Career Counseling & Career Transition Services

Identify and explore your options. Find your path.

We offer career counseling, career coaching, career development, and career-transition coaching services for job-seekers and professionals in the Bay Area and beyond.

Whether you’re an executive taking stock of your career, a recent graduate, or a mid-career professional planning your next chapter, we can facilitate growth and change for you.
CONSULTING BY THE HOUR

Career Exploration $225/hr

Career Exploration

For truth-seeking explorers, in search of clarity in who they are, what they have to offer, and which types of jobs best fit their profile. This Career Counseling Service is great for anyone who wants to face the abyss to gain a new perspective and free themselves from a story that’s not working. Let's evaluate where you're at and identify the trailhead to your career path.

1 Hour of Counseling

Why Do We Care?

The heart of what we do is drive people closer to being themselves in their work.

BrightSide CEO and chief counselor Cliff Flamer has always been a champion of authenticity. He's made it his life's purpose to help as many people as possible to be genuine in their work while also becoming more valuable, even irreplaceable.

Because You Are Awesome

When you're at your best, when you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, everyone around you benefits – your colleagues, your customers, your loved ones. Your impact is bigger and broader. Your sense of purpose expands.

We need to get you back to that place… where work is meaningful, lucrative, and energizing, where you can be yourself and be successful.

Together, We Got This

We've found we collaborate particularly well with:

  • Professionals doing good in the world
  • Service-oriented Business leaders
  • People Living with ADD/ADHD
  • Aspiring managers
  • Entrepreneurs and trailblazers
  • “Lifers” with long tenure at one job
  • Reticent career transitioners
  • Employees sick of work politics
  • Folks taking stock of their career
  • Military vets transitioning into jobs
  • Stay-at-home parents
  • Graduates looking to launch
  • Anyone who can't see their value

Get Back To Greatness

Your career is a source of revenue, power, community, creativity, and purpose. It's no wonder challenges at work create stress in so many other aspects of your life.

Whatever is missing for you, we'll put a name on it and figure out how to get it back. Or build something new in its place.

  • Your talents are indeed, the catalyst of my venture into this new career.
    K. P. via email
  • The time that I spent with you was the sunshine in my cloudiness. You were honest and you got me!
    Berlena G. via email
  • Due to Brightside Resumes and Cliff's amazing career counseling, I have finally found my path in the job market and have never been happier.
    Abby C. via Yelp
  • It has been so great working with you. Such an uplifting experience.
    Rachel R. via email
  • I learned a lot by talking through a story I never told before other than inside my head. You brought some clarity as well as a good reality check to the discussion.
    Mike M. via email
  • Cliff is very good at what he does and he understands that in order for you to do your best work, you need to understand who you are. Going with BrightSide Resumes has done wonders for me...
    Justin D. via Yelp
  • Cliff is fun to talk to and he really 'gets' what I'm trying to say... even if I'm not totally sure.
    Claudia P. via Yelp
  • I truly enjoyed our time yesterday. It finally feels like somebody “gets me” and will help guide me out of this abyss.
    Rami S. via Email

Total investment: $225/hr

Job seekers who partner with us are not only more likely to get interviews, they’re more likely to succeed in the interview process and win higher-paying jobs.

Learn More How It Works

Workplace Counseling $225/hr

Workplace Counseling

This Career Counseling service is for employed folks who want to thrive, grow, and advance at their workplace. We’ll coach you on fully understanding the landscape you’re in, identifying barriers to success, figuring out what YOU want (and need), and building a plan to progress with intention. Consider us your sounding board, co-conspirator, messaging expert, and confidante.

1 Hour of Counseling

Just Because You Have a Job Doesn’t Mean You’re Moving Forward

Are any of these questions rattling around in your head?

  • How can I enjoy my job more?
  • Why am I feeling stuck/stagnant?
  • How do I ask for a raise/promotion?
  • Am I growing enough? Am I keeping up?
  • How do I do more of the stuff I like?
  • Should I be getting more recognition?
  • How do I deal with an impossible situation
  • How do I navigate work politics?
  • What should I do about my boss/colleague?
  • How do I navigate a toxic work environment
  • How do I convey what I need to thrive
  • What more should I be asking for?
  • Should I stay or should I go?

If something just feels off and you’re not sure what it is, call us in so we can figure it out and chart a path forward.

Most people make the mistake of only working on their careers when they’re out of work.

Jobs are the perfect workshop for career development, a testing facility for your experiments, a crucible for your armor

As an employee, you have a real-time focus group at your fingertips. You have a place to safely try new things. You have the ear of people who can immediately influence your career. You have resources and tools. You have pathways into new practice areas.

There’s so much you can do.

You Need Someone in Your Corner. But Not Just Anyone…

Chances are, no one is looking out for you at work. Event mentors and supervisors can have conflicts of interest when it comes to your prosperity.

We’re different. Like a good therapist, we’re 100% about you.

You will have our undivided attention as well as our invaluable, birds-eye view of the working world. We talk to employers, employees, HR folks, and job-seekers all day long. We can put your situation in context.

With our finger on the pulse, our arsenal of successful tactics, and our training as counselors, we’re uniquely positioned to provide you with the insights and tools you need to make informed decisions.

We want you to do what’s good for your career and your well-being.

There’s plenty to upack.

Whether you’re facing a logistical, financial, interpersonal, systemic, or existential dilemma, we’re likely familiar with what you’re going through, and we can help you come out the other side.

Let's create your future, instead of just drifting into one.

  • I always call BrightSide when I have something to work out in my professional life. Doors open, opportunities present themselves. It just works.
    Sarah S.
  • Cliff helped me get the salary increase I've been trying to get for 6 months! We came up with a plan and he gave me some talking points, and I finally got my boss to listen. Now I'm making way more than I ever thought possible.
    Waaduda P.
  • I'm not good at playing the politic game. BrightSide helped me get what I needed without getting lost in the drama. That's exactly what I wanted.
    Paxton O.
  • Cliff is my lifeline. I call him whenever I have a quandry at work. At this point he knows my life better than my husband! lol
    Thomas H.
  • I thought I was trapped. I was in a completely TOXIC work environment. But I survived. And came out better for it. Find the silver lining. Call Cliff.
    Kiki S.
  • Cliff is a master at coming up with the right thing to say and the right way to say it. He's helped me find my way through some tough situations! Forever grateful.
    Pete F.

Total investment: $225/hr

Job seekers who partner with us are not only more likely to get interviews, they’re more likely to succeed in the interview process and win higher-paying jobs.

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Personal Counseling $225/hr

Personal Counseling

For anyone struggling with pervasive anxiety, panic, self-doubt, isolation, depression, PTSD, imposter syndrome, communication challenges, or other barriers that continue to show up in your life and career. Let’s open that door and confront the underlying factors that have been preventing you from flourishing. It's time to break the cycle.

1 Hour of Counseling

You Can’t Make Progress If You Can’t Move.

Anxiety continues to be a widespread and growing problem in the U.S. We are being tested at every level of our day to day lives.

Do any of these issues dominate your thinking?

  • Family Pressures
  • Parent Obligations
  • Relationship Needs
  • Work Demands
  • Job-Related Stress
  • Layoffs/Terminations
  • Lack of (meaningful) Work
  • Financial Uncertainty
  • Political Turmoil
  • Existential Threats
  • World Events

With so much happening at every level of engagement in our lives, it’s no wonder so many of us are paralyzed by anxiety.

Perhaps you, too, are feeling unable to find clarity, focus, and energy to get yourself out from under the weight of worry.

We’ve Been Defeating Anxiety for Decades.

As career counselors, Anxiety has been our #1 foe. We’ve honed our ability to confront, banish, and befriend Anxiety. Whatever it takes.

When Anxiety is in your way, even the best laid plans aren’t worth squat. You have to deal with the monster in the room. You have to undo the chains.

With our training and experience, we can get you free and build you back up so you can move toward your goals with inspiration and purpose.

  • Cliff put me at ease. He helped me figure out exactly what was stopping me from thriving. We came up with a strategy to deal with my anxiety whenever it shows up… which isn’t as often, thankfully.
    Monica P.
  • Cliff has a calming way about him. I felt comfortable talking through my worries. I’ve never done that before. It helped a lot.
    Jenna Y.
  • Anxiety has been a problem for me my whole life. And it still is to some degree, but at least now I know how to handle it. I’ve been able to accomplish so much more now that I have it under control.
    Manny C.
  • Anxiety doesn’t have to run your life! Take it from me.
    Sandeep S.

Total investment: $225/hr

Job seekers who partner with us are not only more likely to get interviews, they’re more likely to succeed in the interview process and win higher-paying jobs.

Learn More

MBTI Personality Assessment $250

MBTI Personality Assessment

For anyone eager to learn what makes them tick in terms of core traits, preferences, tendencies, and work styles. Expect a few “a-ha” moments and acquire specific language useful in presenting yourself in interviews and networking meetings.

1 Assessment + Counseling

Look In Before You Look Out

Take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), one of the most well-known and trusted psychology assessments used by HR teams and managers all over the world. Answer a series of situational and behavioral questions and get a report back explaining your distinct personality traits, work styles, and preferences.

Take It From An Expert

We are an authorized CPP assessment administrator, which means we've been specifically trained to run and interpret these reports that have been a staple in career counseling for decades.

Companies use the MBTI all the time to understand employees' strengths and facilitate better communication in the workplace.

See Yourself Clearly

  • Learn how you stay energized
  • See how you process information
  • Understand how you make decisions
  • Realize how you organize your life

Move With Confidence

People who take the MBTI feel a sense of validation. They appreciate removing the mystery behind why and how they act. We've done hundreds of these assessments for people of all experience levels. It's always gratifying to witness.

  • After talking to Cliff, I can honestly say that I felt so relieved and much more clear headed going into my search.
    Maggie A. via Yelp
  • Cliff is an absolute pleasure to talk with, and always brings out the best in me.
    Hunter C. via Yelp
  • When you hire BrightSide Resumes you are investing in your successful future. I have referred several of my colleagues to BrightSide and they to have been very pleased with the results.
    Joseph C. via Yelp
  • Getting help from someone who sees you for who you are, can pull out your strengths, can knit together your special offerings and also deeply understand the industry is rare. Cliff has really helped me build a story that is MY story.
    John H. via Yelp
  • Bottom line is I would recommend Brightside Resume to anyone looking to add to their self-worth and increase their professional confidence.
    Carson B. via Yelp
  • Cliff is a not only a great writer but a great listener.
    S.M. via Yelp
  • Cliff made it so easy with his questions. All I had to do was start talking and then cliff would guide the conversation on where it needed to go to get the proper info.
    Matt W. via Yelp
  • I completed a fairly thorough questionnaire that really helped me reflect on my career. The process was so easy, too. Everything is done by phone and email so it's very fast and uncomplicated.
    Robert A. via Yelp
  • Our conversations helped me clarify and better understand my true value within my field and in the world in general.
    Claudia P. via Yelp

Total investment: $250

Job seekers who partner with us are not only more likely to get interviews, they’re more likely to succeed in the interview process and win higher-paying jobs.

Learn More How It Works

Career Interests Assessment $250

Career Interests Assessment

For career adventurers looking to put a name on their interests, discover job roles and fields that suit them best, and generate a prioritized list of career options. This is a great starting point if you’re open to new possibilities and just want to know what’s "out there" for you.

1 Assessment + Counseling

Open Up Your Options

Take the Strong Interest Inventory: answer a series of questions online and get a 10-page report, including a long list of job options you can start researching immediately.

We are an authorized CPP assessment administrator, which means we've been specifically trained to run and interpret these reports that have been a staple in career counseling for decades.

See What Interests You

  • Discover new fields and industries
  • Get a beautiful list of job options
  • Gain bountiful detail on new careers
  • Find out what you do best and why
  • Understand your inclinations

Reveal Real Possibilities

We've done hundreds of these assessments for people of all experience levels. It's a great way to really zero in on what you're all about, learn about careers you may have overlooked, and gain some focus on where you can go from here.

  • We talked on a variety of subjects having to do with my future career moves. Cliff even gave me step-by-step advice on how to pursue those goals, what possible directions I could go in, and things I might consider.
    SanFran L. via Yelp
  • Our conversations helped me clarify and better understand my true value within my field and in the world in general. Cliff is fun to talk to and he really 'gets' what I'm trying to say...even if I'm not totally sure.
    Claudia P. via Yelp
  • Cliff understands that the path to a successful career includes uncovering your motivations, realizing what gives you joy, and how you can use your best traits to contribute to others.
    Justin D. via Yelp
  • I spoke with Cliff on two hour-long occasions where Cliff delved into my skill set and goals. The conversations helped me to evaluate what it is I want and am qualified to pursue.
    Jeremy H. via Yelp
  • At the end of my session, I honestly felt a sense of relief and affirmation that I am valuable and that I simply needed a little push to get to where I wanted to be.
    Moget G. via Yelp
  • Cliff asked tough questions that helped me clarify what kind of position I wanted. He took the time to find out just what I enjoyed about my previous jobs and combined that with my interests. The phone call with Cliff proved invaluable!
    Ryan R. via Yelp

Total investment: $250

Job seekers who partner with us are not only more likely to get interviews, they’re more likely to succeed in the interview process and win higher-paying jobs.

Learn More How It Works
ALL-INCLUSIVE PACKAGES

The Launchpad $2475

The Launchpad

Our most comprehensive service, for people struggling to gain traction in their field or seeking a full reset. We'll guide you through a substantive, cathartic multi-week process of determining your direction, setting feasible goals in line with market trends, defining your personal brand, and blazing a path into a fitting career.

4 Assessments + 6 Sessions

Gain Clarity, Confidence, and Momentum.

We’ve designed a comprehensive career-launch program where you'll work in depth with a counselor to identify what you really care about and are good at, demystify what’s up ahead, determine what your options are, and weave together an authentic personal story that illustrates and celebrates your unique experience, talents, training, aspirations, and credentials.

The Launchpad involves an intuitive blend of online and interactive assessments, 1-on-1 counseling, resume therapy, storytelling workshops, and several BrightSide worksheets, including a Career Blueprint (to synthesize the assessments) and the BrightSide Career Comparison Chart (to prioritize your career options as we come up with them.)

Help Is Here.

This service is right for you if you’re looking to create a solid foundation to set you up for success in looking for work.

The Launchpad is particularly helpful for:

  • Students & Recent Graduates
  • People Failing to Gain Traction
  • Job-Seekers Looking for a Reset
  • Anyone Feeling Stagnant/Stuck
  • Underemployed Workers
  • Unemployed Folks Needing a Recharge

We’re With You Every Step of the Journey

We’ve designed a program that’s intuitive, fun, flexible, and inspiring, with a few surprises along the way.

You’ll work with us across 6 sessions to identify and explore your core beliefs, guiding values, decision-making tendencies, personality preferences, transferable and industry-specific work skills, and dominant interests. When we're done, you'll know yourself inside and out, which means you'll be better able to make decisions, find fulfilling work, and advocate for yourself.

Ultimately, we’ll define your personal brand, one that is both authentic and impressive. In short, we’ll uncover and celebrate the real you.

This is the first crucial step in finding or pivoting to fulfilling work. We’ve packed everything into this program. Time to see yourself in a different light.

  • My [job] search wasn't going anywhere so I signed up for the Launchpad. Total game-changer. Can't recommend it enough!
    Etienne F.
  • Working with BrightSide changed my entire outlook, including not just how others view me, but in how I see myself.
    Pamela G.
  • My son was looking for work for months. I never thought he'd find something. Cliff helped him in a ways I didn't expect. He was brighter and more hopeful. And he found an internship.
    Margaret Y.
  • What can I say?! The Launchpad launched me into my next chapter. I'm so glad I left my old career behind. Sorry it took so long.
    Alan P.

What You Get

  • 6 Live Counseling Sessions
  • 4 Career Assessments
  • Career Identity Blueprint
  • Personal Branding Synopsis
  • Dedicated Counselor
  • Direct Text Line to Cliff

Total investment: $2475

Job seekers who partner with us are not only more likely to get interviews, they’re more likely to succeed in the interview process and win higher-paying jobs.

Learn More How It Works

The Career Transitioner $1245

The Career Transitioner

Power-packed Career Transition Service, involving career assessments and career coaching, for people wondering which career is right for them, how they can make a career pivot, or how to go about changing careers. We'll identify your priorities, generate career options, and hand-hold you through the exploration and identification process.

2 Assessments + 3 Sessions

Find Clarity. Find Direction.

We've built an accelerated career-transition service where you'll work closely with a counselor to rapidly uncover what you value, where your core skills and talents lie, and what your dominant interests are to drive you toward a suitable, energizing second (or third or fourth) career.

Our goal is to learn what you've already accomplished and figure out what you can do next that will leverage that wellspring of knowledge, skills, connections, talent and experience. We want you to "build into your next career," not start over.

Through a combination of online assessments, interactive exercises, and 1:1 counseling, bolstered by our career-tracking tools and worksheets, you'll shift from uncertain to excited.

Career Coaching for Career Changers

This service is right for you if you're navigating a career transition, whether you're pivoting industries, feeling stuck, or just starting to ask "what career is right for me?"

It's especially helpful for people who are:

  • Feeling stuck in a role that no longer fits
  • Facing a midlife career change
  • Newly laid off and rethinking their path
  • Forcibly displaced by AI
  • Solo/entrepreneurs wondering what's next
  • Returning to work after time away
  • Considering a career pivot but unsure where to start

Fast-Track Into a Confident Career Transition

Across 3 one-hour counseling sessions, we'll 1) find out what matters to you, 2) discover, research, and rank career possibilities, and 3) narrow down your choices with tangible next steps to pursue them.

This service is designed to get you thinking and moving in other directions, quickly. We've facilitated hundreds of people in switching and enhancing their careers, and we can tell you this: the biggest enemy to success is inertia.

We'll Get You To Think In New Directions

You're stuck in a cycle of thinking that AI can't help. You may have ideas, and you may even have drafted or brainstormed plans to make a change, but you're not moving.

You need an accountability partner and a career expert who knows the jobs as they really are in the working world, and how they overlap. You need an honest ally to tell you if the transition is doable and what it will take.

That's what we do. We got you.

What You Get

  • 3 Live Counseling Sessions
  • 2 Career Assessments
  • Career Comparison Chart
  • Dedicated Career Counselor

Total investment: $1245

Job seekers who partner with us are not only more likely to get interviews, they’re more likely to succeed in the interview process and win higher-paying jobs.

Learn More

So What's The Best Career Counseling Advice?

A lot goes into making career choices. What's the best career counseling advice you've come across? Did it remove all of your job-search barriers? Did it help you land your dream job? We’ve guided clients to find their calling several times over, but more than that, we’ve supported clients in becoming more satisfied with their career decisions and more fulfilled with their lives.


Career Assistance Is Here

With the correct guidance and support, you can be confident and prepared for job success, from deciding on a direction to presenting yourself in the interview, to negotiating on your behalf, to taking that cherished offer and stepping into and keeping a role that was made for you. Whether you are a recent graduate trying to get your foot in the door or an experienced professional looking to make a change, you will always benefit from partnering with a career counselor. And we’re happy to fill that space for you.

What About Job Interview Coaching?

Everyone agrees that acing the job interview is a crucial step in finding and securing a job. But, the truth is, many job seekers don’t adequately prepare for the interview, or even worse, don’t earn any interviews in the first place. To win interviews and navigate them, you must be crystal clear about who you are professionally and what you have to offer. Career counseling and interview coaching can help you to do just that.

Career Counselors vs Career Coaches

Career counselors are actually different from career coaches. Career coaches can have zero training. All they need is a business card. By contrast, to wear the title of "career counselor," you must have earned a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. With such deep credentials, career counselors can provide you with expert advice to help you maximize your chances of getting the job you want. They can also facilitate you in diving deep into the root cause of your career obstacles in order to remove them permanently.

The Very Best Of Career Services

That’s our goal: to lead you to the BrightSide so you can stand tall with your best foot forward. Taking advantage of our expertise and experience will improve your chances of getting the job you desire. Through our coaching, we, as career counselors, can help you identify and target any weaknesses or gaps in your skills and profile, as well as support you in refining and enhancing the skills you already have.