“If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.”
Most of us know more about our mobile devices or house-breaking the dog than how to manage our work lives.
Whether you want to change your job, profession or your lifestyle, Darlene Cook can help you find your work / life solutions.
Harnessing her 20+ years of corporate management experience in Fortune 100 companies like AT&T and Alcatel Lucent, Darlene Cook, Career Strategist, Certified ReCareer and Life Coach, helps her clients smoothly navigate the career management maze.
Because of her unique experience of having been on the hiring side, she knows that most jobs don’t go to the most qualified – they go to those who know the most about how to get hired.
She knows what employers need to see in a resume and with her insider knowledge of the workings of Human Resources, guides her clients through the job search and interview processes.
Since founding Resumes & Beyond in 1991, Darlene has provided full-service career and life change support to over 4,000 clients.
She is a frequent public speaker, workshop leader, columnist and author of her forthcoming book, Quantum Quizics©: How to Get an MBA in The Field of Your Choice in 60 Minutes. Darlene was featured recently on WMARTV, “How to Make Your Resume Stand Out”.
She is a member of the Career Masters Institute, the International Coaches Federation, an Associate in the Career Thought Leaders Consortium, a Small Business Administration SCORE counselor and volunteer for Jobless Warriors: working to end unemployment for our heroic warriors and enhance the start of their post-military careers.
Most jobs don’t go to the most qualified . . . They go to those who know the most about how to get hired.
• Career coaching | Career counseling to discover what you’re meant to do:
The best-kept secret on this planet may be how to manage one’s work life. Plus, most people have no clue about what kinds of jobs they are hardwired to do.
Whether you’re just starting out, mid-career, or approaching retirement, coaching from a former hiring manager and seasoned career professional armed with 17 years of experience and a hefty toolbox will uncover places within you that you’ve never seen and take you to career places you’ve only dreamed of.
• A resume that gets interviews
What passes today as a resume for most job seekers is what hiring managers call a “job obituary” — a dull and boring description of everything they’ve ever done without any clue about how well they did it.
Consequently, because employers don’t have jobs — they have needs, the resumes that get the interviews are focused, marketing tools that contain accomplishment statements that excite the reader and make them want to meet you. That’s what we’ll give you!
• Beyond the resume . . . the search
Most people think job searching is like baseball — you must touch all the bases before you can get home. But it’s really more like an end run in football with 3 effective blockers.
Most resume writers disappear after they deliver your resume. We stay with you and help you develop a search plan that works as well as help you find the hidden jobs.
• Coaching to manage interviews confidently
Some surprises are fun but not in a job interview. Interviewers are constantly changing techniques so you need a coach who is an expert about the kinds of questions you’re going to be asked so you can manage the whole interview with confidence including those unpleasant career potholes you may have encountered with a bad boss.
• Uh oh, now what ?
A wise person said, “How something begins is how it goes on“.
Starting out on a new job for most people is like initiating a dance with their new boss, associates and team members. They start out first at boogie pace then after a while get tired and need to switch to something more like a waltz. The big problem when they switch is, they end up stepping on every body’s toes.
If you have a Life Coach in your corner, you’ll not only start off on the right foot, but at the right tempo. Plus you’ll learn how to use office politics to further your career.
Athletes and executives have them and Ivy League colleges tell their graduates to go out and get one because Life Coaches bring good things to life.
• Act II, reinventing your retirement
Too young to retire? Wonder if you will ever be able to retire? What will the new retirement look like for you? Will it be your last dance or a new song? You may be pleasantly surprised at your “re-wirement” possibilities! There are 76 million U.S. baby boomers approaching retirement and what often passes as retirement planning is financial planning. There is so much more you can learn from Darlene Cook, a Certified Retirement Coach, that will surprise you. She knows because she is currently enjoying “Re-Wirement” in her Second Act.
Something else most people don’t know about are the 5 minimum daily requirements for a healthy retirement needed to prevent REA, Retirement Emotional Anemia.
To learn more, please read: Are You Lacking Your Minimum Daily Retirement Requirements?
Are You Lacking Your Minimum Daily Retirement Requirements?
No amounts of broccoli, fruit, yogurt, or grains will replace the five critical requirements necessary for a healthy retirement.
If you have worked most of your life, you have psychological requirements that must be met or you will most likely contract what is commonly known as Emotional Retirement Anemia. You may be unaware of the benefits your years of working brought you that were integral parts of your life that soon became “requirements”. But if you are to live fully in retirement, you must find replacements for them or suffer the consequences. They were:
• Financial Compensation
• Time Management
• Sense of Value to Others
• Status / Self Value
• Socialization
The first is widely recognized as the only requirement for a healthy and successful retirement, so most retirees plan for it. But those who deprive themselves of the other four will undoubtedly contract a debilitating case of Emotional Retirement Anemia or ERA.
Symptoms can be:
• Lack of structure or feeling out of sync with the beat of the culture around you.
• Loss of your feeling of value to others.
• Loss of identity and self worth.
• Feelings of disconnectedness, listlessness or loneliness.
Other symptoms might include: broken springs in your Easy Boy; a spouse who keeps telling you to get a life, cocktail hours beginning at noon, finding yourself unwelcome during your frequent visits to your kids, finding vacation planning as hard as working, or noticing most of your conversations with friends are about what you did in your former life.
Adding the missing daily retirement requirements to your diet is easy and normally produces immediate retirement fulfillment results.
If you think you have contracted ERA, Contact Darlene immediately for help.
“After losing my senior-level management job due to a company closing, I was unsure about how to blend my current job experiences and accomplishments into my old resume. I knew I had the right skills and experience, but my old resume was not reflective of my talents nor formatted correctly. After one meeting with Darlene, I knew I was in good hands. She was able to pull my strengths, skills, experiences, and achievements from me and then work them into a powerful state-of-the-art-looking resume that landed me over 20 interviews and a new job within five weeks.”
– Robert Suppies, Luxottica
“Ms Cook is meticulous, thorough, and to-the-point with her counseling of professionals who wish to stand out when pursuing employment. She brings out the importance of having the right tools when seeking a particular job. She is successful in preparing resumes to fit the type of employment the professional is looking for. She has helped me beyond words!”
– Claire O’Neill, Johns Hopkins
“After taking a long hiatus after college tending bars, Darlene Cook helped me to secure a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep position with a major company. She helped eliminate my self-doubt; packaged and fully prepared me for my dream job!”
– Ron Bates, Pharmaceutical Sales Rep.
Pfizer, Inc.
“Darlene Cook provided valuable insight and a thoughtful, fresh perspective during our coaching sessions. I was able to make better choices and adopt new strategies in both personal and professional matters. She’s a talented listener with a gift for helping people achieve a new level of fulfillment in their lives.”
– Susan Koomar, Business Editor
Pocono Record
“After being self-employed for several years, Ms. Cook was able to prepare a resume that got me the job I wanted. She understood the skills needed for this new career and was able to describe in the resume how mine matched the job. Recently I recommended her to my college graduating son who was also successful in getting many interviews. If you’re looking to have an edge, I recommend Resumes & Beyond!”
– Pete Vazquez, Princeton Township Dept of Education
“KUDOS FOR DARLENE COOK”
“One of the lasting impressions I have of Darlene is her ability to bring a sense of calm and reassurance to what is most likely a fairly turbulent time in your life. Let’s face it, if you are in contact with her, you are probably getting ready to make some serious work/life changes. Darlene’s calming presence is matched only by her tenacity in her drive for your success.A contradiction? No, just an extraordinary example of balance . . . something we all need in our time of uncertainty! ”
- Bob Johnson, Director of Food Safety, Ruxton Chocolates, LLC
“I was very impressed by Darlene’s professionalism and the resume that she completed for me. It was state-of-the-art formatted so it jumped out among all the average do-it-yourself resumes. Darlene has the skills and knowledge to prepare an outstanding resume for any type of job and knows how to catch an employers’ attention. Out of the three employers I sent the resume to, each one offered me an interview. As a recent college graduate with little job experience in the major field I’m targeting, with her guidance, I was still able to get multiple interviews. I highly recommend Darlene’s services to anyone seeking employment. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.”
– Peter Vazquez, The Citadel