Tracy Brisson, CPC

Career Coach, Education and Recruitment Consultant, General Do-Gooder

Struggling with getting your job search going and identifying your core strengths? I can coach you so you have more clarity and are a stronger candidate for all types of jobs.

The Opportunities Project coaching model focuses on the hard and soft skills that 90% of employers are seeking in entry level employees and the belief that if you master these, you can be successful in whatever early career choices you make.

Here is just a sample listing of our services

   * Setting specific goals around your job search and exploration plans, networking needs, and further skill building
   * Developing a sense of your strengths based on the creation of personal work stories
   * Understanding how to develop professional “muscles” that need more attention
   * Creating a high-impact resume
   * Using social media to promote your candidacy and meet others, especially LinkedIn
   * Generating a unique personal brand
   * Participating in mock situational-based interview
   * Tip sheets on navigating the job search process

While we work with job-seekers at all levels, we specialize in helping recent graduates and college students.

Before becoming a career coach and founding The Opportunities Project, Tracy Brisson worked in recruitment for a decade, a career option she never dreamed of when she was in high school or college. Documentarian, definitely. Writer, maybe. Even a potential tax lawyer at one time.  However, it turned out that helping others meet their own personal and professional goals was what she was meant to do.

As an undergraduate at Syracuse University, Tracy realized how important her own early education was to her success and was attracted to education policy.  She started her career as a Teach for America corps member in Washington Heights, teaching fourth and sixth grade and piloting a laptop program with her students. Her students are now in their early 20s and keep her abreast of their lives via Facebook.

One of the key things Tracy learned through her Teach for America experience was the importance of employing the right individuals – all the money in the world cannot bring success if you have the wrong people in the job. To do her part, Tracy joined the founding team of the NYC Teaching Fellows, a program that recruits and trains high potential career changers for teaching positions. The second largest alternative teacher certification program in the country, the NYC Teaching Fellows program has received over 100,000 applications since its inception. Through that experience, and throughout her career, Tracy has reviewed thousands of resumes and conducted hundreds of interviews with people from multiple industries.

Most recently, Tracy was the Director of Teacher Recruitment for the NYC Department of Education and directed the recruitment efforts to fill 3-7,000 annual teaching positions across 1,600 schools, including implementing a successful college

recruiting program. In 2009, based on an assessment of recent graduations applications, her staff introduced free teleclasses for applicants on improving their resumes, mastering interviews, and conducting effective job searches. On a follow-up
survey, 95% of applicants who took one of these classes indicated that they would recommend it to a friend. Tracy and her team were also recognized in 2009 when they won Second Place for Best Employer Brand in ERE’s Recruitment Excellence Awards
based on their use of social media to improve their applicants’ user experience.

In addition to being a Certified Professional Coach, Tracy has a BA in Public Affairs from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, an MPA in Public Finance from the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, and is finishing her doctorate in Educational Leadership at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, also at New York University. Her dissertation topic is the study of how recruiting and hiring practices in education impact student achievement. Her full resume is available on LinkedIn.

"Tracy's invaluable advice on changing my resume helped me in my job search and got me good reviews from major IT recruiters." - Vasu

"Tracy is are very helpful in teaching tips to build my communication skills. We worked on practice interview questions and her suggestions and feedback were very useful." - Joanne

"I was very satisfied with all of Tracy's tips and suggestions. I would recommend her services to anyone else who needs help with their job search." - Aria