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Client Case Studies |
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High flier! Fulfilling a dream of a lifetime was the last thing on my mind when I first came into contact with Mike King at Proteus - Manchester. After graduating with a Business Studies degree in Sheffield I fell into a career in Pub Management as at the time it delivered money and fun - seemed like a good idea at the time - but then they always say hindsight is 20:20. Summer 2002 and
I am stuck in a job that to put no finer point on it I hate with a passion
– totally unsuited to and causing no end of stress and disappointment
on all levels, the detrimental effect to my personal life and health
was immeasurable. Within a few weeks I had undertaken the initial stages of the Proteus Career Management Programme and conducted a series of meetings and psychometric tests which illustrated to me my personality traits (frighteningly accurate) key skills and most interestingly a list of careers paths that I should be suited to. Well suffice it to say that several of them caught my eye but one leapt off the page and within hours of leaving the Proteus office I was in Liverpool researching the training requirements to become a Commercial Helicopter Pilot. It revealed itself to be fairly complicated path involving several stages the first of which being the private licence, incredibly good fun albeit quite difficult in parts but a great achievement. The development from private to commercial licence involved sitting the thirteen professional exams – so sadly back to school and head in the books for the best part of a year. On successful completion of the exams and 155 hours flight time, I underwent another 35 hours of dual training and finally, the commercial flight test – now that was hard work. It is now November 2004 and life is a whole lot more fun. On the 15th I passed my commercial flight-handling test and qualified for my Commercial Pilots Licence –Helicopters. The future looks a whole lot brighter than it did 18 months ago, still a few hurdles to leap before I gain full time employment but things are starting to come together, possibly with more training early next year to become a Flying Instructor. Not many people get to love their jobs and I guarantee I have the best office window you could wish for. Captain Chris Berry CPL(H) BA(hons) OND
Ian, a 32 year old
Marketing Manager for Computer Games, found it difficult to see his
way forward in a small organisation and he became frustrated. Ian is now a Mortgage adviser for one of the more innovative Financial Services organisations. He found the Proteus coaching for handling interviews particularly helpful. Ian Howie
John decided to consult Proteus after realising that his role did not really leave him feeling fulfilled at the end of the day: the challenge had gone. He was 37 years old, happily married and the Managing Director of a small manufacturing company making food display cabinets for the hotel and catering industry. His aim was to achieve a more challenging, higher profile role in a larger organisation. After an initial consultation John decided in the first instance to commit only to a Career Planning Programme. This was able to confirm the ideal company culture for John and gave him the tools he needed to be able to assess that culture before accepting a new role. Following this success he subsequently committed to a full Career Development Programme and in 14 weeks accepted a role as the Managing Director of a printing company in the niche poster market. With a salary increase from a basic of around £40,000 to a new level of £55,000 basic and a promised review after 6 months, John felt that his investment in Proteus had been well worthwhile. JG, Southampton
The Managing Director of the UK subsidiary of a Swiss Electronics Manufacturing organisation, Spencer was finding that he could do the job in three days a week – I’m bored out of my brain – was how he expressed it. At the age of 52 he thought that life had somehow passed him by and so he consulted Proteus to see what we could do to help and signed up to a full Career Development Programme. The aim was to achieve a new and more challenging senior executive position, where he could use his highly developed strategic thinking abilities more effectively. However, three months down the line and after several offers that he chose to turn down, Spencer’s wife decided that they didn’t really want to move from their beautiful rural home in Dorset. Quandary! After lengthy discussions Spencer decided to use the on-going mentoring phase of his programme to the full and to work with his Proteus consultant to change the nature of the relationship with the parent company in Switzerland and to drive the company forward to greater success. Within three years, he had achieved a 250% increase in turnover, a broader product profile and an enhanced personal package including a profit share, together with a much greater sense of fulfilment and work life balance. The Career Development Programme could be said to have “failed”, but Spencer released Proteus from its obligation and is to this day one of our strongest advocates in championing our methodologies and levels of professional support. SF, Poole
At school, Jennifer was very good at Biology, Physics and Chemistry. Her teachers suggested that she did a degree course in Nuclear Medicine. After she had completed it she practiced for four years and hated every minute of it. When she came to Proteus Consultancy she had no ideas as to where she should now turn and when asked as to what she would like to do - ‘in her wildest dreams’, she replied that she would like to either - ‘set up a wedding catering business with a friend’ or ‘become a personal tax advisor with one of the big 5 Accountancy firms’. After much discussion and completing the tests included in her Career Planning Programme it was found that she would be suited to both these dreams but, as she said, she had no ideas on where to start. She decided to follow the finance related path and by following the disciplines of a Career Development Programme within a very short time she had persuaded one of the Big Five to take her on as a trainee tax advisor despite her having no background in financial matters. She had worded her CV very carefully and had received help from Proteus in the Interview process so she was able to convince her Interviewers that she had what was needed for this career change. She is ‘over the moon’ in her new position. Jennifer Jones
Tom was a Chartered Engineer with a Master’s degree working with one of the Utility Companies. His work involved Research and Development of distribution systems, heat transfer and energy utilisation. Many of these designs were ‘new engineering’ and as a result were lodged at the Patents Office based on drawing work done by Tom. Being a Public Utility, the work force was constantly being cut back, re-deployed and so on which gave no feeling of security. Tom also felt he had lost his way and needed direction. He came to see Proteus Consultancy Ltd and then decided to start work on Professional Examinations to become a Chartered Patent Agent to ‘see if it would suit him’. Initially he was searching for an Engineering position but as time went by it became clear that Tom was ideally suited to become something which he had only dreamt about. He is now a Chartered Patent Attorney Tom Somervell |
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