What do I want, and what really suits me?

At the start of an outplacement process that career counselor Marijke Matthijsse supervised, everything was vague and uncertain for the candidate. What did she want now and what really suits her? "After a few conversations, where we put everything in order such as: her knowledge and experience and her drive to date, her energy starts flowing again and she wants nothing more than to get back to work."

After fine-tuning the resume and cover letter, activating LinkedIn and starting to link with people and/or companies of interest, the application process gets even better. Employment agencies find her on LinkedIn and want to introduce her to companies. Several job interviews follow.

When we receive rejections, we make follow-up calls to find out what the problem is. Sometimes people find her overqualified, sometimes she just lacks specified knowledge needed for that particular vacancy. Often people are enthusiastic about her and she takes that as something very positive.

Discussing the results of the interest and personality test provides additional confidence for engaging in a second interview with two employers.

In the end, the candidate can choose from 2 jobs and she makes an informed choice. She regained self-confidence and insight into her qualities and pitfalls. I have seen this candidate flourish during the program. She functions well and enjoys herself immensely.

- Marijke Matthijsse

Career Coach