Good Fit Careers

I help people achieve their career goals, navigate complex hiring processes, and make the most of their career transitions. In short, I help people tell their stories then find and land jobs that are a good fit for them.

With the skills and experiences I gained as a headhunter and executive recruiter hiring for companies large and small, I have an informed perspective on what goes into an effective resume, interview, and job search strategy.

I made my first hires as the founder of a college startup. Several years later I ventured into the world of recruiting so I could learn how to hire more effectively. For nearly a decade, companies hired me to hire well on their behalf or to help them build systems and processes to hire more effectively as an enterprise.

With Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY), as a member of the Global Technology Officer's practice, I hired C-Level Executives for some of the most prominent companies in the world in a retained exclusive executive search format. 

With Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX), I had the opportunity to design a comprehensive hiring process, configure and implement the enterprise applicant tracking system (ATS), and hire the global Chief Technology Officer. After helping to prepare the enterprise to hire at scale, the company executed a successful IPO.

After Cardlytics, I served as General Manager of the Austin division of a headhunting firm where I trained, developed, and provided leadership to a team of 18 technical recruiters who hired for companies like Bloomberg, HBO, Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Hulu, and ByteDance.

Executive Transition Consultant | Executive Career Coaching | Career Coaching | Career Coach | Resume Writing | LinkedIn Profile Optimization | Interview Coaching | Mock Interviewing | Job Search Strategies | Job Search Coaching | Offer Negotiation | Executive Recruiting | Technical Recruiting | C-Level Recruiting | Recruitment Process Improvement | Cover Letter | Resume Refresh | LinkedIn Refresh | Executive Search

Executive Career Coach

Andiamo Partners

Reporting to the CEO, provided leadership to the 18 members of Andiamo's Austin Division. 
Responsible for leading teams focused on Executive Recruiting, RPO Services, Diversity and Inclusion Recruiting Services, and Hiring Events Recruitment. 

Hired, on-boarded, trained, and developed both experienced and inexperienced recruiters, sourcers, technical recruiters, and executive recruiters. 

Andiamo maintains the status of tier-one vendor for firms such as Goldman Sachs, Amazon.com, Bloomberg, HBO, TwoSigma and Citadel; as well as other major financial services firms, elite hedge funds, Google-backed tech start-ups & major software firms.

Executive Transition Consultant | Executive Career Coaching | Career Coaching | Career Consulting | Resume Writing | LinkedIn Profile Optimization | Profile Writing | Career Branding | Interview Coaching | Mock Interviewing | Job Search Strategies Consulting | Job Search Coaching | Offer Negotiation | Cover Letter Writing | Executive Recruiting | Technical Recruiting | Hiring Process Consulting | C-Level Recruiting | Recruiter Training | Recruitment Process Improvement | Cover Letter | Resume Refresh | LinkedIn Refresh | Executive Search | Technical Recruiter | Personal Branding Strategy | Leadership Development | Executive Presence Coaching | Talent Acquisition Strategy

Executive Recruiting Manager

Cardlytics, Inc.

Reporting to the Senior Director of People Operations, responsible for hiring across the engineering side of the business. Hired the Chief Technology Officer, the Head of Product, Vice Presidents, Senior Directors, and Directors of Engineering, Principal and Senior Engineers, as well as Data Scientists and Analysts across the Engineering, Technology Services, R&D, Data Science, Machine Learning, and Analytics teams.

Contributed to the preparations for Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX) to go public by rebuilding the Cardlytics engineering hiring process, independently implementing Greenhouse as the new Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and training the enterprise on how to use the new ATS and hiring process.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Cardlytics has offices in London, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Cardlytics was one of the fastest growing U.S. companies ranked #88 on the 2015 Inc. 5000 and #25 on the Deloitte 2015 Technology Fast 500™.

Executive Transition Consultant | Executive Career Coaching | Career Coaching | Career Consulting | Resume Writing | LinkedIn Profile Optimization | Profile Writing | Career Branding | Interview Coaching | Mock Interviewing | Job Search Strategies Consulting | Job Search Coaching | Offer Negotiation | Cover Letter Writing | Executive Recruiting | Technical Recruiting | Hiring Process Consulting | C-Level Recruiting | Recruiter Training | Recruitment Process Improvement | Cover Letter | Resume Refresh | LinkedIn Refresh | Executive Search | Technical Recruiter | Personal Branding Strategy | Leadership Development | Executive Presence Coaching | Talent Acquisition Strategy

Talent Partner - Technology Recruiter & Executive Headhunter

Korn Ferry

Specializing in CTO and CIO Retained Executive Search as well as Leadership Assessment Consulting for large public, privately held, and private equity backed organizations. 

In addition to CTO and CIO search and assessment work, executed a range of CMO | CPO | EVP | SVP | CVP and VP level searches for technical positions as well as general management roles ranging from PE-backed organizations through large and small, publicly traded, and privately held companies. 

Executive Search Client base centered on Augmented Reality Devices, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Wearables, Mobility, Robotics, Software, Hardware, Mobile Devices, Retail, Professional Services, Hospitality and Biotechnology.

Korn Ferry International (NYSE: KFY) is a global provider of talent management solutions, generating $1.03B in revenues in 2014 with 3800 employees. Korn/Ferry provides retained executive search services focused on board level, chief executive and other senior executive positions for clients in the consumer, financial services, industrial, life sciences, automotive, manufacturing, aerospace, defense and advanced technology industries. Korn/Ferry also provides a broad range of leadership and talent consulting services, including executive assessment, leadership coaching, CEO and senior executive succession planning.

Executive Transition Consultant | Executive Career Coaching | Career Coaching | Career Consulting | Resume Writing | LinkedIn Profile Optimization | Profile Writing | Career Branding | Interview Coaching | Mock Interviewing | Job Search Strategies Consulting | Job Search Coaching | Offer Negotiation | Cover Letter Writing | Executive Recruiting | Technical Recruiting | Hiring Process Consulting | C-Level Recruiting | Recruiter Training | Recruitment Process Improvement | Cover Letter | Resume Refresh | LinkedIn Refresh | Executive Search | Personal Branding Strategy | Leadership Development | Executive Presence Coaching | Talent Acquisition Strategy

Senior Associate - Executive Recruiter

As a member of the Global Technology Officer's Practice reporting to a Managing Director, responsible for supporting three Senior Client Partners in Korn Ferry's Atlanta office.

• Responsible for leading search strategy through execution and delivery of retained executive searches for companies ranging from the Fortune 50 through pre revenue private equity backed ventures.
• Successfully placed 11 senior executives within the first 12 months at Korn/Ferry with an average time to identify the placement of 47 days, contributing to $2.21m in revenues with 6 different Senior Client Partners. 
• Client base centers on Augmented Reality Devices, Wearables, Mobility, Robotics, Software, Hardware, Mobile Devices, Retail, Professional Services, Hospitality and Biotechnology.
• Specialized in leading, managing and executing an efficient and effective executive search, evaluation and hiring process from pitching Korn/Ferry’s services through executive evaluation and placement selection.
• Responsible for leading and managing teams of researchers, associates and project coordinators tailored to the needs of each individual project.
• Selected to train, coach and develop new Associate and Senior Associate hires based on a proven track record of excellence in process, execution, evaluation, and completion of challenging executive searches.

Executive Transition Consultant | Executive Career Coaching | Career Coaching | Career Consulting | Resume Writing | LinkedIn Profile Optimization | Profile Writing | Career Branding | Interview Coaching | Mock Interviewing | Job Search Strategies Consulting | Job Search Coaching | Offer Negotiation | Cover Letter Writing | Executive Recruiting | Technical Recruiting | Hiring Process Consulting | C-Level Recruiting | Recruiter Training | Recruitment Process Improvement | Cover Letter | Resume Refresh | LinkedIn Refresh | Executive Search | Personal Branding Strategy | Leadership Development | Talent Acquisition Strategy

Associate - Executive Recruiter

BIAS Corporation

Reporting to the Director of Talent Acquisition, responsible for identifying, evaluating, and hiring full time and contract employees for direct placement, contingent recruiting, and Federal consulting projects. 

• Responsible for managing the full lifecycle hiring process for project teams and internal full-time hires. 
• Achieved a 92% offer acceptance ratio, contributed to $285,110 in profit margin from contractors and successfully hired 11 full time hires ranging from practice leaders to senior executives and sales leaders.
• Led the design, rationalization and implementation of the BIAS Corporation hiring process for both internal and external placements. 

Executive Transition Consultant | Executive Career Coaching | Career Coaching | Career Consulting | Resume Writing | LinkedIn Profile Optimization | Profile Writing | Career Branding | Interview Coaching | Mock Interviewing | Job Search Strategies Consulting | Job Search Coaching | Offer Negotiation | Cover Letter Writing | Executive Recruiting | Technical Recruiting | Hiring Process Consulting | C-Level Recruiting | Recruiter Training | Recruitment Process Improvement | Cover Letter | Resume Refresh | LinkedIn Refresh | Executive Search | Technical Recruiter | Personal Branding Strategy | Leadership Development | Executive Presence Coaching | Talent Acquisition Strategy

Technical Recruiter

Helping Executives Land Opportunities That Fit | Executive Career Coaching | Interview Coach | Former Executive Recruiter

Changing jobs after several years with the same company can be confusing, frustrating, and painful. 

Good Fit Careers guides you through the hiring process to help you find and land a job that you love.

Hi, I’m Ryan 👋

After 8 years in Retained Executive Search, in-house Talent Acquisition, and Contingent Recruiting General Management, I started coaching. 

This recruiting experience helped me understand how to build an effective resume, search for a job efficiently, deliver outstanding interviews, and negotiate reasonable compensation packages.

With Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY), I hired C-level executives for some of the world's most prominent companies. 

With Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX), I had the opportunity to design a comprehensive hiring process, configure and implement the enterprise applicant tracking system (ATS), and hire the global Chief Technology Officer. After helping to prepare the enterprise to hire at scale, the company executed a successful IPO.

After Cardlytics, I served as General Manager of the Austin division of a headhunting firm where I trained, developed, and provided leadership to a team of 18 technical recruiters who hired for companies like Bloomberg, HBO, Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Hulu, and ByteDance.

While working in each of those roles, I saw executives struggling to transition out of companies for which they were no longer a good fit. 

I saw the frustration, confusion, and uncertainty they faced – even when they were exceptionally qualified and highly experienced.

So, I decided that I would try to help. 

In 2019, I switched sides and started my executive coaching practice. The Good Fit Formula is a blueprint for professionals ready to make a change in their professional lives.

Ryan Dickerson

Briefcase Coach: Executive Resume Writing, Job Search Strategies and Interview Coaching

I am a former corporate recruiter and industry “insider”. I’ve worked with hundreds of job seekers to find meaningful work–faster than if they were going at it alone. Using my techniques and strategies, my clients have landed roles at top companies.

► I am one of the few resume writers/job search coaches who has been a recruiter. I've interviewed 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 of job seekers and know what companies are looking for in a candidate.

► My outcomes are excellent.  I get regular e-mails from clients saying that the work we did together made a difference. Additionally, around 35% of my clients are referrals from past clients, close friends or former colleagues. 

► My goal is to always make sure my clients are being portrayed in the best possible way. If I am not the best person for the job & another coaching specialist would be a better fit, I will offer highly qualified referrals.

► I care. I genuinely want you to thrive in a job you are passionate about. I want to know about your "wins". I believe in you & I am rooting for you.

Executive Resume Writer, Interview Coach & LinkedIn Profile Writer for clients with the following job titles/expertise:
CCO (Chief Contracting Officer), CDO (Chief Data Officer), CDO (Chief Development Officer), CEO (Chief Executive Officer), CCO (Chief Compliance Officer), CFO (Chief Financial Officer), CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), SVP, Engineering, SaaS sales, Physician, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Managing Director, Pharmacist

"I wanted to inform you that I just accepted and signed a job offer for a director of sales operations role at a new company. While the resume landed me the initial interview, your in-depth intake call really prepared me for multiple rounds of interviews that ultimately culminated in an offer I could not be more happy with. Not only was I able to land a job in this difficult job market, but I was able to land a job at a position higher than what I had. So glad to have worked with you!"
-- Client, April 2020

Executive Resume Writer: Partnering with Global Leaders

Great companies know that people come first. We operate with integrity and empathy when offering confidential career outplacement assistance for companies and their employees.

While we are located in close proximity to Durham, Cary, and Raleigh, North Carolina we offer outplacement services on a national basis.

We provide the following outplacement services and custom packages to help employees achieve a soft landing and successful job search:

- One-on-one white glove executive outplacement coaching (not group seminars!). Transitioning employees will feel valued and heard.
- A resume from scratch written by a seasoned professional resume writer. This isn’t a resume review or a rebrand of an existing document. We will create a custom document based on the individual’s new career targets.
- A personalized YouMap® Career Profile, a holistic self-discovery tool that uncovers strengths, values, preferred skills, and personality based-career interests.
- LinkedIn profile development and keyword research
- SEO Optimization
- Public image and custom content and social media strategy
- Interview Coaching
- Professional bio and letter writing
- In-person group workshops and training sessions

Corporate Executive Outplacement Specialist: One-On-One White Glove Executive Outplacement

Chief Marketing Officers and Brand Strategists for some of the world's top brands have hired me to help them tell their own personal stories. 

My process is simple: I ask great questions.

Your answers to questions like "why do you do what you do?" help shape the story we tell. Studies show that if you share a story, people are often more likely to remember it. And when data and story are used together, audiences are moved both intellectually and emotionally. 

The "New School" or modern LinkedIn profile is engaging and tells a first-person story.  It draws the reader in with a hook. With "New School" profiles, readers are more likely to read and remember the summary, which is one of the main goals of personal branding: to differentiate yourself and be known.

We create for you:

Keyword Research Strategy
- A first-person LinkedIn about section
- A keyword-optimized header
- 2 to 3 background images (pick the image that you feel best represents your personal brand)
- LinkedIn experience section written in the first person with content appropriate for a public-facing audience
- Skills section recommendations
- Photo and review section audit

"Sarah is the best resume and LinkedIn profile writer! I used another professional service a few years ago, and this was hands-down a better experience."

— Director of Marketing, Dallas, TX

LinkedIn Profile Writer: Leveraging Storytelling + SEO to Get More Recruiter Views👀

"Sarah has the ability to unearth the good stuff--- that I didn't even realize was part of my story. Our interview coaching session gave me more confidence.  I'm confident that working with her is a big part of why I got the offer"

I am a former corporate recruiter.  I've literally interviewed thousands of people.  I know the drill.  Not only that, but I am skilled at helping job seekers think strategically about the opportunity and position their strengths and story to the role.  

If you work with me, you'll hear me ask questions like, "well, what do you think they are really looking for in this opportunity?"  and "what is your special sauce?"  I'll help you think beyond cookie cutter answers and tell impactful STAR stories. 

Past clients have described me as a straight shooter but also kind.  I want to be the safe place you can practice your answers and get thoughtful feedback. 

My interview clients have landed roles at companies like Google, Amazon and Medtronic. I've also written extensively about interviewing.  You can read some of my articles:

https://www.briefcasecoach.com/career-advice/top-interview-experts-share-the-best-way-to-answer-the-common-interview-question-tell-me-about-yourself/
https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-to-prepare-for-a-great-job-interview-8-tips.html
https://www.briefcasecoach.com/career-advice/home-office-video-interview-hacks/
https://www.briefcasecoach.com/career-advice/powerofpositiveselftalk/

Interview Coach: Behavioral Interview & Communication Coach

I present about once a week on various job search and career related topics. I love giving keynote presentations, speaking on panels and facilitating break out sessions on career or job search topics.

I am also a regular podcast guest and webinar presenter. If you are interested in me speaking at your event, please reach out: https://www.briefcasecoach.com/speaking/

Keynote Speaker, Webinar & Lunch and Learn Presenter

Sarah Johnston LLC

I worked as an independent healthcare recruiting consultant for a year while growing my full-time business Briefcase Coach.  I maintained contracts with two large hospital systems as a recruiting consultant. I built out their talent pipeline and helped them place physician candidates in OB-GYN, Family Medicine, and Emergency Medicine. I sourced candidates through PracticeLink, Practice Match, and Doximity, developed a calling strategy for passive candidates, and launched a text recruiting initiative. At the time, my hospital client was one of the first to leverage text messages.

This background and knowledge makes me one of the top medical and CV writers and strategists. I’ve helped multiple medical and podiatry students unsuccessful in SOAPING/matching into residency spots land training positions.

Senior Healthcare Recruiter

Nationwide Children's Hospital

Working for Nationwide Children's Hospital was such an honor.  I got to directly impact patient care by being apart of the talented team that selected bedside nurses, respiratory therapists, and medical providers for the largest children's hospital in the world.  

I was trusted with priority recruiting initiatives and was known by my team members as a sourcing "maverick."  I held the LinkedIn Recruiter seat for the entire hospital, which meant I was responsible for our job posting strategy and regularly sourced hard to fill candidates.  

There were three significant initiatives that I was responsible for, including all hospital travelers and staffing contracts, co-hosting the first new graduate nursing fair (resulting in over 100 hires during a growth period), and being an integral member of the ER-staffing task force.

Healthcare Recruiter

Washington University in St. Louis

As a trailing spouse, I've lived in 7 houses over 12-years. Following my husband's career has meant that I've had to reinvent myself in new cities.

We moved to St. Louis and literally knew no one. I made a target list of companies that I wanted to work with, including many of the top employers in the city like Washington University, Mo Bap, St. Louis University, Graybar, and Build-a-bear. Through networking, I landed informational interviews or meetings with all of my top choices.

Ultimately, I accepted the position with Wash U because it's a top 20-university and has one of the best fundraising programs in the country. I worked in a hybrid major gifts-annual fund role in a new department called Parent Programs. I solicited parents of Washington University undergraduate students for gifts ranging from $1,000 to-100,000. Because the window of cultivation is shorter with parents of 4-year students, I routinely made solicitations the first time I met a parent prospect.

The Parent Fundraising program at Wash U is one of the most respected and sophisticated parent initiatives in the country. I had the opportunity to work under seasoned award winning fundraisers and call on incredible parents. During my time at Wash U, I was a road warrior. I traveled so much I earned a companion pass through Southwest Airlines!

Associate Director of Development for Parent Programs

Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University

I worked in major gifts for the Medical College of Georgia/Augusta University during a turbulent and transformational time. The school--one of the oldest and largest--medical schools in the country went through TWO name changes during my tenure.

Raising money during times of change is unbelievably hard. I got what I am calling a Ph.D. in customer service and conflict management during this season. Despite the challenges, I hit all of my targets and closed the largest gift in the history of the School of Nursing (at the time)-- a six-figure scholarship endowment with immediate expendable funds. Not only that, but I wrote a successful Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant and several smaller foundation grants.

My favorite part of this job was the people I had the privilege of working with and the big mission our organization existed to serve.

Major Gifts Development Officer for the College of Medicine and College of Nursing

Northwestern Mutual

My husband's career took us to Augusta, GA during the Great Recession.  It was a very hard time to look for a job---especially in a smaller community. I took the best job I could find which involved recruiting 100% commission sales agents and training them to be successful financial planners.  

My office was apart of a larger network office where we were often regarded as the "country cousins" to Charlotte, Greenville and Charleston.  Despite our location challenges, we had the same recruitment goals. 

Prior to me working as the recruiter, our office went FOUR years without hitting recruitment targets.  In my second year, we hit 225% of our goal.  

Recruiting 100% commission sales professionals (who met our very high standards) during a down economy was challenging.  I got involved in the community and built a strong referral pipeline.  I was a Diplomat with the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, Junior League Volunteer of the Year  and Augusta Young Professional leader.  

In addition to recruitment, I trained all of our new hires on sales language.  They met with me daily for accountability sessions and I worked with every new agent to develop a target list of prospects.

Director of Recruiting and Sales Coach for new agents

RaceTrac

This job was hands down one of my favorite.  RaceTrac has a unique high energy, entrepreneurial atmosphere.  My co-workers were my friends and the leadership trusted me to take on exciting and high level projects.

I got to lead the university recruitment program which involved traveling to colleges throughout the southeast including Purdue, Georgia Tech, Auburn, University of Georgia and University of Florida to recruit top early career talent.  

I was the recruiting lead for corporate real estate, construction, supply chain, energy purchasing, internal consulting and engineering.  Many of the people I hired (almost 15-years ago!) are still employed at RaceTrac and are now in senior leadership roles.

Corporate Real Estate, Construction and Internal Consulting Recruiter /Intern Coordinator

"I wish I had called you sooner" is a common comment I hear from my clients.  

It is hard to tell your own story. My favorite clients are often people who tell me that they can recognize the strengths and values in other people but have a hard time articulating their own. 
Or at least packaging that narrative on a modern resume. 

I am not a touchy-feely 'let's take assessments' kind of coach. I value assessments & think they can be important for job seekers who need help figuring out their strengths & motivators. However, I work best with people who know where they want to go and just need help getting there. 

I work with all career levels - from C-suite to career sprinters, including Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Technology Officers, Customer Experience Officers, Chief Operations Officers, Chief Medical Officer & more. Our clients have landed roles at top Fortune 100 and 500 companies, including AT&T, Alphabet, Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase, Optum & Nike.

I believe in positively changing the trajectory of people's lives through goal setting, purposeful action & strategic networking. 

I help my clients think bigger AND better articulate their unique value proposition.

I offer 5 solutions:

◆  Behavioral-based mock interviews. I offer highly personalized mock interviews virtually through Zoom. I can help you master questions like, "tell me about yourself" or "tell me about the toughest decision you've had to make in the past six months." I understand the interview process and will ensure you are prepared.

◆  Executive-style resumes, board resumes/bios, and other career marketing collateral. No forms. My resumes are attractive, ATS-friendly, and full of quantifiable data. My goal is to hear you say, "wow! I look great on paper!"

◆ Strategic Job Search Coaching. Stop turning your wheels applying for job after job online. My clients land meetings with decision-makers at top employers and get jobs they really want. 

◆ LinkedIn Training. I am a super-user & have been training business leaders how to use the platform since 2007. 

◆  Medical CVs for residents, fellows, physicians, dentists & podiatrists. 

🙌  My company, Briefcase Coach 💼, has been named the top resume writing agency for experienced executives by Balance Careers.

I was named to the list of 2021 most influential people in the HR Space and 2019 LinkedIn Top Voice for the career space.

Subscribe to my twice-a-month NO SPAM job search newsletter: https://briefcasecoach.beehiiv.com/


Want to work one-on-one?

Sarah@Briefcasecoach.com ◆◆ www.briefcasecoach.com

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