Hi. I’m Ian Christie, and I lead the Bold Career Project. Whether you are seeking a promotion or that next big step in your career or ensuring that when the phone rings, you will be ready, you need to tell your story effectively. We are here to help you define your brand. And develop that story. Then, when it comes time to go to market, to help you campaign strategically and effectively.

Why You Need Career Transition Services

Career transition services and programs are comprehensive, personalized projects that we engage in together to help you either prepare for a future move or make that next career move. For some clients, it is a form of job search, in other words, getting ready to compete for that next role. For other clients, a career pivot or career change is involved, which likely requires more time developing an understanding of what they’re offering, identifying where they’re going and connecting the dots with the target market. 

• Direct Job Search
• Career Pivots
• Exploration and Change

Comprehensive packages that get you "market ready" for your next career move. From strategy, messaging, job search materials, campaign and opportunity support, packages can include career coaching, done-for-you career services like resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, as well as mock interviews and negotiation support. You will also get access to our online platform of videos and worksheets to support your next career move. Get Market Ready!

Our Approach

Our speciality or approach really hinges on marketing. Our client niche is people who are good at what they do, have a track record behind them, but who have a marketing gap between here and there. Typical clients include C-Level executives, Directors and VPs and Managers. However, we have worked with many, many different types of clients – from creatives to experienced technical staff, to business school students, etc.

Closing the Marketing Gap

What we find is that many talented and skilled people face a GAP in making desirable career changes or moving to the next level. That GAP is marketing based and includes:

• How to make sense of their background and capture their value in an authentic and powerful way
• Exploring what’s next in their career
• Defining best target markets
• How to sell it verbally and on paper and putting together a powerful LinkedIn profile and resume
• Devising strategies to reach the target market
• Understanding the needs of target market to sharpen a persuasive value proposition
• Raising profile and incoming leads through online means
• How to package an offering, where there is something freelance / contracting concerned (including marketing collateral, if appropriate)
• How to navigate the search campaign and manage the marketing cycles

The Approach

Our work is based on the premise that you have a set of professional assets and that there are natural target markets for what you do. As your career coach, we help you figure out both of these, develop strategy, and execute on branding, campaign approaches and personal marketing. For more transactional assignments (LinkedIn profile, resume, cover letter, interview coaching), we bring my extensive practical experience to bear to help you put your best foot forward. Our approach is:

• A strategic and practical approach to your career development
• A market-based and marketing focused approach to understanding and connecting the dots between your value and target markets
• Champion and guide for designing a powerful professional journey

Situation Analysis & Goal Setting

Discovery of your unique professional value

Exploration and analysis of target markets

Future planning, if undertaking a career change

Target Value Proposition Development

Branding - LinkedIn: Design and delivery of a LinkedIn profile that you're proud of

Branding - Resume: Design and delivery of a Resume that you're proud of

Insights into Interviews with Prep / Practice

Networking Conversation Scripting / Practice

Recommendations on how to uncover the hidden opportunities

Custom cover letter development

Recommendations on Campaign Activities

LinkedIn - How to actually use LinkedIn to build profile, network and reputation

Executive Recruiter Insight / Approach Strategy

Opportunity Management

On-boarding / Setting-up for success once you're on the job

Our Clients Report These Key Benefits

• Move forward with confidence
• Sets you up for the interview

• Clarity and confidence from developing a deep understanding of their track record

• The achievement of key personal and career goals

• The energy, etc. that comes from working from their strengths and unique offering

• Renewed focus from defining and articulating a powerful value proposition

• Mastery of the Conversation - from formal interviews to networking

• Higher income as a result of the above

Wouldn’t it be nice to feel a sense of direction and control over your career moves?

When you start a job search in a rush, without preparing, you dramatically decrease the likelihood of landing something you really want and deserve. 

When you pursue or explore job opportunities, you are joining the market for talent and that means that you will usually be in competition with others for jobs and it means selling your offering to buyers, aka decision makers. In all cases, your job is to induce someone to say yes to you and ideally, you should have a specific idea about who that someone is. 

In fact, there are significant risks to not being market ready for your career transition. One of the problems with career transitions is that for many people, they have to happen Now! And that means entering the job market or the promotion shoot-out without being sufficiently prepared. Urgency is sometimes unavoidable, but when urgent replaces common sense preparation, there is a long list of risks you run into including: 

• Little or no response to your resume
• Poor interviewing performance
• Not being able to go for what you really want, or not knowing where you fit and what you want.
• Feeling like you don’t have choices and saying yes to the wrong opportunity (usually the first thing that comes around) and then spending months and years feeling trapped in the wrong job.
• Saying no to the right opportunity because you weren’t clear about your true values were or where you really fit.
• Precious time wasted.
• Longer job search, and perhaps a longer period of unemployment.
• Settling. Not getting your true value.
• Confidence crisis.

6 Career Transition Steps to Get You Ready for Market

The 6 Steps form the foundation to effective career transitions. After conducting thousands of interviews, reviewing hundreds of thousands of resumes, and working personally with hundreds of clients, I can tell you with great certainty that effective job search is very much about good process. 

Successful job search and career change to a large extent is about good process. Following proven steps increases the likelihood that you will be in a situation where you feel like you are choosing, rather than settling for something that you really don’t want.

Transition Packages: Project-based approach to transitions. Services potentially include:

• Goal-setting, validation and fine-tuning
• Professional value discovery
• Target market definition and discovery
• Branding (deliverables dependent on client needs and budget)
• Campaign strategy
• Interview skill development, story development, mock interviews, and strategy/practice for specific opportunities
• Opportunity management