Ask the Coach: An Interview with Career Consultant Andrea Abernethy

At Careerminds, our career coaches guide outplacement program participants through career transitions with personalized support, expert advice, and the encouragement they need to land new, fulfilling jobs. One of those talented professionals is Andrea Abernethy, a Senior Career Consultant who has provided hundreds of participants with outplacement coaching during her time with Careerminds.

With 20 years of experience in the education industry – including a decade running her own successful business – Andrea later transitioned into career coaching, bringing her expertise to help others navigate change and seize new opportunities. In this interview, Andrea shares her experiences, advice, and insights on Careerminds’s services and the outplacement industry.

Andrea Abernethy – Before joining Careerminds, I spent most of my career in educational leadership. My experience in teaching, training, and leadership has been invaluable in helping participants to navigate career transitions.

I’ve always enjoyed supporting individuals as they grow and learn, whether through gaining new skills or advancing their careers. I’m passionate about building strong relationships with people, understanding their experiences, and helping them to achieve their goals.

Andrea – As a Career Consultant and Coach at Careerminds, I help individuals to navigate job transitions following layoffs. These services are provided by their former employers as part of severance packages. At Careerminds, participants can access one-on-one coaching with me or other Career Consultants and also have access to the resources available through our online platform.

In my role, I offer personalized support and tools to help participants succeed in their transitions. I start by understanding their mindset – whether they’ve come to terms with the layoff or are feeling anger or resentment. If they’re not ready to begin their job search, I provide resources and guidance to help them process their emotions.

Once participants are ready, we focus on their career goals and how they envision their next role. From there, we build their personal and professional brand, update their resumes to create a career marketing tool, and align their LinkedIn profiles to match.

Throughout the process, I provide support in areas such as networking, interviewing, salary negotiations, and using LinkedIn. I also direct participants to Careerminds’ amazing webinars, lessons, videos, podcasts, and other resources to complement our outplacement coaching sessions.

Andrea – Individuals working with a Careerminds Coach can expect knowledgeable and dedicated support from outstanding professionals. Our coaches genuinely care about helping participants succeed and provide the tools they need to find fulfilling jobs more quickly than if they were searching on their own.

We work extensively with individuals in transition and deeply understand what works – and what doesn’t – in today’s job market. We also stay ahead of hiring trends and provide ongoing training to ensure our support is always relevant and effective.

If you’re curious how Careerminds’s services compare to other outplacement providers, download our free outplacement comparison sheet. Here, you’ll be able to explore the benefits of outplacement with our industry-leading services, including program features, an impressive participant-to-coach ratio, competitive pricing, unmatched responsiveness, professionalism, and proven results.

Andrea – Outplacement services like Careerminds equip individuals with the support, tools, and confidence they need to successfully re-enter the job market. For participants, this includes an updated resume, a professional LinkedIn profile, and personalized coaching. We also offer valuable resources, webinars, and customized learning plans on the Careerminds platform.

Many clients tell me how much the job market has changed since their last search and how overwhelming it can be to navigate all the conflicting advice online. Having an experienced coach to guide them through the process makes all the difference.

For companies, offering outplacement services demonstrates a commitment to supporting employees during a difficult time. This can help to maintain goodwill and protect the organization’s reputation.

Andrea – Careerminds stands out among other outplacement firms in Canada because it selects its coaching team with care and expertise. We’re a group of dedicated professionals passionate about helping outplacement participants succeed.

The company also fosters a collaborative, empowering culture led by our President, Raymond Lee. Everyone – from coaches to the technical, operations, and marketing teams – works together to provide participants with a seamless and supportive experience. As I’ve said, our coaches sincerely care about helping individuals find new positions they’ll love and succeed in.

Andrea – I love helping clients to uncover what will make them truly happy in their next career and guiding them to find jobs they’ll thrive in. I’ve been fortunate to have roles I love, like my position here at Careerminds, and I want to help others achieve the same. Loving what you do often leads to success. We spend so much time at work, it’s vital to find a job that makes us happy.

It’s especially rewarding to see clients excel when they land roles that align with their values and goals. I encourage participants to ask the right questions during interviews to ensure the company’s culture and team dynamics are a good fit.

Andrea – Over my ten-plus years at Careerminds, I have watched the company grow from its beginnings, coached hundreds of participants, and witnessed its global expansion.

Most of the time, I enjoy working with all individuals, but some of the most rewarding moments come from working with clients who are initially skeptical about the value of coaching. By the end, they’re often incredibly grateful, saying they don’t think they could have succeeded without Careerminds’s support. That kind of feedback is what keeps me inspired.

Andrea – When working with a client or participant who feels upset or anxious about their career transition, my first step is to build a connection with them. I listen, understand their feelings about the transition, and gauge their mindset. From there, I determine whether they need additional time to process their emotions or are ready to jump into their job search.

I often share my own experience with career transitions and explain that I work with individuals in similar situations every day. In many cases, my clients land roles that are even better than the ones they left, whether it’s a higher salary, better work-life balance, a shorter commute, remote work opportunities, or roles with more growth potential and challenges.

I build their confidence by helping them reflect on their accomplishments, unique strengths, and preferences, which excites them about their next opportunity. I acknowledge that everyone moves through this process at their own pace, influenced by their personality and circumstances.

I reassure them that with hard work, the tools and support I provide, and the resources available through Careerminds, they’re on the right path to finding a great new job. I also share that my current clients regularly land fantastic positions, to inspire hope and motivation.

Clients often worry about a lack of job opportunities, so I remind them that roles are constantly opening up as employees retire or change jobs, or new positions are created. Sometimes, I explain, a career transition can be the perfect opportunity to explore a more challenging or entirely new career – it happens more often than they might think!

Andrea – The outplacement industry has embraced new technology, integrating features like AI alongside traditional one-on-one coaching to provide participants with the best tools for successful career transitions. Online coaching options are also becoming more prevalent, making support more accessible and flexible for participants.

From my perspective as a coach, I frequently work with individuals transitioning from various companies – some I’ve partnered with before and others new to me. This reflects a growing recognition among employers of the importance of offering outplacement programs to support displaced employees.

I believe many of the companies we partner with return to us because their employees report that the Careerminds program made a significant, positive difference in their job search outcomes.

Andrea – I think companies should seriously consider providing an outplacement program for their displaced employees – ideally with Careerminds. In my experience, Careerminds offers high-quality support and genuinely cares about the success of each participant’s career transition.

Layoffs can cause mixed emotions over displaced employees, and having an experienced coach guiding them can make all the difference. We help them navigate the challenges of the job market, build their personal brand through tools like career-focused resumes and LinkedIn profiles, and articulate their unique value proposition. These efforts empower them to stand out and ultimately land jobs they’re excited about, fostering long-term career success.

At Careerminds, our industry-leading services deliver impressive outcomes, including an 80% engagement rate, a 95% placement rate, and a 99% satisfaction rate. If you’d like to explore how our outplacement programs can benefit your organization and employees, connect with our experts and see if we’re the right partner for you.

Rafael Spuldar

Rafael is a content writer, editor, and strategist with over 20 years of experience working with digital media, marketing agencies, and Tech companies. He started his career as a journalist: his past jobs included some of the world's most renowned media organizations, such as the BBC and Thomson Reuters. After shifting into content marketing, he specialized in B2B content, mainly in the Tech and SaaS industries. In this field, Rafael could leverage his previously acquired skills (as an interviewer, fact-checker, and copy editor) to create compelling, valuable, and performing content pieces for various companies. Rafael is into cinema, music, literature, food, wine, and sports (mainly soccer, tennis, and NBA).