she is poised to graduate this year and has loads of opportunities that will be opened up to her afterward!” -Jane Scudder
“At the risk of being “cobbler’s kids”, who do HR professionals, the ones who most people come to talk through career challenges, turn to when they are looking for some outside perspective on their OWN situation? Some of my favorite Career Contessa sessions have been with HR leaders who want to be thoughtful about their next step. These women knew all of the things but since it is hard to coach yourself, the value came from talking things out and getting feedback on thoughts and approaches. The power of alternate ideas and additional perspective can be a great multiplier.” -Katie Smith
“I worked with a client over the course of six months on everything from interviewing to navigating difficulties with colleagues to considering what she really wanted to do professionally, long-term. We considered factors like personal goals and desire of family, ideal cities, and more. When we last checked in she was in communication with a CEO of an organization and anticipating an offer for a job that felt *just* right.” -Jane Scudder
“At the risk of being “cobbler’s kids”, who do HR professionals, the ones who most people come to talk through career challenges, turn to when they are looking for some outside perspective on their OWN situation? Some of my favorite Career Contessa sessions have been with HR leaders who want to be thoughtful about their next step. These women knew all of the things but since it is hard to coach yourself, the value came from talking things out and getting feedback on thoughts and approaches. The power of alternate ideas and additional perspective can be a great multiplier.” -Katie Smith
“I worked with a client over the course of six months on everything from interviewing to navigating difficulties with colleagues to considering what she really wanted to do professionally, long-term. We considered factors like personal goals and desire of family, ideal cities, and more. When we last checked in she was in communication with a CEO of an organization and anticipating an offer for a job that felt *just* right.” -Jane Scudder
ON NETWORKING
"In one of my sessions, my client wanted to know how to network genuinely. She felt networking events were "unnatural" so we put together an alternative plan that provided opportunities for her to build special technical skills while networking with other professionals." -Angela Howard
ON INTERVIEW PREP
“It's amazing to see the lift that clients have after a session. They arrive with the heavy weight of a question or obstacle and leave lighter. 'Martina' came to our session concerned about how she would present herself during an interview. Running through questions together and learning effective frameworks for her answers and stories allowed her to approach the interview with well-constructed stories that could be used for a multitude of questions. She wasn't only confident in her ability to interview, but her abilities in general after reflecting on her achievements and framing them in a positive light.” -Alyson Garrido
“When focusing on interview preparation with a client I often model answers by doing some role play in which I answer as them. Once after a client listened to me she was speechless. I remember watching her process on the video call, slowly saying, "Wait, but, oh yeah... I did all those things..." It took her listening to me say what she had accomplished to truly see the impact of her work. She said she not only felt more confident in interviewing after that but about her work overall.” -Jane Scudder
"In one of my sessions, I helped prepare a client prepare for a job interview, giving her key strategies to prepare. We took the time in our session to thoroughly research the company, prepare clear and concise answers to standard behavioral based questions. I asked her to prepare her summary statement of who she is and what her value she would bring to the organization. Her homework was to prepare and practice in the mirror as well as video record herself to watch how she communicates. Being well prepared allows you to be focused and calm during the interview. My client walked away prepared, focused, confident with key follow up skills whether or not she was offered the role. I explained since this is her dream company how to keep the relationship going after the interview to authentically stay on the organization’s radar. Practice and preparedness is the golden ticket to go from good to great." -Courtney Oliver
“When focusing on interview preparation with a client I often model answers by doing some role play in which I answer as them. Once after a client listened to me she was speechless. I remember watching her process on the video call, slowly saying, "Wait, but, oh yeah... I did all those things..." It took her listening to me say what she had accomplished to truly see the impact of her work. She said she not only felt more confident in interviewing after that but about her work overall.” -Jane Scudder
"In one of my sessions, I helped prepare a client prepare for a job interview, giving her key strategies to prepare. We took the time in our session to thoroughly research the company, prepare clear and concise answers to standard behavioral based questions. I asked her to prepare her summary statement of who she is and what her value she would bring to the organization. Her homework was to prepare and practice in the mirror as well as video record herself to watch how she communicates. Being well prepared allows you to be focused and calm during the interview. My client walked away prepared, focused, confident with key follow up skills whether or not she was offered the role. I explained since this is her dream company how to keep the relationship going after the interview to authentically stay on the organization’s radar. Practice and preparedness is the golden ticket to go from good to great." -Courtney Oliver
ON CONFIDENCE
“I once worked with someone who booked a session to get support in preparing for a specific interview. But the holidays sidetracked her and by the time we connected she had already landed the job. At first, she wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about - she had landed the job meaning everything was all good, right? Not exactly. After I asked a few thoughtful questions it came to life how challenging her past role had been. We ended up switching gears and working to process the effects of that toxic work environment so that she wouldn't bring it as baggage into her new role.
We did a lot of work rebuilding her confidence during our session by looking at what she's done in the past at work and beyond. We explored and found some new perspectives which helped her actively identify and let go of some poor experiences. As a result, she was ultimately able to move into the new role with a positive outlook and keep the limiting beliefs at bay.
It's so important to find healthy ways to let go of previous hard and toxic work experiences - I really stress this to clients and was so pleased by what we were able to do together in a 50-minute session.” -Jane Scudder
We did a lot of work rebuilding her confidence during our session by looking at what she's done in the past at work and beyond. We explored and found some new perspectives which helped her actively identify and let go of some poor experiences. As a result, she was ultimately able to move into the new role with a positive outlook and keep the limiting beliefs at bay.
It's so important to find healthy ways to let go of previous hard and toxic work experiences - I really stress this to clients and was so pleased by what we were able to do together in a 50-minute session.” -Jane Scudder
ON BRANDING AND POSITIONING
“I’ve worked with several gifted generalists who struggled to reinvent themselves and reinterpret their stories to new opportunities, but that moment when the Aha! happened--they identified their sweet spot and fresh, relevant ways of telling their story—well, there’s nothing like it. Their newfound clarity and confidence is the ultimate outcome.” -Kristin Evenson
ON CONDUCTING A LONG DISTANCE JOB SEARCH
“It's really easy to go around and around on a decision. This is where coaching can be very helpful. 'Anita' came to me contemplating a cross-country move. She wasn't sure if it was the right decision or how to navigate it. We discussed her career ambitions and logistics involved in the move to determine the best next steps. She left with clear action items to start the move process with confidence and excitement.” -Alyson Garrido
“A client once mentioned an interest in living abroad. Coupled with a pretty difficult work situation at the time, we tackled this by creating a structure of her own work plus our interaction and accountability. We focused on everything from the more tactical side of job searching to exploring mindsets about a move. Less than 4 months after seriously looking she wrote to me to tell me she was relocating to a major city in Europe to take on a role that at one point felt like a stretch and was virtually an exact match to what she wanted to be doing!” -Jane Scudder
“A session that left a big impression on me was with a client who was extremely targeted in her job search – she was relocating to a new city with no known network, which always is a fun challenge, but she had narrowed her target list to such a specific type of organization and role that we were able to customize her resume, LinkedIn, pitch and approach to speak to exactly that type of opportunity. Not only did she land a great job in half the time of a normal job search but within two years she has moved up in the industry – from journalist to TV anchor.” -Katie Smith
“A client once mentioned an interest in living abroad. Coupled with a pretty difficult work situation at the time, we tackled this by creating a structure of her own work plus our interaction and accountability. We focused on everything from the more tactical side of job searching to exploring mindsets about a move. Less than 4 months after seriously looking she wrote to me to tell me she was relocating to a major city in Europe to take on a role that at one point felt like a stretch and was virtually an exact match to what she wanted to be doing!” -Jane Scudder
“A session that left a big impression on me was with a client who was extremely targeted in her job search – she was relocating to a new city with no known network, which always is a fun challenge, but she had narrowed her target list to such a specific type of organization and role that we were able to customize her resume, LinkedIn, pitch and approach to speak to exactly that type of opportunity. Not only did she land a great job in half the time of a normal job search but within two years she has moved up in the industry – from journalist to TV anchor.” -Katie Smith
ON OWNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS
“After talking about business growth plans and networking one client then wanted some specific feedback on her website. After only speaking with her for about 20 minutes I could see immediately that her site wasn't representing her true style and tone at all. It was cold and stiff and she was - well - not. I told her this. It didn't sink in right away but a few days later she sent me a message saying that my comment lit a huge light bulb for her about her website and overall approach to marketing herself.” -Jane Scudder
“I had a session with a business owner who had mixed feelings about working for herself. She had been objectively successful but wasn't enjoying it the way she hoped. Conversations with family and friends weren't useful since they seemed to limit discussion. In their minds, she was running her own business and living the dream! What else could she possibly want? What on earth could be wrong?! Turns out this person wasn't feeling fulfilled by this and really missed the camaraderie of an office environment. We explored all of that - my job is to make it safe for her to explore what she really wanted and then ways to realize that desire at work. After at times an emotional conversation she was able to have a thorough conversation with her husband and make the decision to return to the workforce as an employee while running her business on the side. And since she was so stellar in her business she landed something fantastic within just a few months!” -Jane Scudder
“I had a session with a business owner who had mixed feelings about working for herself. She had been objectively successful but wasn't enjoying it the way she hoped. Conversations with family and friends weren't useful since they seemed to limit discussion. In their minds, she was running her own business and living the dream! What else could she possibly want? What on earth could be wrong?! Turns out this person wasn't feeling fulfilled by this and really missed the camaraderie of an office environment. We explored all of that - my job is to make it safe for her to explore what she really wanted and then ways to realize that desire at work. After at times an emotional conversation she was able to have a thorough conversation with her husband and make the decision to return to the workforce as an employee while running her business on the side. And since she was so stellar in her business she landed something fantastic within just a few months!” -Jane Scudder
The proof is in the pudding—there is a lot of value in “slowing down to speed up” through a focused conversation about your working life. Consider grabbing time with any of these amazing career strategists today.
