Zitron Parham Resumes, Career Counseling, LinkedIn

Nick made a huge difference in my search. He was very knowledgeable, professional and focused; he helped me hone both my story and mold my resume into a form that helped tell that story more concisely and effectively; and he was able to work within both my time and budgetary constraints.
I started working with him intending to just do one session, and ended up doing several and expecting to work with him even beyond starting a new job — I’m enthusiastic to continue my work with him!

I met with Nick a few weeks ago in advance of a series of interviews at a major Silicon Valley corporation, with whom we were in acquisition talks. I’d had the good fortune of landing great positions over the last 12 years without having to go through any interview process. The downside was that I was seriously out of practice, and apprehensive about interviewing.
Nick’s deep industry experience and his supportive, friendly demeanor immediately put me at ease. He reviewed my LinkedIn profile and CV, asked lots of questions, and walked me through a series of questions and conversations where I was able to find my voice and my brand, helping me quickly tap my experience to answer any questions that might be asked during the interview. Needless to say, I killed it (no humble brag here) and am starting there early next year!
I don’t know what else to say: Nick is a true professional. He connects with you and helps you make sure that you connect with people professionally and personally when walking into any interview. I can’t recommend him enough!

I first meet Nick over a year and half ago. My career was in the doldrums when I first heard about Nick. I had been let go from the management consulting firm (My last six months there had been a horror show of bad projects/​whisper campaigns/​isolation.)
I had been blindly applying to anything and everything for over 6 months. I had several interviews, but, only for positions that I was severely over-​qualified. I was with a plan and was quickly running out of hope.
I was only able to pull out of my rudderless cycle when dear friends strongly recommended Nick’s services to me. At first, I was very dubious of what help he could offer. I was dubious because I did not understand how a «Career Coach» was going to assist me in getting a job. I had convinced myself that all I needed was a job and that this would be the cure-​all for all my career ills.
Nick helped me understand is in this era of tight competition in the labor market that I needed to pro-​actively, creatively and smartly market myself to employers. In essence, he helped me pull together «my» story. He taught me to position myself more effectively, how to more effectively spend my time searching for my ideal position, to learn what my competitive differentiation is in the marketplace, key aspects of self-​promotion and how could bring that differentiation to life in the form of a very powerful resume and cover-​letters.
As time has passed, I have landed in a role with the exact career mobility that I desire and I now have requested Nick’s assistance for other career aspects: salary negotiation and further career planning. It is my utmost intention to continue use Nick’s coaching services at regular intervals for the remaining course of my career.

Nick has had a dramatic impact on my career.
I first started working with Nick as a mid-​level manager. At that time, Nick helped me pull together «my» story. How can I position myself more effectively? What is my competitive differentiation in the market? How can I bring that differentiation to life in the form of a very powerful resume?
Years later, I continued to work with Nick at the executive level, this time looking at a broader set of questions. How can I use social media tools to promote my skill sets to a wider set of employers? What types of senior leadership positions are within my grasp that perhaps I haven’t considered yet? And most importantly, where do I want to be in five to 10 years?
Working with Nick, the answers to these questions become abundantly clear. He’s kind, direct, and thrives on helping people succeed.

Nick was a crucial part of enabling me to make a significant career transition from Healthcare Sales to running a team of contract negotiators for a top SF Software company. He continues to help me with each step of my career progression. Since making the jump to hi-​tech his coaching has helped me to achieve 2 promotions in 2.5 years. Pragmatic, Insightful, with a world of expertise he helps you identify the core skills that make you happy and successful at work. From there he helps you create your «work story» to effectively sell your talents to the company you want to work for.
Thanks for all the help Nick, You earned all the praise in this review.

Nick is one of those rare people in life you come across and say I must have done something good in my life to have someone like Nick come into my life and help me through a very difficult time”. I have used Nick services for many years and from time to time Nick calls me to check in on how I am doing. I owe him a lot as he not only helped me create my resume, and my LinkedIn account but he also was my confident builder. He is as good as it gets! Thank you Nick.

Nick is a former colleague to whom I’ve turned on several occasions when I was looking for new career opportunities. He brings a great deal of insight to the hiring process based on his own executive experience in the corporate world. He’s developed a methodology that works in terms of helping you identify your career goals, the success factors that influenced your career development to date, and aspirational guidance to help you get to the next level.
The job market and recruiting tools are constantly evolving and Nick has his finger on the pulse of change providing guidance on creating an impactful resume and developing a compelling LinkedIn profile. His interview coaching process gave me greater confidence in my ability to avoid pitfalls and answer questions thoughtfully and concisely.
Nick is empathetic, savvy, responsive, and fun. I know I can rely on him to provide real world expertise for all kinds of situations from how to manage salary negotiations to how to ask for a promotion. If I had a board of directors advising me on my career, Nick would be at the top of the list.

Don’t waste your money. He didn’t tell me anything i already knew about myself. He kept also getting the times of our appointments wrong… for all of our 3 meetings. That’s very unprofessional. I decided it was really time to end this.

Nick was a really great career coach for me as I (successfully) switched industries after working in the same industry for almost 8 years. Nick helped me drill into what I wanted to do and provided real tactical solutions to help me land a job at my dream company. Nick helped me prepare my resume and LinkedIn and overall was a huge help to me. Definitely recommend!

Nick has been a great resource for me over the last five years. He helped me navigate a big job change which turned out to be a great strategic move, but even more importantly, Nick has served as an ongoing reality check. I have sought his counsel on matters ranging from salary negotiations to creating longer-​term plans to help with my LinkedIn profile. Whether a big or small project, Nick has always been responsive, thoughtful and direct in his counsel, and he genuinely listens and asks the right questions. The last points are critical — I feel like he offers advice based very specifically on me and what I am communicating to him. It’s not a cookie-​cutter approach. You don’t have to like your career coach/​counselor, but it’s a big added benefit that Nick happens to be a great guy. I have loved working with him, and will continue to do so.

I came to Nick knowing that I needed a career change, but not knowing exactly what I wanted to do. Not only did Nick help me discover what type of work I actually desired, he helped me implement a (successful!) plan to achieve my goals. With that plan came an objective, non-​emotional job search, a revamped resume, interview preparation, LinkedIn profile building, and more. My resume and LinkedIn profiles have never been stronger; without them, I don’t think I would have been able to secure my dream job. Actually, I know that without Nick, I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today. He gave me the confidence, skill set, and direction to do something that seemed unthinkable merely a year ago. Because of Nick, I was able to leave the job that was making me unhappy, change industries completely, successfully land a new role, and now excel in my position. I would (and do!) recommend Nick to anyone and everyone who is searching for more satisfaction in their career.

Nick made a difference in my journey. Understanding that no two journeys are the same Nick used a thoughtful combination of questioning, guidance, insight, industry perspective and kindness to help me answer difficult questions I could not answer myself. He availed himself in person and on the phone with short notice — which not only helped with the questions at hand but calmed me as well.
In many ways, he is like a great therapist — helping you see and understand what you already know with support in constructing the next steps to make change happen. Once I had a stronger understanding of «what» to do in a critical professional crossroad, Nick was able to help me see the options of «how» to go about the next steps. Nick helped me gain the clarity and confidence i needed, the laws of attraction took over from there.
I did not use Nick for resume or interview coaching — but rather for broader career and life coaching. And in that, Nick far exceeded my expectations — not only do I recommend Nick I wouldn’t hesitate to use his other services. I expected him to be knowledgeable and professional — but came to know him as kind, sincere, interested, wise and a bit witty. (a great combination!)

I’ve tried contacting them via email twice, but never got an answer or acknowledgment. I’m happy to upgrade the stars if my experience with them improves.

I am a senior executive looking to explore new areas in this evolving economy, and turned to Nick for career guidance. Nick escorted me through a life-​changing exercise to explore my passions, identify my true accomplishments, and refine my real values. From there, we crafted a vision and focus that has quickly netted results in career opportunities, new relationships, and personal career satisfaction. I wholeheartedly recommend Nick to any leader hoping to take an established career to the next level.

Spending a hour with Nick to review your typical interview answers is well worth the cost. I had spent a month going to several interviews and not really getting pass the second round. After I spent one hour with Nick I came out with a better understanding of what to say and what not to say. After seeing Nick on Friday I have had interviews on Monday and Wednesday that I did very well in. I wish I went to see him at the beginning of my job search and I probably wouldn’t have blown a couple of the interviews.

EDIT: within hours of writing the initial review, my dream job reached out to me and set up a meeting. It’s just a meeting, and far from an actual job offer, but its an excellent lead. This was the first time I had sent out my resume after Nick and I had worked on it, and it has brought me my best lead yet. Can’t deny the results.
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Unfortunately, Nick wasn’t really a good match for me. He completed the agreed upon tasks, but with little enthusiasm. NBD, I am okay with a service provider not necessarily *liking* me as long as they complete the agreed upon service, which he technically did. Before we got started he said he had helped people with a similar background to mine in the past, but I think he prefers to work more in his comfort zone. The only reason for a 3 star rating rather than a 4 star rating is because once while we were on a phone appointment, he was eating during our conversation. That struck me as inappropriate.

I have really enjoyed working with Nick on furthering my professional life. The first session was extremely interesting. He helped me recall all of the things that I loved when i was younger and also my strengths and weaknesses. This «passion» conversation encouraged me to try and match my skills with the things that I like doing. In the follow up meeting we were able to chat about the initial findings but Nick also gave me some great tips to help explore a few ideas I had thought of since our first conversation. I have greatly appreciated his guidance, industry knowledge and real world experience and examples!

I met with Nick Parham at the suggestion of a friend who received help with job counseling and job placement. Nick’s straightforward approach is direct, professional and empowering. He has a keen eye for not only editing a resume but also for telling one’s story in a concise and energetic way. His feedback over several weeks helped me to focus my resume and skills into something I am confident sending out. I went in feeling insecure about my prospects and left with a new found enthusiasm for positions I hadn’t considered. Thanks Nick!

I was feeling overwhelmed with the difficulty of trying to change careers. But meeting with Nick helped clarify what I needed to do and made me feel like it was possible. He is professional, smart, successful and has an inherent personality that naturally fits with his profession.
He remembered me and all the things we talked about even though I hadn’t seen him in almost a year!
I’m thankful to him for helping me get on track and look forward to more sessions!

I’ve had the opportunity to work with Nick since relocating to San Francisco to be more active in the job market. Specifically, searching for software account executive role.
Nick is a great coach/​advocate and has a heart. Nick knows how Fortune 500 matrix style organizations conduct hiring and is straight forward. He also gets the startup environment and prepared me for different types of organizational cultures.
Nick has provided me countless interview role playing sessions working on delivery techniques and it really helped… thus getting thru complicated hiring cycles.
With Nicks guidance and my follow thru I was able to obtain an offer from a good company.
If you are questioning yourself, resume, current or future career mobility make an appointment to see Nick!
–Jeff

I was lucky to get a last minute appointment with Nick for Interview Coaching before my two big interviews. The session was for two hours and we worked on mock interviews, brushing up my interview responses, questions to ask after the interview, tips on what to do and what not to do, and tweaking my resume.
I was able to land a job offer with Nick’s guidance. I wouldn’t be able to do it without his help. I believe it was money well spent for the Interview Coaching at Zitron Parham Career Counseling. I would definitely recommend Nick to my family and friends.

Go see Nick. I had been interviewing at countless tech firms and was not getting past the first or second round. I went to Nick to gut-​check my interview process and he really gave me some good advice on how to approach difficult questions and how to be more succinct with my answers. He also gave me valuable insight on the mind of a hiring manager and helped boost my confidence, letting me know that I was also doing a lot of things correctly.
I prepped with Nick, specifically for a particular interview. I got an offer and I also received an offer from another firm, which was even a better prospect. I really don’t think I would have been able to maneuver through these interviews without the advice and coaching I got from nick in one two-​hour session. The money was totally well spent.