Career Programs

Many New Directions clients seek to assume a new full-time leadership position. Our career programs are unmatched in terms of our exclusive focus on executive leaders, our experience and our network of blue chip contacts. Four things set New Directions apart.

• OUR STAFF. Everything revolves around the close one-to-one relationship between each client and his or her consultant. Everything we do centers on landing the new job that's right for them.
• OUR ASSESSMENT PROCESS. Assessment helps clients develop a clearer picture of their skills, interests and management style, as well as their immediate needs and longer-range dreams.  The self-knowledge gained from this process helps clients widen their job searches in directions not previously considered, or create their own opportunities. It accelerates our work by helping us get to know them quickly.
• OUR COMMUNITY. We are a community of senior people with 2500 alumni providing job leads and contacts. No other firm we know of has maintained this niche for so long, with an infrastructure and an alumni network that is as robust as ours.
• OUR PROGRAMS. We provide an array of events, including workshops, seminars, and roundtables with guest speakers and expert presenters to support the variety of directions our clients are exploring and/or focused on. We bring networking and new ideas to our clients in person or via webinars and teleconferences.

Employment

Our main client action program synthesizes the New Directions process for finding full-time career opportunities. The program, refined over 23 years, is focused on helping our clients land the right new job through an efficient and effective search process.

Each client's primary consultant and other New Directions staff will address, among other topics, a field-specific analysis of job market trends, effective research, recruitment, networking, and interview preparation. Clients learn how to present themselves persuasively, build a personal brand, develop a strategy, write a plan, and understand the relationship between attitude and outcome.

In addition to our executive program, New Directions offers the following four special career programs, allowing clients to explore other income-producing opportunities and/or immerse themselves in preparation for them.

Entrepreneurship

An exploratory overview of some of the many forms of entrepreneurship helps clients decide whether such a venture is right for them. The program then covers the process needed to launch business start-ups, make acquisitions, buy franchises, enter into partnerships or establish joint ventures. It also reviews technology transfer projects and licensing opportunities.

Among issues covered are the pros and cons of different approaches to capital formation, preliminary project funding, business plans and structuring, the challenge of valuation, partnership issues, potential alliances and negotiating deals. Personal aptitude, in particular the necessity of having an entrepreneurial mindset, is emphasized. Would-be entrepreneurs meet regularly to share strategies. Outside experts step in to offer additional first-person insights.

Consulting

This program looks at ways to turn expertise into consulting opportunities and the different forms that these take: advisory, project-based, contract, or interim. We help clients evaluate whether to pursue consulting, and we help them launch and run a consulting practice in a range of fields.

Topics addressed include the underlying business concept, setting fees, forming a legal entity, tax issues, and some of the personal factors that make consulting a success. Clients create their own consulting business strategies with help from the program coordinator or their primary consultant. New Directions also helps clients develop promotional materials and plan their approaches to marketing and publicity.

Board Directorships

After introducing the types of directorships on both corporate boards and as trustees, overseers, and advisors of public or nonprofit organizations, the program reviews the rewards, risks, roles, and responsibilities of joining a board. It looks at the personal qualities organizations seek in board appointees. Contemporary directorship trends, including board governance, compensation issues and the turbulent field of director liability, are examined.

Clients are also introduced to the basic steps as well as the subtleties of pursuing and landing board seats, including researching and networking. We assist clients in assessing their eligibility for boards and identifying specific corporate and nonprofit board opportunities.

Nonprofit Management

Many New Directions clients, having reached their goals in the business world, want to give something back to society. This program considers opportunities to do that as an executive, director, or trustee in the nonprofit sector. It is for clients seeking full-time jobs in nonprofit management, including those interested in switching from the for-profit world, as well as clients interested in volunteering or serving on boards of nonprofit organizations.

The program introduces clients to the management styles, values, and culture of philanthropy, as well as the substantial contribution it makes to the global economy. Our consultants help clients assess their suitability to the nonprofit arena. They also provide personal guidance on conducting an effective search for opportunities.

Services

Success Stories

"With invaluable coaching at New Directions plus my own sense of mission, I was fortunate to be appointed head of a statewide agency devoted to improving the quality of life in Maine."
Henry L.P. Schmelzer
 

"After years of executive leadership posts, I can finally indulge my creative side, designing one-of-a-kind dresses. It feels risky but incredibly rewarding."
Elizabeth Nill
 

"After decades working for large companies, I love the independence of private ownership. Through New Directions, I realized my life needed more balance and was inspired to embark down this wonderful path."
Stewart H. Steffey, Jr.
 

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