Client: Philip was deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of a 2,300-person agency within the government of Washington State.
Industry: State Government, Consulting
Function: Administration, Operations, Executive Leadership, Change Management, Organizational Development
Challenge: Philip was asked to assume a critically important government role during the pandemic that was vacant but, as the crisis subsided, he found the position to be an unappealing long-term prospect and wanted help transitioning his career.
Process: Philip benefited considerably from a major resume overhaul, interview coaching, efforts to build his social capital, and a reevaluation of what it means to him to be successful.
Landing: Philip had the unique experience of landing successfully twice – once in a management consulting role tailor-made for him, and later as director of an agency reporting directly to the governor of Oregon.
Study:
Philip was director of product, planning, and performance for a division of the Employment Security Department of Washington State, and he loved it. Highly valued in that role for his success in building up what was a new division, Philip was tapped to assume the Number Two spot in the agency, deputy commissioner and chief operation officer, after the pandemic hit and the position became suddenly vacated.
A long-time and passionate public servant, Philip understood the critical importance of filling this new position during a time when thousands of people were losing their jobs. So, he willingly accepted the promotion – along with the stress and long hours – and knuckled down to help Washingtonians in need. As the pandemic subsided and Philip began to breathe again, however, he found that the role was not what he wanted for the long-term.
“I wasn’t doing the things that fulfill me. I wanted to get back to my priorities, so I decided to step down from that position,” said Philip.
Philip’s boss was supportive of his desire to change jobs, but what Philip hadn’t initially realized is that stepping down meant leaving state government.
“The deputy commissioner role is close to the last stop. In fact, if you don’t plan to become an agency head, it is the last stop. That became clear to me in talking to people about possibly moving backwards. It alarmed them. Going backwards isn’t an option in state government. It just isn’t done,” said Philip. “My only option, therefore, was to leave government completely. That’s a comfort blanket I would have to take off.”
A long-time civil servant, Philip had little experience looking or applying for jobs. Typically, he was just appointed or asked to take roles. He knew even less about job transitioning outside government. Consequently, his job search was rather aimless.
“Within a week of beginning my job search, I knew I would need help. I didn’t even know how to use LinkedIn. And when I called recruiters they said, ‘We don’t talk to people like you,’” said Philip.
Philip found The Barrett Group (TBG) online. He was skeptical at first but decided to give it a shot. Immediately, he began seeing tremendous benefits – starting with the Clarity Program.
“I didn’t understand Clarity at first. I thought, ‘Really? Do we have to spend time learning about our preferences? Can’t we just get to the ‘finding the job’ part? But Clarity was unique. I’ve done similar training and I’m certified in evaluative tools for organizational development, but I’ve never experienced what I did this time,” said Philip. “Clarity was absolutely the MOST valuable part for me because I had trapped myself into thinking that I have to be in the C-suite. That I must continue doing what I have been doing. My coach, Lisa Levesque, really helped put things into perspective. The exercises I did made me deeply examine what is important in my life.”
Philip continued exploring this line of thinking with his career consultant, Barbara Limmer.
“Once I started working with Barbara – who is amazing, just amazing! – she really helped me unpack what it is that I want to do. She was a great coach. I could tell her what I was thinking and she would get me thinking in a different way by asking questions. She never pushed me to do anything I didn’t want to do, and if I had second thoughts about something, she would just say, ‘Okay, let’s work through this.’ Working with her was very rewarding. It was with Barbara that I realized that there are other places you can be successful besides the C-suite.”
As he continued considering his career path, Philip worked on the fundamentals of his career campaign.
“Overhauling my resume was difficult. Mine was old school. The writing team and Barbara pushed me hard to produce quantitative results for everything on my resume. On the draft was written, ‘What was the result? What did you achieve?’ It was really challenging and took a long time, but it was so valuable.”
Philip rebuilt his LinkedIn profile and learned how to leverage LinkedIn in ways he never knew were possible. He learned how to reach out to 3rd party recruiters. And he learned how to interview better.
“I have interviewed so many people and thought I knew everything about it, but I didn’t know how to BE interviewed. It’s very different! I also found out that interviewing in government is drastically different from interviewing in the corporate sector. In government they focus on your values and personal traits, whereas in the private sector they focus on your business results.”
Philip also began building social capital and made a connection with a consulting firm shortly after engaging TBG.
“Social capital is a big thing at The Barrett Group. They want you to develop your relationships and build new ones. It worked! A friend of mine suggested I speak to his wife, who is president and owner of a management consulting firm looking to expand her practice. She needed someone with an organizational development background, like mine. She was very interested in my experience and skills and enticed me to come aboard.”
At first, Philip was terrified of taking a consulting position because of the inconsistent income. That was a significant mental hurdle for someone who had spent most of his career earning a stable, government income. In the end, though, Philip was won over and accepted the job.
“She took me to dinner and walked me through a compensation package. She admitted there is risk, but she insisted there is plenty of work. She wasn’t kidding! And it’s super rewarding! What really appealed to me is that I had one problem to solve – not 100 – and I got to strategize, plan, and coach people on how to resolve that problem. It’s very satisfying. As an executive, you sit in back-to-back meetings and you don’t get time to do that.”
Eight months after Philip had settled into his new career, a surprising thing happened. He got another job offer.
“I had applied to a cabinet position reporting directly to the governor of Oregon immediately after deciding to leave my last job. It wasn’t until after I had connected with the management consulting firm that I was invited to interview. My new boss was supportive of my exploring this new opportunity. It turned out to be a complicated, time-consuming recruitment process because Oregon was changing governors, and both were involved. I had multiple interviews and after each one I wouldn’t hear anything for months. But when the new governor finally took office, she called to offer me the job.”
Accepting wasn’t an easy decision for Philip because a lot had happened since he had first applied for the government role. He was happily landed at a great firm with great people. Meanwhile, the new job would require moving to another state and away from his family. But the role fit right into his wheelhouse and promised to be fun, challenging, and exceedingly rewarding. Moreover, Philip found the governor to be an inspiring person for whom he was excited to work. In short, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
When Philip left the consulting firm, he did so with the full support of his boss – and the knowledge that he would be welcome back in the future. Today he couldn’t be happier.
“My experience with The Barrett Group was great! The program helped me identify my priorities and taught me a tremendous amount about the job market. Overall, I found the whole program to be valuable.”
Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Photo: 123rf.com