Being Honest with Yourself

I have been doing the type of work that I have been doing as a Career Coach for 16 years now. While some of my clients reach out to me directly, mostly through referrals, the majority of my clients come to me through outplacement arrangements. In such arrangements, an employer arranges for career services for their employees if they unfortunately need to let them go due to staffing reductions. An outplacement services company makes the contractual arrangement with the company for services. The outplacement company then makes arrangement with those with career coaching talents to administer their program, hiring the coach through a 1099 contractual agreement.

I began working such arrangements over 10 years ago with 2 such firms. (I added a third such arrangement with another company on an as needed basis in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic). When I began such arrangements, I liked them very much. The companies providing the services were known as “boutique” providers. This meant they were providing a specialty service. In such arrangements, usually the size of the company is small, and as such one gets to know some of the others with whom they work, (even if that connecting is on a virtual online basis).

However, times change. Original owners who started the boutique firm sell their firm and move on, sometimes because of age, sometimes because the model they had does not work in an evolving society. Other organizations take over. Some may be far bigger than the model used before. They may bring together, a number of different organizations that do similar things but serve different client markets. The new company may have their own methods for reaching and working with clients. And, while they need the 1099 contractual coaches from the companies they have taken on, those coaches are asked to work in different styles than they had previously. When one has worked a particular style for a long number of years, and now is asked to change, it is not an easy thing. In addition, when the changes and technology supporting them change, that only adds to the angst in supporting such processes.

As we came into May 2026, this all came to a head for me. An initial misstep on my computer forced the need to reset up all my accounts on my computer all over again, (with the assistance of a technical support person). Then I learned of a merger involving one of my outplacement companies which had as its first step including a major technology support implementation. I also learned the person who had been my supervisor would be leaving the company at the end of May. New management was coming in. And, while mergers and acquisitions can be exciting, and can be the cause for new opportunity, sometimes it depends on what point you are in your life.

I did not just choose to work outplacement for the companies that I did. It evolved as I got to know ownership, I got to know company philosophy and ways they were looking to support the clients they served. That came after I had been a part of a long 30-year career, and chose to move on to an environment that suited me best at that point in my life. And, once that life that I established about 15 years ago moved forward, I had a good sense of what was right for me, and what was not.

And, while, things have happened so quickly, I am sensing that it is time for another change. Again, I do love to assist those in their job search with the methods and approaches that I have learned. I can still see doing so on an ad hoc basis with my own 1-person small business. However, perhaps it is time for me to realize, the outplacement model is not for me anymore, or at least not at the level of intensity that has come to me through the companies that I serve. Again, I am trying to be honest with myself, as I am still feeling the sting and effects of the last few weeks in my life.

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