A Best Impression: Career and Job Search Strategy & Coaching
Welcome to A Best Impression!
I’m Colin Murphy, a career and job search strategist in San Diego. I work with job seekers from all over the country and in many different industries, offering expertise, insight, and advice that I’ve developed over my own career and job searches.
How does a career and job search strategist help?
Job search in 2021 is bunch of puzzle pieces that are constantly changing. Career and job search strategists exist because not everyone enjoys job search or understands the essential elements that go into this process or knows how to apply them to our individual goals. Working with a job search consultant ensures that the time you commit to your search is used effectively, and that you’re learning how these puzzle pieces fit together so that you can confidently apply for new roles independently.
Why do I love being a career counselor and job search strategist?
Because I love helping people identify their strengths and their values and to provide the support for them to pursue what they really want.
Long-term unemployed mid-career professionals may experience self-defeat and doubt, and in some circumstances feel they have to take any job because their job search has proven fruitless. Usually, it’s because they haven’t looked for a job in years and are going through the same job search techniques that landed them their previous roles. They feel they are no longer wanted for jobs because they don’t get the responses they feel they deserve. When they finally get a response or an offer, they’re willing to bend and accept any offer instead of requesting what they truly want.
What I love about my work is helping job seekers get to that ‘a ha!’ moment where these elements come together, when they realize how the job search works, and how they can successfully pursue companies and roles they want. That’s when things change – their attitudes, their excitement, their confidence — and job search becomes something to embrace, providing opportunities to reflect on achievements and accomplishments that help reinforce that they have real skills to offer. They’re now equipped to achieve an effective and time efficient job search themselves.
How did I find my passion for helping job seekers?
My own ‘a ha!’ moment was ironic. I had been editing resumes and cover letters for over a decade. I had written a book on thriving during unemployment, which included having job seekers identify volunteer opportunities. I was volunteering at two nonprofits preparing workforce program graduates for job interviews and assisting in writing resumes and cover letters. Despite enjoying this volunteer work and successfully preparing job seekers, I didn’t realize that being a career and job search specialist was my passion, something I was doing for free, and something I could do for a career.
In 2017, JVS in San Francisco approached me to join their staff, contributing to the curriculum design and instructing 25 long-term unemployed professionals every month, providing coaching and support services as long as they needed to land jobs they wanted. That’s when my passion for job search got the structure and input and collaboration it needed, and it was the first time that the sentiment that doing something you love for work removes the feeling that it is work.
Now, I teach using tactical job search techniques and by sharing my own experiences, as I’ve experienced the consequences and missed opportunities from the same insecurities and desperations that accompanies job search:
- how a two-line job posting for a start-up became my most influential and lucrative role
- my disastrous interview for a job I desperately wanted with Amazon
- declining a life-changing offer from TechCrunch because I prioritized the wrong goals,
- my acceptance of the first offer that Autodesk presented that I regretted immediately
- wasting years watching MySpace and my job there sink instead of taking control of where and how I spent my time
Job search is something that I enjoy and control. I only apply to companies that I want to work for, in roles that present me the opportunities and skills that contribute to my own development and goals. It’s only for things that I believe that I’ll enjoy. That’s what I want for the job seekers that come to me for help. That’s what they’ll learn from me. I think job search is fun and I want job seekers to learn how they can enjoy it, recognize their own values, and what they have to offer.
Why launch ABestImpression.com now?
For the past few years, I’ve only worked with job seekers that were referred to me by past clients. I enjoy working with people in person but I started getting clients in different cities. With COVID-19, there were more job seekers all over the country and although I was getting referred, these job seekers naturally wanted to have something to review themselves before connecting with me. This website provides some insight into who I am and my experience of how I work and what a potential client can expect.
What can you expect?
I’m working with you, each step of the way, as long as you need me. I typically work quickly because job search has intense deadlines. My work style and strategy reflects how you’ll need to tackle an application when you find a job description for a role you want. We’ll determine your timeline, and I’ll adjust to this if landing a job needs to happen immediately or if you want to be prepared for a future exploration. You can expect to use your time efficiently – applying for a job takes a few hours, but that’s only just to land an interview. Then, I’ll work with you to know how to talk about yourself and what you have to offer. Your LinkedIn and social media will support the story you present about yourself. You’ll have a shoulder to help you move on if you don’t get the role you hoped you would.
Do you need help? Let’s talk about it. We’ll identify your challenges and determine together if I’m the right person with the right skills and personality that can join you on your job search journey and that you can trust to lead you through this process.
Thanks for your time and consideration.
Colin Murphy, colin@abestimpression.com