Rick Christensen

Director, Career Transition Practice

Rick has been a career consultant for over 20 years, serving a very broad-based and diverse clientele.  His specialties include effective group facilitation, one-on-one coaching and consultation at all levels including senior executives.

Currently Rick is the leader of the Career Transition Practice for Career Development Partners, a regional provider of world class talent management solutions covering the entire employee life cycle. His passion is coaching individuals through career transitions, developing career management strategies and in identifying and sharpening competencies to open doors to new opportunities. His efforts have assisted thousands of individuals achieve their full potential.

Previously Rick served as Vice President/Managing Director for a global career transition and organizational consultancy; assisting corporate clients maximize the return on investment in their people.  He has a background in human resources, recruiting, career planning, corporate training and line management in manufacturing. His corporate background includes leadership roles in Human Resources and line management in large manufacturing facilities in the electrical component manufacturing,  office furniture manufacturing and oil & gas industry. Rick has a passion for creating organizations, participating in two greenfield startups of manufacturing facilities.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE

Rick’s background in human resources, recruiting, career planning, corporate training and line management in manufacturing gives him a unique perspective in helping transitioning individuals identify core competencies that have high value in the marketplace.  Rick has experience in coaching individuals, as well as teams. His typical engagements include:

• Senior Executive transition
• High potential talent development 
• Leadership assessment
• New leader on-boarding
• Executive team coaching and development 

RECENT COACHING 

• Coached a senior business leader in a construction company wanting to transition to a more entrepreneurial role by acquiring an existing business.  Coached him on identifying an appropriate business, formulating a business plan and negotiation preparation.  Successfully acquired the business.
• Coached a VP Communications transitioning out of an independent oil & gas service company to a VP Marketing Communications position in a public-sector organization.  Helped define his values, strengths and created a plan to accomplish his career and personal goals.
• Coached a Senior VP in the Forest Products industry through the transition to obtain a CEO role in a publicly traded vertically integrated natural resource company.
• Coached a Senior Business Unit Leader with extensive international experience through the process of identifying personal goals and realigning his career to meet his goals.  Moved from a senior business leader to an individual contributor role in a smaller organization.
• Coached a Senior Human Resources Executive through the process of transitioning her leadership role to her successor and successfully starting a thriving consulting practice.