Recently I caught up with past client, Dean. I was Dean’s career transition coach when his previous employer made his credit management position redundant back in 2014. At the time Dean and his wife had a new baby and he was the primary breadwinner. Needless to say it was a little scary for Dean to have unexpectedly found himself unemployed.
As I’ve since learnt is Dean’s style, he eagerly embraced the career transition process. He incorporated the new knowledge I shared about planning for job search, writing a highly effective resume and standing out at interview. He approached the consultations enthusiastically and delivered on what he committed to. Unsurprisingly, within a relatively short time he secured a new role. First in a start-up before moving on to another role after six months. Dean says that the achievement-based resume he’d developed during the coaching process clearly stood out and gave him the confidence he needed to move on easily to future roles.
A couple of years down the track, and with twins added to the family, Dean received a life changing call. Long time mate, Justin, had just registered his new credit management company and wanted Dean to join the team. Dean jumped at the opportunity to be involved in creating this new business and knew that he’d be able to contribute many of the skills he’d developed since redundancy.
Initially Credit Solutions’ Queensland branch operated from Justin’s home office but a few months in they opened an office at North Lakes in Brisbane and employed their first team member. Now, less than a year later, they employee over 20 staff and one of their trainees has been nominated for Queensland Trainee of the Year. The day before we met up Dean’s team helped him celebrate his one year of service, awarding him a Certificate of Excellence as a Team Leader.
Dean has hit his career stride. He’s working to his strengths and doing what he loves. What fulfils him most is watching their staff grow and helping them to reach their potential. Justin and Dean work on the floor with the team. There’s no fancy corner offices, simply a work culture that strongly values people. Their staff turnover, at practically zero, clearly defies the industry average of around 50%.
Credit Solutions goes from strength to strength, extending their services to include multiple offices of a law firm this year. With so much growth, the future for Dean and the team is looking bright.
Today Dean loves his role, team, conditions and the company and its values. In fact, he has never been happier at work, something he definitely did not foresee when unemployed back in 2014.
Do you love your work or is it time you considered working with a career coach? Call Judith on 0400 739 919 to work with a Brisbane career coach or visit the Career Development Association of Australia to find a practitioner near you.