Ask the Coach: Interview with Career Consultant Andrea Abernethy

Andrea Abernethy is one of Careerminds’ career consultants. As a consultant, Andrea assists program participants throughout their career transition, providing support, advice, and encouragement when needed. With twenty years of experience in the education industry, including ten years working for her own business that she started from the bottom up, Andrea then transitioned to working as a career coach. After some time coaching at a different firm, Andrea began working as a career consultant for Careerminds. Andrea has coached hundreds of Careerminds participants, helping them find jobs across many different industries. The following is an interview with Andrea in which I asked about her experiences in and thoughts on her role in the company and Careerminds’ services.

Q: From your perspective, what makes Careerminds different t

han other outplacement companies?

A: I think Careerminds really cares about helping people; it’s not just about making money. We really listen to the clients needs in order to best support them, and we have a great success rate helping them get jobs. Running my own business taught me that you constantly have to change 

and update and listen to what your clients’ needs are to find ways you can help them. That’s what it’s all about. And we know its successful and that they appreciate it because they let us know when they land their job. It’s a tough time when you’re in job transition, so just to have someone to talk to you and encourage you is very helpful.

How do you work to update and change for participants’ needs?

The career consultants have meetings with Raymond [founder and CEO of Careerminds] all the time, and he listens to what the consultants say about their interactions with the participants, so whatever the clients need he then tries to deliver. He has the IT people right on it, updating the technology to best help our participants. By the next meeting, it’s always in place. If it’s something that can support either the career consultants or the participants, it’s implemented.

What is your role as a career consultant?

When participants get their outplacement package, they’re assigned to a career consultant. We contact them within 24 hours to set up a call. We try to get them engaged, and they usually are right away. We set up a call for coaching within the next week. We do an orientation with them, teaching them about their resources and letting them know about the services available to them through Careerminds’ system. All of the clients have access to the virtual technology system. It’s like the best of both: they can do it on their own with the technology, and they have the coach for additional support. It’s really a great system.

What’s your favorite part about being a career consultant?

Helping people find jobs is really rewarding. I just got two emails this weekend thanking me and telling me that they landed a job. It’s great to know that your clients really appreciate the work you’ve done. Careerminds’ technology alone gives participants the tools they need, but they might not be as motivated if I’m also there to support them. It’s amazing to know you were helpful.

What stands out to you about working for Careerminds over another firm?

The technology of course, but I also think that this whole company, starting with the owners, really cares about helping these people. Internally we’re constantly receiving training as well to try to figure out the best way to work with our clients. Within the company we’re working as a team. Even though our network of career consultants is spread all over the United States, we’re always talking and sharing our ideas. We help support each other. It’s a great company and that’s one of the reasons why I also now work in sales, because I really believe in this company and I believe people can have success with it.

How do you think Careerminds’ services can be beneficial for participants and for companies?

On top of all of the things I’ve mentioned, we really have a high success rate of getting people back to work in the first 12 weeks. We have the virtual platform and the coaching that we’re constantly updating and improving. All the coaches who I work with are very experienced and dedicated; not just anyone is hired as a consultant. Then also, with our affordable packages, we can save companies lots of money, too. We offer several different packages, so companies can choose what they want, whether that be just coaching and resume writing or other services like LinkedIn training or webinars. There are so many different services available, which gives clients more choices, options, and flexibility than other companies.

Lastly, what do you think is the importance of using a service like Careerminds?

Looking for a job now is so different than it was even a couple of years ago. There’s so much more online, it’s so much bigger. You have to update with the changes in the world. Careerminds does this. For example, part of the technology on our site has a keyword matching system connecting your resume and our job search engine. We’ve adapted to work with the technology that employers use. Careerminds is keeping up with it and improving all the time to be the most beneficial to both our program participants and our clients.

Careerminds