Background and Qualifications
I’m a Career Guidance Specialist with close to 20 years experience working in the Career Transition and Career Management industry and over the last seven years have been providing career guidance and consulting assistance to people whose jobs have been impacted by organisational change. Since late 2018 I have also been working as an independent career consultant to help individuals work through a myriad of career issues.
I hold a Diploma in Career Guidance (2019) from NMIT and a Graduate Certificate in Career Development from AUT.
It’s not a straight path
I thought about going into physiotherapy when at high school and the guidance counsellor gave me a couple of brochures. That was as far as that went! Bio wasn't my favourite subject and I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend several more years in study either. I didn’t seek any more help on what I should or could do and ended up completing a one-year business diploma and entering the freight forwarding industry.
Throughout the years, and between raising a family, I transitioned into helping my hubby with his business and took on a variety of admin roles, but frequently wondered if my career could have been more than just a job. I didn’t really understand what motivated and drove me, how I might be able to integrate my life values into my work or know how to match the skills I enjoyed using with a job that required those skills.
So yes, most of my career came about by chance and the need to earn some money to pay the bills.
Of course, good “accidents” can and do happen, and one day I interviewed for an admin role with a bunch of consultants who are the best of the best in the Career Transition space. And that was it. I’d accidentally discovered that I valued team, the odd “well done” from my boss, and contributing in some way to the lives of others. It wasn’t all about money after all! My new found colleagues, friends and mentors then went on to encourage and help me steer a path to becoming one of them.
Outside of work I’m a traveller when I can be – Africa has stolen my heart. Watching a blazing sun set over the Zambesi River, tracking and finding desert adapted elephants in the Namibian wilderness or bashing through Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for hours and coming face to face with endangered mountain gorillas is my idea of heaven! I’m not a hardened sailor but will endure (for a short time) stormy seas if it means waking up in a perfectly calm bay in a remote spot somewhere on NZ's amazing East Coast.
I’m also a novice photographer, a mum, and a pet lover.
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I approached Leeanne from Career Spheres when my workplace was going through a restructure 18 months ago and again more recently during a Covid19 related restructure. Each time the company started talking about change I felt a lot of unease and found it hard to think clearly to make the hard decisions like do I take voluntary Redundancy? do I apply for another internal role or leave for another challenge?. After just one session with Leeanne I felt a lot clearer about what options would suit my current situation and after 2 sessions I was able to make a decision and feel confident about it. I have now left my employer and Leeanne is helping with my CV, LinkedIN profile and preparation for upcoming interviews. I find her service invaluable and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to others at any kind of career crossroads!
