ZB – International Client – 2 Month Search – Multiple Interviews

A note from Barbara Limmer, Stewart, Cooper & Coon Campaign Director for Z, on his acceptance of his new position as Director of Client Services for XXXX.
Z had been living in the United States for four years when he found Stewart, Cooper & Coon. He originally came from India but had become an American resident.  He was truly an international client with a Russian wife, undergraduate college in Cyprus and graduate degree from Michigan, was living the southern U.S. and began his career in marketing in Toronto, Canada.
He had accepted a job and spent two years as Managing Director / Account Director at YYYY, a brand marketing & creative agency.  This was just the ticket for re-introducing him to US marketing, but unfortunately due to the current economic climate his position was eliminated.
As we discussed his challenges, there were two obvious choices.  First was to articulate his international background toward two possible directions: working for another agency, although the number of those available roles were shrinking, or consider joining the customer’s side, working in marketing communications internally for a company. We decided to pursue both of these directions simultaneously.
We used a combination of his creative expertise with our knowledge of successful job search marketing practices to create a design-oriented resume that was a combination functional and chronological format, and included his extremely impressive list of previous “name brand” clients broken down by industry. We also included samples of his work on his Stewart, Cooper & Coon WebFolio. We discussed how to best answer common and difficult interview questions, and to use SHARE stories as compelling examples of his experience. He dove into our monthly Job Search Activity program, and was very active in networking.
I connected him with some of my current and previous clients, including an executive at a major bank who, coincidentally, works in the next state over from where Z was living and where the new position is located.  My contact was an ex-ad agency executive now working at a major automotive company.  Through this referral, Z learned of an opening at XXXX; two months and 14 interviews later (including interviews with several people at the client company account that he’d be responsible for), he received a terrific offer. He was also able to overcome what could have been an obstacle, in that his new position focused on digital advertising, which was not Z’s specialty.