The Career Coach

Another person who showed determination and would not give up was my career coach Paloma Bowland.

From the time she first reached out to me, she was determined to help me find a job and had no intention of giving up or letting me give up until we reached our goals.

She wanted to help me, because she recognized I desperately needed help, no one else seemed to be helping me and it would give her further evidence that her career coaching techniques and methods worked for diverse kinds of people in a variety of circumstances.

Furthermore, she was perseverant because that was her personality.

Paloma did not give up.

Paloma initially approached me gently and patiently—with an occasional email and phone call—but once she had caught my attention, she spared no time and energy in getting me to do what I had to do.

She called me every day to check up on my progress, review what I had done, give me further advice and keep me focused on finding a job.

After each piece of advice she shared with me, since it always required some effort on my part, my first reaction was hesitation, “Do I have to?”

“Do I have to prepare better for my interviews and follow up more conscientiously?” I have always done research and written thank you notes.

“Do I have to rewrite my resume?” People tell me my resume is great.

“Do I have to work on my blog, LinkedIn and Facebook profiles?” “Do I have to think in terms of branding and marketing?” “Do I have to write another article?”

Paloma’s answer was always the same, “Yes, if you want to find a job!”

She would then explain to me exactly what I had to do.

Each exercise and task she gave me quickly proved itself to be beneficial, but she still had to coax and urge me onward with each and every step.

I always wanted to know why I was doing what I was doing, so I made her explain everything from top to bottom before I would feel comfortable allocating my time to implementing her advice instead of looking for new leads, making calls and sending out resumes.

It also took me time to come to terms with the simple question I asked myself day after day—and which my wife and sister soon started to ask me, “Who is this Paloma anyway?”