Transcendent Coaching: Providing Job Seekers with an Out-of-the-Box, Evidence-Based Advantage

By chance….

• Did you meet your spouse by coincidence?  
• Can you recall an unexplained coincidence that had a meaningful effect on your life?
• Have you experienced a coincidence that significantly shaped a family member’s life?

Synchronicity:  “Meaningful” Coincidences

There are two types of coincidences: Random Coincidences: Ones that occur routinely that are ordinary and pretty much insignificant – like hitting all green lights on the way home from work.  And then there are Synchronicity Coincidences: Meaningful coincidences that occur that shape our lives in a positive way.  

For job seekers this might be:

• Meeting someone they didn’t know at their child’s birthday party who, by coincidence, becomes their career coach.
• Starting a conversation with a stranger in an elevator who knows of a good job opportunity.
• Being hired as the #2 candidate, after the #1 candidate became very ill and had to resign soon after being hired. 

Meaningful coincidences.

What Differentiates Elite Coaches

Certified PARWCC members are masters at their craft. When integrating their unique personalities, knowledge, and strategic approach to the materials introduced in the certification  programs, they expand their wisdom and become elite resume pros and career coaches.   

Question:  If job seekers work with certified, well-respected, elite coaches who all provide the highest quality resumes and coaching strategies…  what differentiates the elite coaches from each other?  Which coach provides the competitive advantage? 

The Olympics

In this year’s Milan/Cortina Olympics, Germany’s Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi won the two-woman bobsled gold by a margin of 0.53 seconds.  And in the women’s monobob, USA’s Elana Meyers Taylor won gold beating Germany’s Nolte by 0.04 seconds. 

Can you imagine losing a life-defining moment by less than a half second?  What was the half-second competitive advantage that the winners had?  Because they all had one. That said, what advantage do your clients have when competing against the best of the best?  

Go Beyond Elite and Become Transcendent Coaches

This is where job coaches can provide that competitive advantage to job seekers.  Transcendent coaches go a step further than elite coaches because they provide a superior perspective on the process.  Synchronicity is one of the techniques taught in PARWCC’s Certified Empowerment and Motivational Professional (CEMP) that provides that half-second or less competitive advantage to rapid employment. Winning a new job!

Synchronicity coincidences are “meaningful coincidences” that occur that helps us in a significant way. They may seem accidental, but they happen when we are actively paying attention and optimally engaged.  Yes, we’ll notice many coincidences that happen daily that are pretty much routine.  But when we are fully engaged in any process, especially the job search, meaningful coincidences will appear routinely. 

The latest research (Google it) suggests that meaningful coincidences happen to all of us daily, if we are deeply mindful. Let me share one “close-to-home” example.  

Synchronicity Created PARWCC

In 1988, I created a resume product to sell to secretarial services because, back then, they were the ones who typed resumes for job seekers, and I wanted to promote my product nationally.  The meaningful coincidence (synchronicity), was that the National Association of Secretarial Services (NASS – with over 1,500 members), was headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, only 4 hours away from where I lived in West Palm Beach.  Had Frank Fox, Executive Director of NASS, been located in Seattle, would I have flown out to meet him?  Or would I have just sent him my product to assess?  

I had excellent skills. I wrote and packaged the resume product, and developed a marketing plan, not unlike job seekers who have excellent skills, resumes, online presences, and marketing plans.  But it was synchronicity (a fortunate, meaningful coincidence), that led me to Frank Fox.  

In the end, I made $0 on the resume product.  Instead, we formed PARW, later to become PARWCC.  (Many NASS members were the first PARW members).  You see, PARWCC is the result of a meaningful coincidence – synchronicity.

Transcendent Coaching: Strategic Openness to Opportunity

We often talk about thinking out-of-the-box, but do little to back it up. If every job seeker is taught the same elite level tactics by elite coaches, no one has a meaningful advantage. To truly empower job seekers, elite coaching must evolve beyond tactical instruction toward something deeper – empowering individuals to develop awareness, positive engagement, and strategic openness to opportunity.  And one concept that deserves greater attention is synchronicity.  When integrated with traditional job search methods, synchronicity awareness provides job seekers with an out-of-the-box, proven, competitive advantage. 

Synchronicity in Career Development

The concept of synchronicity was introduced by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung in the 1920’s.  Author Deepak Chopra expanded on this and writes, “When you become aware of a synchronicity event and take action on it, it can become a synchro-destiny event.  Life-changing.”  

It’s more than just paying attention and being on the lookout for meaningful coincidences.  It’s taking the necessary action to take advantage of them. Yes, Frank Fox was, coincidentally, just  four hours away from me.  Synchronicity.  But it became a synchro-destiny event only after my five phone calls to him – pleading to meet him in person.  I did not want to simply send a sample of my product as Frank suggested. 

As a result, when we met, we did not discuss NASS or my product.  We discussed the possibility of forming a new association. That would not have happened if I just mailed him the product.  Same for job seekers – recognize and act on meaningful coincidences (synchronicity events) to land the right jobs.

These experiences are more common than many career professionals realize.  However, most coaching models fail to teach clients how to recognize, interpret, or act on them.  But when job seekers are coached to become more aware of meaningful coincidences, they often:

• Confidently discover opportunities earlier
• Build relationships organically rather than transactionally
• Enter hiring processes before roles are publicly posted
• Connect with decision-makers rather than automated systems
• Remain highly engaged in the job search process no matter what

Real-Life Examples of Synchronicity in Job Campaigns

Example 1: The Conference Conversation

Briana, a marketing professional attended an industry conference in Boston, primarily for learning. During a coffee break, she ‘started up’ a conversation with another attendee about emerging industry trends.  The conversation revealed that the other individual was the VP of Marketing at a rapidly growing company preparing to expand its digital team.  Within three weeks, Briana was hired for a role that had not yet been posted publicly. Synchronicity – Synchro-destiny.

Example 2: The Random Reconnection

Aiden, an accounting professional unexpectedly ran into a former college classmate at a gym. His classmate just happened to be visiting for a week and just happened to select this gym to work out at.  During casual conversation, he mentioned he was considering leaving his current company.  The classmate revealed that his firm was relocating to the area and searching for someone with exactly his background.  That conversation ultimately led to a senior role with a significant salary increase.  Synchronicity – Synchro-destiny.

Example 3: Following an Intuitive Lead

Sophia, a software engineer felt drawn to learn more about a small startup she had heard about on a podcast she’d never listen to before.  Although no jobs were listed, she reached out to the founder with thoughtful questions about the company’s mission. The founder replied that they had been discussing the need for someone with exactly her skill set.  Within two months, she joined the company as its first senior engineer.

Teaching Job Seekers to Recognize Meaningful Coincidences

Career coaches can incorporate synchronicity awareness without abandoning proven job search techniques.  In fact, the two approaches complement each other.  Some practical methods include:

• Encouraging Intentional Curiosity

When job seekers are proactively engaged, they explore industries, attend events, and initiate conversations without rigid expectations.  They up their game by becoming more mindful, curious, and resourceful, knowing the Law of Averages will kick in and present them with meaningful coincidences to act on.  Curiosity expands opportunity.

• Acting on Subtle Opportunities

Many job seekers ignore small opportunities because they are conditioned to.  For instance, in an elevator, we’re more conditioned to look up at the light showing the floor numbers, rather than striking up a conversation with the other person on the elevator.  Perhaps a missed synchronicity event. It might require going out of our comfort zone, but confident and determined job seekers are inspired to do just that.  Out-of-the- box thinking/acting requires a little discomfort.  

The Role of Career Coaches in the Next Evolution of Job Search

Career coaches and employment professionals are uniquely positioned to redefine how job searches are conducted moving forward.  In addition to focusing on AI, digital strategies, and whatever new resume and tactical instruction the process involves, something more is need for that .04 second “winning” advantage.  Strategies the competition doesn’t have and ones most coaches don’t teach.