David

Career Field: Software Engineer

Years of Experience: 8

My Career Challenge: I lost my job. When I began my (involuntary) job search, I was happily getting a lot of phone screen and in-person interviews, but I wasn’t getting any offers. I needed help with my interviewing skills, and I called Ellen a week before I was to fly to an in-person interview with the entire team I would be working with. The job was with a great company and closer to my family, so really I wanted to knock it out of the park and get an offer.

How Coaching Helped: I didn’t realize that I needed well-thought-out examples that illustrated my career achievements. Ellen taught me to pinpoint five that would help me with any tough interview question I might be asked, from describing a recent challenge and how I overcame it to how I resolved conflict with a team member. I practiced using them again and again during my interview prep with Ellen, to improve my recall ability. Ellen also had me mentally visualize how everything would go, from organizing myself for my trip to arriving at the interview to answering questions confidently. This tactic helped calm my nerves and interview successfully in front of a group. In fact, they commented (unsolicited!) on how well I had interviewed.

Outcome: I got the job! And I was even able to negotiate a higher salary, above the range they initially described for the position.

“Ellen brought out the knowledge and confidence that I needed, to get to the level I needed, to land my new job.”  - David