The story of Quintessential Careers cannot be told without first mentioning the
story of its founder, Dr. Randall Hansen, whose vision and determination over the
past 10 years have made the company what it is today -- the Web's premier career
development Website for any person who finds him or herself searching for a
new job or a new career.
Dr. Hansen's journey in providing career enlightenment and empowerment began in
the late 1980s, when he became involved in a book project with his wife (Quintessential
Careers Creative Director Katharine Hansen). The book,
Dynamic Cover Letters,
was the impetus for looking at careers and job-hunting from a whole new perspective.
It was during this time period that Dr. Hansen realized the connection between job-hunting
and marketing. The more successful job-seekers were ones who, whether they knew it or
not, used important marketing tools and techniques to sell themselves as the best
candidates to prospective employers.
A doctoral student at Florida State University at the time, Dr. Hansen spread his newly
discovered message by conducting workshops on campus. At first, the workshops centered
around cover letters, but the topics soon grew in response to participant questions and concerns.
After moving in the early 1990s to DeLand, FL, to teach at
Stetson University, Dr. Hansen
continued to develop his theories related to self-marketing and job-hunting, as well as
conducting more workshops. But he sought other ways to get his message out to all job-seekers.
It was also during this time that Dr. Hansen better began to fully understand his mission
in life, fully began to understand that his passion was empowering people to succeed.
Against the backdrop of the new world of Web publishing in the mid-1990s, he attended a
workshop on basic Web design, and the inspiration for Quintessential Careers was born.
The site was established on the Stetson University server. At the time it was called the
Quintessential Career and Job-Hunting Resources Guide.
But over time, Dr. Hansen's little career site grew into something much bigger than what
he had initially conceived. He started Quintessential Careers slowly, adding a new career-related
article now and again for the first few years.
Two events dramatically changed the direction of Quintessential Careers.
First, in 1999, Dr. Hansen started writing a bi-weekly career column under the name
The Career Doctor.
His columns are published online on Quintessential Careers and
CareerShop.com and in print in the Daytona Beach News-Journal. By the end of 2006,
he will be close to completing 200 columns -- and close to answering 800 questions
from job-seekers from all walks of life.
Second, in 2000, Dr. Hansen and Katharine collaborated on the creation and publishing of
QuintZine,
a career and job-search e-zine. Now publishing in its seventh year,
the Hansens will have produced more than 150 issues by the end of this year.
In recent years, Quintessential Careers has continued to expand its services, first with
content and then with strategic partnerships. In content, Quintessential Careers moved
beyond its core market of job-seekers new to job-hunting to develop content for job-seekers
in all phases of job, career, and personal development, from teens and college students
to career-changers and older job-seekers.
To add even more value to its visitors, Quintessential Careers has struck some key
partnerships. First, with Beyond.com, a company dedicated to helping job-seekers
search, network, and grow throughout every stage of their career, business and life.
Beyond.com powers the Quintessential Careers Job-Search Portal,
connecting job-seekers with jobs, learning opportunities, and more. Second, with
CareerPerfect.com, a career-tools provider that powers the
Quintessential Resume & Cover Letter Service,
offering job-seekers better opportunities through improved job-search materials.
But even as the site grew over the past 10 years, with the additional authors,
more features, and key partnerships, the focus of Quintessential Careers has
remained the same: to empower job-seekers to uncover their career bliss and
find their ideal job, utilizing the expert advice and tools on the site to take them
further than they could have imagined.
What started in 1996 as a Website with about 50 pages of content has -- in 10
years -- become an Internet powerhouse with almost 3,000 pages of content.
The Hansens have been quoted in most major publications in the U.S.; more than
a million people visit the site monthly; and many of the articles published on the
site have been reprinted in all types of media. The site has won numerous
honors and awards and thousands of other Websites link to one or more pages of the site.
Learn more about Quintessential Careers by visiting
The Press Room
at Quintessential Careers.
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Quintessential Careers can help propel your career!
