Case Studies

Kelly - Banking to HR in an interstate resort in just 2 years.

Kelly was a friendly, young woman, originally from the country and with a wry sense of humour. After a short stint as a veterinary's assistant in her hometown, she turned her sights towards the city and the security (she imagined) urban employment could provide. Her new job as a Clerk with a large metropolitan bank was a satisfying challenge, and a stable and secure profession, which pleased her parents.

Now 10 years later, acknowledged for her sound people skills, diligence and sheer hard work, she had achieved the role as Branch Bank Manager.

Yet the Banking industry had changed dramatically in this time. In fact Kelly believed that the Bank had changed in ways which no longer fitted with many of the things that Kelly valued in her work. She was experiencing more and more pressure to work in ways that went against the grain - the result was tension, insecurity and disillusion.

While she had attended short in-house courses and had started a TAFE management course, she had no completed formal qualifications. She was feeling trapped and increasingly concerned about what she would do if she left the bank.

Her career appraisal highlighted an interest in Tourism and Hospitality and further that many of her developed skills could be applied to Human Resources and Administration.

Her next step was to enrol in an external Administrative Management degree, a pathway paved by her TAFE credential. Today, 2 years later, Kelly works in a senior position within Human Resources at a large interstate resort.

Sam - Sportsman to leadership position in sales.

An athletic and outgoing individual in his early thirties, Sam had worked himself to the pinnacle of his sporting career. Never much one for the books, Sam was a hands-on person with an energetic and gregarious personality. As his sporting career was coming to a close, he was more and more concerned about what his life would be like without sport as a central focus.

While considering a diverse range of issues, how he would like to make a living became one of the core questions. Sam had participated in many sporting sponsorship activities and was an engaging public speaker. He had spent some months, during his sporting career, selling sports equipment part-time as well as working for a friend who owned a construction firm, always on a very casual basis. Paid employment had not been a strong concern while sport paid the bills. Now years later as his sporting career was changing and his life was in transition, he was wanting to make other decisions and uncertain about how to begin.

Using an assessment as a vehicle to look at compatible vocations, it became clear that Sam was his own person, one who wanted to call his own shots, be out and about, not tied to a desk. A people person with many community contacts- Sales became a vocational focus.

After showcasing his skills and achievements in a resume- highlighting his outstanding people skills, public speaking, charity work, PR and media activities together with his sponsorship networks- no potential employee could fail to see that Sam, with little direct sales experience had the skills and ability to add solid value in the sales field.

Eighteen months after leaving his sporting career, he has won a leadership position in his company, so impressive were his first year sales figures.

Patricia - Careering in caring to caring for her career.

Patricia was a nurse and a very exhausted nurse at that. With the demands of shift work eating into other interests, she was disillusioned with this demanding industry which she experienced had few pathways for advancement of the kind she was seeking.

She was ready for a change and wanted to move away from working in a 'helping' role. A review of her aptitudes and abilities, revealed strong mechanical and abstract reasoning skills. Further investigation revealed that indeed Pat tended to the 'handy man' chores around her house- fixing the washing machine, the car, small appliances, even building a room onto her small home.

She enjoyed these activities and found that she could actually work out most of the associated problems herself. Reviewing vocations in accord with natural predispositions and skills, she applied for a plumbing apprenticeship.

Today Pat is married with two children. She is also one of very few women who successfully own and manage a plumbing business. With 6 employees she is in charge of her life, financially secure and continues to enjoy the challenges of driving her own business.

Eric - Stifled engineering professional to engineering by design.

In his early forties, Eric was financially successful, had a family (yet didn't spend a lot time with them) and a profession that had claimed large amounts of his time and attention for some years. He was increasingly unsettled and unhappy.

From a wealthy family with clear expectations about what a successful future should look like, Eric set about achieving their dreams. Sitting in the office, he described his past and dreams he'd had about life. Dreams about surfing, being involved in creative work, a more relaxed way of living life, a different rhythm to the 70+ hours he worked now as an engineer with a large oil company. In fact he hadn't done much engineering work, his work had gravitated to a more project management orientation.

Our work together unearthed buried interests as we considered how to reduce his workload, making time for more of what he loved and thought about how we might shift his talents and skills to industries of greater interest.

Rather than set off in an entirely new career direction, we considered how his engineering skills could be applied to the design of surf and snowboards. Moving in this direction has meant many personal and professional changes as well as a geographic shift.

Eric both freelances and works for an overseas design firm, lives on the east coast where he and his family can surf, swim and ski. These transformations didn't happen over night but began with a willingness to explore himself, his talents, strengths and interests and even what wasn't working in his life. Ideas became informed plans as he found the courage to live his dreams.

Please contact Helen today to speak about your particular situation.