Career Coaching Can Make All the Difference

At Toombs Career Transformations, we support recently released clients to move forward in their career transition. Central to our programs is the personalized one-on-one support of a trained career coach.

This is the story of one client and her coach.

Woman at the top of her technical game faces a career transformation that has the potential to propel her to the front of her field

Mina* had been working steadily in her field of analytics and financial programming for almost a decade when she was released from a large energy company earlier this year. She had been with the company for three years, liked her work, but also saw the departure as an opportunity to refocus her career path.

During the past several years, Mina had been taking courses on the side in new programming technologies and was building a strong interest in incorporating these skills into her work. She was uncertain of how likely this was as there were not many local companies seeking this expertise, yet she didn’t want to have to move to New York or Toronto to find her ideal job.

Having never worked with a career coach before, she wasn’t sure what to expect or how a career coach could help her. When she first met Cari, her Toombs Career Coach, she was impressed with the multi-faceted approach to career planning Toombs offered.  Cari was quick to realize where Mina needed the most guidance and got right to work helping her.

“Mina is so highly skilled in her technical field, we chose to focus our career coaching sessions on how to pivot her next career move using the new technologies she’s been learning, build her confidence in self-promotion, and target her job search to a local, progressive company. So that’s exactly what we did.”

Even though Mina felt confident and successful while in a position, networking and job search and was awkward and uncomfortable for her. With English as her second language, she found she struggled the most when trying to promote herself and meet new people.  Cari and Mina practised multiple interview scenarios and role-played introductory meetings to boost her confidence when communicating face-to-face. They worked through her cover letters and other offer negotiation documents, polishing and heightening her professional written communications. They also fine-tuned her resume so that it accurately depicted her expertise while incorporating the new skills and areas of focus that Mina wanted to highlight.

Mina found that working weekly one-on-one with a dedicated career coach to cross-check her language, while sharing ideas and career insights together, was invaluable! She could feel her confidence and skills building each week. With Cari’s support, she took even bolder moves in her career search than she had before:

• reaching out to potential employers for information meetings
• asking for feedback following interviews that didn’t result in an offer, and
• applying for positions that were a ‘technical stretch’ for her

Mina was very appreciative of the added support Toombs offered on her career transition journey. On several occasions, Mina was able to schedule added sessions with her coach in time to prepare her strategy and verbiage for an important upcoming meeting or interview.

“I knew although I had the skills to do the job, I just needed extra help to make sure my language and actions were able to communicate this accurately and align with business culture and etiquette in Canada. Cari has been my go-to person for all of this, and I am so grateful Toombs was a part of my severance package. It really made the difference for where I am now!”

After many applications, interviews and months of coaching, Mina was delighted to land a new position at a local company that incorporates her training in new programming technologies and has potential for growth and promotion. She wishes she had this kind of support and career guidance years ago.

UPDATE:  Now that Mina is settling into her new position, she is able to extend work with her coach on maximizing her first 90 days of work, thereby setting herself up for greater long-term success.

Over the past 30 years, Toombs has been your trusted career transition partner. We are proud to support Canadians as they transition into new beginnings. Our services include a combination of highly personalized 1:1 coaching along with online training and HR-related support services. Our ‘tried and tested’ processes allow transitioning individuals to explore their passions, hone their job search skills, find and secure new job opportunities, and activate rewarding career possibilities. 

We look forward to working with you to find your next best career move!

*client name and some details have been changed to maintain anonymity