From time to time we interview a client or former client about his or her career transition and their experience with Kelleher Associates. 

As with many executives in the last few years, Mike left a major position — in his case, President of one of GE's leasing divisions — to take a run at heading a dot.com, Install Inc., which didn't work out in the end. We spoke with Mike as he was preparing to assume his new position at Reed Elsevier.

KAI: Mike, congratulations on your new position. You must be very excited.

Mike: I'm really thrilled to be back in the corporate world in a senior position that takes advantage of my experience and skills, and the compensation package is very competitive!

KAI: Mike, visitors to our site and prospective clients would be interested in learning how you became a Kelleher client.

Mike: The simplest explanation is that I met Al Kramer, a Kelleher principal, at an ExecuNet meeting, which is true, but my story has a few more twists and turns to it.

KAI: Could you share some of that with us.

When I met Al, I had just come off a very disheartening experience with another organization that portrayed itself as the premier career management firm. When Install, Inc., a start-up venture was forced to close due to lack of funding, I was very vulnerable and, frankly, I was seduced by the promise of a big job in no time with little personal effort. This firm's sales approach was so slick, that my wife, who is normally a healthy skeptic, but who also wanted to restore our life style very quickly, was convinced, too. I learned again, though, that if something appears to be too good to be true, it generally is too good to be true, as was this arrangement.

What was really bothersome is the fact that this firm charged me a very substantial amount of money right up front and then did virtually nothing for me. In fact, they actually set me back because the indiscriminate mass mailing they sent out, about which they failed twice to inform me let alone ask me to do a quality check, included a cover letter and resume with typos, incorrect addresses and greetings, and an extraneous and irrelevant paragraph in the cover letter. It wound up being a very low quality, mass production operation and really embarrassing. Plus, the resume they put together was really a "C" and I needed an "A".

I was really quite upset, depressed, and highly suspicious after this experience.

So when I talked to Al Kramer I wasn't in a particularly buoyant mood. I was pretty down and very suspicious.

KAI: What happened after you met Al?

Mike: Al invited me to visit Kelleher Associates in Wayne and meet with him, Ed Kelleher, and Mitch Wienick, which I did.

KAI: What did they say and what was your reaction?

Mike: When we met a few days later, they asked about my employment history and what I was looking for, we discussed my experience at the other so-called Career Management firm, and they asked me to share my then current resume with them and even on an initial glance they made some helpful suggestions.

I was really pleased that as a group they took two hours out of their schedules to meet with me. I was very impressed with their systematic and disciplined approach to career management. They outlined their approach to assessment, building my resume, developing a personal marketing plan, contact development, interview training, and regular coaching and counseling meetings. They encouraged me to throw out what I had put together to that point and start fresh, and for me that proved to be great advice.

I'm jumping ahead here, but what was really in sharp contrast to my previous career management experience where I was really on my own despite the big fee I paid, But, with Kelleher's customized 1:1 approach with seasoned, smart professionals it was a clear this would be a stark contrast to my prior experience. While the process began with Ed, he worked with me on a comprehensive assessment of skills and demonstrated results leading to resume building. I spent most of my time with Mitch on developing and executing my personal marketing plan. And, Al was available to me whenever I wanted to talk, which I took advantage of throughout my campaign. Plus, the office staff, led by Marcella Carter, was very responsive, timely, error free, overall very high quality.

Getting back to my initial meeting with Ed, Al, and Mitch, what really struck a chord was their urging me to come back with my wife Denise so that she could ask them any questions she had on her mind and understand the career transition and job search process, especially after our very disappointing experience with that other firm. What was very striking was their ability to articulate the idea that they couldn't guarantee a job for me, but they would work very closely with me to create a set of extremely high quality tools that would allow me to capitalize on the job opportunities we separately or mutually uncovered. 

A few days later, Denise and I came back to Kelleher's office and the team spent another 90 minutes with both of us patiently answering her questions, concerns and reservations and truly reassuring her I would get professional and individualized attention. We decided on the spot that Kelleher Associates was where I needed to be. And, surprisingly, their fee was very reasonable, considerably less than I had already paid to the other so-called Career Management firm. This was particularly important to me because I had already been unemployed for a few months and I was still stung by the large amount of money I had already invested and for which I received virtually nothing of value. 

KAI: Mike, once you started to work with Kelleher Associates, what stands out in your mind as the biggest contributions they made to your career campaign?

Mike: They did three things that were absolutely invaluable.

The first was a comprehensive rework of my resume. They helped me create a crisp, concise, integrated and logical flow that really linked my objectives and my achievements into a very compelling story. In addition, through a series of detailed question and answer sessions that followed the assessment, they were able to help me identify an important thread that ran through my entire job history that really differentiated me. We built this into my resume, cover letters, and elevator speech. This thread also really guided my personal marketing plan development and execution in terms of industry and company targets.

Second, we worked on interviewing skills and post interview follow-up techniques. They asked me tough questions, they helped me develop a rationale for my current situation and shape my answers to common and uncommon interview questions, and they taught me a number of techniques that even as an experienced executive I was unfamiliar with, especially how to craft very thoughtful and strategic "thank you" letters after meetings and interviews. Moreover, we did this each time I had an important interview in front of me so we could customize my approach to each new situation.

Thirdly, we debriefed after every interview, analyzing and assessing what happened and deciding on an appropriate follow-up strategy, including, in the end, my negotiations around the offer I finally accepted. They apply deep experience and knowledge, common sense, and good judgment in helping you deal with interactions you have with prospective employers along with a light but savvy touch in pushing you to take the right steps, avoid the wrong steps, and make the key decisions. Their availability, day or night, and orchestration of the end game was really outstanding. I experienced what true professionals can do for you.

KAI: It sounds like you were very satisfied and thought you received real value for their fee.

Mike: I certainly did. Quite honestly, without their professional service and counsel I wouldn't have secured this position. And while Kelleher is a Career Management firm, not an executive search firm, when you consider that their fee represents a very low 4% of my new first year salary, which I paid myself, versus the 33 1/3% of total first year compensation that retained executive search recruiters usually charge their clients, they were an enormous bargain. 

To show you how helpful they were, even as I was saying my good-byes to their staff and other Kelleher clients, they were making recommendations and making sure I would do a final mailing to thank all of the networking contacts who had assisted me in my search, letting them know the specifics of my new position, and offering to help them in the future in whatever way I can.

If anybody asked me about Kelleher Associates, I would give my best endorsement without any qualification or hesitation, as would my wife. Frankly, many competitors talk a great game and don't deliver. Kelleher Associates take their client commitments seriously and deliver what they commit to. As Ed Kelleher likes to say, "we want to put the best you in front of potential employers and recruiters" and in reality Kelleher's quality process makes sure "the best you" is what is delivered! 

KAI: Mike, thanks for taking the time with us. We wish you much success in your new position.