Committee Member: Caroline Swain
Responsibility: Vice Chair and Marketing Communications
Founder of own business, Breaking Out of the Chrysalis
Founder of own business, Breaking Out of the Chrysalis, Associate with Chiumento Consulting and Christina Campbell Career Consultants, led workshops with Helen Price as Circles of Change, Professional Speaker, freelance Editor and Proof reader.
I have spent the majority of my career helping people to change their lives by identifying what it is they really want to do and then polishing the story they tell to both interviewers and networkers. One of the most important pieces of advice I give to clients is that they cannot rely on recruiters/headhunters to find them a job, they MUST network with people they know. And TEN is the ideal networking forum to make new friends and meet people from different industries and functions. It is an honour to give something back to the network by acting as Chair.
After a brief career in the travel industry, I completed my degree in Psychology and Sociology at Leeds University as a mature student and specialised in career counselling.
I then spent 16 years in Hong Kong from 1982 to 1998. Both in Hong Kong and London, I have coached, counselled, motivated and enabled senior executives to change jobs, industries and sometimes their lives.
As a business person, I successfully established and built an operation in Hong Kong for an Australian career transition company, Davidson & Associates, before returning to the UK in 1998. I joined Right Management Consultants as Director Professional Services, before being headhunted to turnaround Lee Hecht Harrison as UK Managing Director in 2000. When Adecco closed Lee Hecht Harrison in 2004, I joined AGM Transitions as it was starting in 2005. Having worked with AGM for 6 years, I diversified into a portfolio of activities as above.
Specialities:
Career development, coaching, public speaking, workshops, editing and proof reading.
Reason for joining XTEND:
I tell my clients to network so I’m following my own advice and it has worked!
Length of time with XTEND:
Since 2005
What have you gained from XTEND membership?
“I always learn something useful from the speakers on a huge variety of topics. It is great to be part of a warm and welcoming group with such diverse experience and generosity in sharing knowledge. If you need to know something, a simple Broadcast to the group will give you the answer. And for those looking for a new role or business as an independent, there are numerous good stories.”