About Sharon

My Passion

Working with you to uncover your “Career Treasure” and assist you in finding your place in the world.

My Purpose

Leading You to Discover, Own, and Enjoy Your Career Value and Worth.

How did I get interested in being a Career Counselor?

Growing up, I read two newspapers a day because my parents subscribed to them. I took their lead and read every article of those newspapers every day, seven days a week, just like they did, and I read their books and magazines too. In the newspapers, the “Employment” or “Want Ads” sections were so exciting to me-I couldn’t wait to see who was hiring, what skills were needed, what different jobs paid, and which companies kept advertising the same jobs over and over – as I knew there was a story there! This led to my interest and decision to become a Career Counselor at a young age.  I still read newspapers everyday, and I have my parents to thank for paving the way for my lifelong commitment to learning and my never-ending passion for knowledge.

To achieve my dream, I did what the current requirements were at that time: I obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, and a Master’s Degree in Counseling. Next, I enthusiastically worked with every age and type of client in every place possible-inpatient, outpatient, residential, and in clients’ homes, to be certified nationally as a Counselor. That work experience made me eligible to take and pass the National Certified Counselor (NCC) exam which was the requirement to become a nationally-accredited and credentialed Career Counselor. Later, I achieved the required supervised and approved experience with every kind of client possible as a Career Counselor, preparing me to take the National Certified Career Counselor (NCCC) exam.  Then I qualified to take the Master Career Counselor (MCC) Certification, which I happily passed.

After that, I worked full-time and part-time at 3 other jobs simultaneously to keep current in the career, employment, and workplace fields. This included launching my own career counseling practice. I have always been energized by driving forward diverse client and company goals. To my clients, I pass on my first-hand, invaluable expertise into workplace human resource operations, politics, and practices; how people make strategic career changes and advance; and how companies hire the best employees.

Careers, employment, jobs, and workplace needs for job candidates and companies are my passion, purpose, focus, and joy. I have also been a volunteer in the community with many different organizations and clients, to ensure I continually challenge myself and learn from all ages and backgrounds of career counseling clients while giving back to the members of my city and community.

My Career Coaching and Counseling Approach:

• I believe every person is born with unique career / occupational / work gifts, and my job is to help them find their “career treasure.”
• I have a healthy curiosity about people because their different abilities, knowledge, interests and skills have always fascinated me.
• I draw upon International Coach Federation (ICF) accredited Coach training, my Counseling training, my Human Resources background in recruiting, staffing, and succession planning, along with a positive solution-focused framework with my clients, which continues to be very successful.  Solution-focused therapy moves the traditional career counselor and client partnership beyond the “career problem and solution distinction” to help you focus on your life being free of education and employment obstacles or problems.
• I find that this positive approach is very exciting as it helps me to truly understand you as more than just “a job seeker,” since you are not an “UPC Code” or a “commodity” to be mass-marketed; but a unique individual with your own contributions to make in this world.
• My strengths-based component is a crucial part of empowering you prior to undergoing my career development services, which I achieve by asking about your educational, employment and life history. I also focus on your positive coping skills and previous successful problem-solving methodology. Your prior achievements provide the foundation and the direction for future career choices and actions.
• My expertise is in combining a positive, solution-focused and strengths-based career coaching and counseling approach with highly creative and customized local and national community resources for your maximum career satisfaction and success.

Why should you hire me? My broad and deep results-driven experience means I will:

• Connect you to your career potential and vision more confidently
• Pinpoint what careers, opportunities, and companies will meet your needs more precisely
• Coach and motivate you better
• Refer you to more comprehensive career resources sooner
• Reach out to my world-class network of company human resources contacts and employers to refer you for a job quicker

I want you to know:

• If you need to make a career change, but don’t know how, I am an expert on the process. You are my expert on you, so together, we get results.
• If you want to advance in your career, I am the one to speak to, as a Career & Leadership Development Coach.
• If you want a new job, I will give you the best and most current cutting-edge tools to compete against other job candidates.
• I have the best resources, resumes, and career management tools to get you to where you want to go in the shortest time possible.
• My services include 60-minute career coaching sessions and career change packages that I can customize to your needs.
• After writing over 20,000+ award-winning and well-received resumes, I can apply my success to writing yours.
• We’d work together to create your personal and detailed career change plan and timeline for action.
• I offer career testing that ensures the best reliability and validity available today.
• I have a laser-like focus to keep my clients on track and positive so that they succeed in taking the steps to begin a new career or find a new job.

My selected career expertise and Resume work is published in these books:

• Career Planning & Adult Development Network Book Review: The Power of Peers, by Leon Shapiro (2017)
• Gallery of the Best Cover Letters (2012)
• Top Notch Executive Interviews (2009)
• Directory of Professional Resume Writers (2008)
• The Quick Resume and Cover Letter Book (2008)
• The 30-Day Job Promotion (2007)
• Resumes for the Rest of Us: Secrets from the Pros for Job Seekers with Unconventional Career Paths (2007)
• Same Day Resume (2005)
• Expert Resumes for Career Changers (2004)
• Best College Grad Resumes for $75,000+ Jobs (2003)
• The Best Resumes for International Jobs (2002)

Professional Associations

• The American Counseling Association
• Career Thought Leaders
• National Board for Certified Counselors
• National Career Development Association
• Society for Human Resources Management
• Society for Technical Communicators