Alumni Spotlight: Dan Hellner
Dan Hellner worked for a sporting goods distributor and manufacturer, Maurice Sporting Goods, for nearly 20 years, helping to grow the business, with responsibilities for financial analytics and other sales and operational functions. When the company was sold in December 2019, he found himself in the job hunt for the first time in many years. Dan’s journey over the past year provides great lessons on how to successfully land your next position.
Dan’s Story:
In early 2020, before the pandemic, Dan was aggressively putting himself in the market and getting a lot of interviews. In March, in his words, “a lot of interviews dried up, but I continued to have some meetings but no offers”. Dan heard about CRC from a friend and became a client in the spring. “Working with Brent White, my advisor was exactly what I needed”.
Brent and others at CRC “helped me regain my confidence and helped me in a lot of ways…the big one was what Brent called ‘developing my stories’, thinking about all of the times and experience I had overcoming challenging situations and being successful”. Dan had been feeling down and rejected until he reassessed his history. “Having my success stories in my back pocket helped me be more confident and helped me show interviewers my strengths”.
Once he was feeling more confident, the next steps were easier. “I got a lead at Rust-Oleum via the internet”. From his CRC training, Dan knew to check Linkedin and other sites for personal connections. “I found that a co-worker and friend from Maurice worked at Rust-Oleum” in an influential role. He contacted her and she paved the way for his entry into HR and an interview – which led to his current job leading up Forecast Analysis for Rust-Oleum’s International Business Group.
So what made the difference for Dan? Regaining his confidence and realizing what assets he had to offer a new employer were key. “The [CRC Accountability Group] meeting, sharing our stories and hearing other peoples’ stories who were in various stages of their job search really helped…seeing other people getting hired helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel”. CRC's Accountability Group is a gathering of CRC Members who share their goals and support each other in reaching them.
CRC’s online classes and presentations also helped Dan better understand “the simple things you can do to rebuild your confidence…like going back through your career and making a list of all your successes…Wow, I did all this?”
- Interview and story by John Strauss, CRC Board Member
