About Me

Success in career and life often depends on the ability to assemble pieces that at first glance don't appear to fit together. Darlene Cook's clients think of her as their personal puzzle solver. Her unique Quantum Quizics approach to problem-solving helps them to select and place the right pieces together and see the whole picture.

Darlene's inquisitive approach was born out of her own career and life-planning experiences - which included some missteps - and out of her innate desire to question everything. She knows firsthand the life-altering power of the "aha" moment - that flash of insight when everything suddenly falls into place and you discover with absolute certainty what you were meant to do.

Rather than simply create traditional "job obituary" resumes, Darlene helps her clients express their unrecognized talents and accomplishments in the form of powerful marketing tools. She also prepares job-seeking clients to manage their searches and job interviews with confidence. Darlene's questioning skills help her life and retirement coaching clients to reach beyond their former limitations and expectations to build mission statements and plans that match their dreams.

If Darlene's nature is to question, her passion is to write - and to share her knowledge. The heart of her forthcoming book, "Quantum Quizics: How to Get an MBA in The Field of Your Choice in 60 Minutes", is her trade mark Quantum Quizics method, a failsafe approach to finding answers to the perplexing questions that block forward movement. Visitors and subscribers to her weblog enjoy reading her frequent posts on topics ranging from managing change and careers to embarking on research and retirement.

Since founding Resumes & Beyond in 1992, Darlene Cook has provided full-service career and life change support to over 3,500 clients. She is a frequent public speaker, newspaper columnist, and workshop facilitator.

Her corporate management life spanned twenty-two years and ended shortly after the AT&T breakup. Unlike many of her peers facing the painful reality of a necessary workforce reduction, Darlene was excited about the prospect of a new career path. While her employer's new market-driven environment appealed to her, she felt her inherent talents were misaligned. She began to ask herself, "What am I really meant to do? She sought professional career counseling, but the answer came gradually over time, in pieces that didn't appear at first to fit - either with each other or with her self-image. It was only when she began to ask the right questions of the right people that she found her true path - and discovered the core of Quantum Quizics.

Darlene received her advanced life coaching training from Coach Training Institute, Corporate Coaching Certification from Coach U and retirement coach certifications from Retirement Options Coaching Center and The Third Age Center for Learning. She is a member of the International Coach Federation, Career Masters Institute, and the American Society on Aging.

Darlene's credentials include:
- Course facilitator at the Roland Park Country School's Kaleidoscope Program
- Transitional Planning workshop leader for Special Ed teachers
- Adjunct teacher at Marywood University
- Team building facilitator for healthcare, chambers of commerce, and real estate management teams
- Group performance team coach for healthcare and manufacturing organizations

She is also a member of Baltimore's Patterson Park Public Charter School's Board Development Committee.

Darlene's mantra is: I empower work & life changers