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Client Testimonials
From time to time we interview a client or former client about his or her career transition and their experience with Kelleher Associates.
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May 2004
Shari Anisman came to a crossroads in her life and wanted a new career challenge. After taking some time off to spend with family, she approached Kelleher’s team of experts. Within months she landed a job at Nobel Learning Communities, Inc. in its marketing department and is responsible for developing marketing strategies from scratch including brand positioning, communication strategies, and target market development.
KA: Give me a brief overview of your professional background. What’s on your career highlight reel?
SA: I started out in marketing working for Booz Allen & Hamilton as a research associate. I worked in a division responsible for marketing research and marketing strategy for retailers and other consumer service organizations – all Fortune 500 companies. I was very fortunate to gain this exposure and significant marketing experience early in my career. I got my MBA at Wharton and after that made a commitment to stay in Philadelphia. After graduating from Wharton, I took a position with Wawa in its marketing department. This was an opportunity for me to work within a consumer service based business and take its product development and branding to the next level.
The marketing focus at Wawa is a cross between classical marketing, merchandising, and general management. In my position at Wawa, I managed across several functions. I had P&L responsibilities for key business segments and also headed up advertising and branding for the corporation. I had a great opportunity and challenge at Wawa. My role evolved as the company evolved, but I came to a crossroads personally and professionally. I found that I had taken on too many roles and didn’t feel I could grow further at Wawa. At the same time, I was looking at where I was personally. I had a four-year-old daughter at home and really wanted to commit some time to my family. After taking some time off, I wanted to prove myself in another environment, in another culture and with another group of people. It sounds like a cliché, but I needed a new challenge. I took six months off completely, no job searching, just time off. Then I spent six months with Kelleher.
KA: I understand you’ve recently changed industries, how did Kelleher help you to leverage your skills, experience and background to make this switch?
SA: I did switch industries, but it wasn’t as drastic of a change as it may seem. Mitch and the team at Kelleher showed me how my skills, experience and background could translate to this new industry. We reviewed the similarities between the two industries and discussed how my experience would be valuable at the new opportunity. I was making a move from food retailing to education, but the multi-site management disciplines were the same. They share a need for consistency across dispersed locations and people-intensive atmospheres. I had a chance to replicate what I loved about Wawa, yet could have exposure to people with a whole new repertoire. Kelleher really helped me highlight my skill set and experience to leverage this opportunity. Mitch Wienick is known for his hard work and success in coaching marketing people. He understands what’s involved in a marketing career and knows the options out in the marketplace. He reminded me of the power of confidence -- confidence in the interview process and ultimately confidence in myself.
KA: Tell me a little bit about the process you went through to create your resume from scratch. What challenges did you face?
SA: From the start, Mitch recommended I take a step back and capture a significant inventory of my career and marketing accomplishments. Mitch gave me the confidence to push the envelope more. When I started with Kelleher, I had a bare bones list of accomplishments. He forced me to flesh out my experience. I have never been one to take credit for my career successes. The resume building process not only helped me track these successes on paper, but helped me verbalize them as well. In one long session with Mitch, we uncovered my key skills and highlighted my experience. We went into a lot of detail about the jobs I had, the businesses I worked with, the positions I held. More importantly, we looked at where businesses and functions were before I started working with them, and where they were after I finished. Throughout the sessions Mitch was genuinely interested in uncovering my story, ultimately mapping out my new resume.
KA: How did you develop and refine your networking skills?
SA: Kelleher helped me organize networking tactics. We worked through an “elevator speech,” and how I should present it to different individuals. Kelleher educated me about effective forums for networking in the Philadelphia area. I attended several networking sessions and at each session there was a representative from Kelleher present. This was a huge help. I was more confident because I knew I had a friend in the room. Mitch also constantly reminded me how important networking can be. As a working mom in a family with two busy careers, networking used to be my last priority. After working with Mitch on this process, I had a heightened awareness of networking and its place in the career balancing act. I fine tuned a networking approach that was efficient and applicable to my life and my business style.
KA: What were the interviewing techniques and negotiating skills you used to ultimately get the position at Nobel Learning?
SA: I found that I sometimes had difficulty giving concise answers to more personal questions about my career aspirations and motivations. Questions about business challenges were much easier for me. Kelleher helped boil down powerful and sincere answers to the more difficult questions. Mitch and I held interview training sessions and worked through questions that may come up in the interview process. These role playing sessions were a huge help for me. After my first round of interviews with Nobel Learning Communities, I met with Mitch and we reviewed the questions, my answers and my approach. This helped me distill and compact my answers to give a better response.
KA: Would you recommend Kelleher’s services to others?
SA: I would definitely recommend Kelleher’s services to other individuals. For me personally, working with Kelleher was a development opportunity. The team there helped me push myself to get to that next position. I had the opportunity to work with many senior level individuals who have tremendous qualifications. Not only did they share their experience with me, but they introduced me to an extensive support network. Something that I cannot stress enough is the support you receive at Kelleher. I made the decision to look for a new challenge, to switch careers. Mitch was a constant source of reinforcement reminding me that I was making a positive, proactive decision. His reinforcement gave me the confidence to know that taking time off was a positive decision for me in my specific situation. This support and confidence helped me become reenergized, refocused and more committed to my goals. Overall, it’s the people you meet at Kelleher and the support network you gain that provide lasting value even beyond landing that next job.
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