Courtney Bickert | VP, External Relations - German Marshall Fund of the United States

Courtney reinvented her 20+ year career in international development to move into a corporate partnerships role at the UN Foundation. Working again with Walk of Life on the Shift Careers program 2.5 years later, she transitioned again into a VP External Relations role.

THE CHALLENGE

I wanted to make a career change into corporate after 23+ years in the traditional development sector, but I had no idea what I wanted to do or what I could do for a change in this direction with my background. I was all over the map in my networking and personal storytelling, networking and branding and generally wasn’t getting anywhere.

THE SOLUTION

Shannon helped me to realize that I needed to focus, and in order to do so I needed to zero in on what it was that I really wanted to do. She helped me to realize that what I thought were my core skills to sell to the market, in fact, weren’t, and that I needed to focus on commercial skills like project management and winning business rather than my development experience.

She also helped to realize that I needed a “transition” job that would not necessarily move me directly into the corporate sector. This also helped me think about what was most important to – staying in Europe (likely meaning sticking with my existing career path) or being open to moving back to the US and pursuing a new career path. I chose the latter and am happier for it.

"Shannon helped me to craft my CV and story telling for interviews and networking to match my professional objectives and my personal brand to what potential employers actually look for."

THE RESULT

I now have a huge, wide open career path and a fantastic network in the corporate sector and with high net worth individuals. I was quickly promoted at the UNF and a few months after starting there, Shannon referred another of her clients to me, Lyrae Myxter, who I then hired! Since my time at UNF, Shannon has also helped me to move into my current role at the German Marshall Fund, a role even more aligned with the values I clearly identified when working with Walk of life.