Clients´ views

I worked for 25 years in the hydraulic industry in various positions from sales manager to divisional manager. My career displayed excellent and permanent progression with plenty of dynamism and great flexibility. My job changes, as is usual for managers, had up till then always been deliberately planned and executed. New for me however was a situation arising from strategic and organizational changes in my employer’s top management that required me to move to the company headquarters in a big city 300 km away.

There must be, I thought, other comparable positions in an international company with more than 2500 employees. And there were indeed such jobs available, but only in the headquarters. In this way my qualifications and good standing in the organization had turned into a hindrance for me.

My whole view of the world began to waver! My self-confidence and nerves were much shaken-up and uncertainty was growing concerning existential questions for me and my family.

What could I do now? What was going to happen?

Initially the company management showed great sympathy for my predicament. So we looked for a mutually agreeable solution to the problem, which however turned out to be that I should, after a certain period of time, leave the company. My employer offered to pay for executive-outplacement. I thought executive-outplacement or rather advice on how to get a new job was just a service intended to calm me down a bit. At that time I doubted whether it could really be useful or helpful in my situation.

At this point I was given the address of KONITZER & TAFEL with the request to arrange an appointment there for us to get to know each other. At KONITZER & TAFEL I met my advisor and one of the owners for a most open and informative discussion and went home with the conviction that these were experienced service providers who understood their business. From this meeting onwards there developed between me and my advisor a genuine partnership in which my advisor, as closely involved coach, prepared me continually and purposefully for the job-search activities. This covered everything from the redesign and revision of my resume and job application documents to the preparation of a script for interviews. During the time we worked together my advisor always took notice of my personal concerns and wishes and never set one-sided deadlines. We made a good team.

Because my advisor made me more aware of the value of my network and the need to develop and look after it, many potentially useful contacts could be made. Thanks to comprehensive help concerning design and layout very professional job application documents were produced. The support of the KONITZER & TAFEL advisor during the preparation and handling of written communications and conversations with possible new employers was specifically tailored for my target groups and industries. This laid the foundations of success.  Round the clock accessibility, quick help concerning immediate problems in the job-applications phase and psychological support when digesting rejections were particularly important to me. Good coaching is, when all is said and done, the reason why I obtained a contract for the position of sales manager for clamping devices in an internationally active corporation.

After only four months working with my KONITZER & TAFEL advisor I am now starting my new job. This is in a company that in every way meets my expectations with regard to tasks, activities and corporate culture.

My sincere thanks are due to KONITZER & TAFEL and of course in particular to “my“ coach.