Career Coach

# CLAUDE.md — Career Coach
> Version: 2026-02-17 | Difficulty: beginner

## What Your AI Can Now Do
- Rewrite a resume tailored to a specific job posting in 15 minutes
- Build a personalized career strategy with milestones from a single conversation
- Draft LinkedIn profile sections that position your clients for their target roles
- Generate interview prep with likely questions and talking points for any company
- Turn a vague "I want to switch careers" into a concrete 90-day action plan

---

## Quick Start
1. Add your first client to `clients/[client-name]/intake.md` with their background and goals
2. Run `/career-strategy` on a client's intake to see a personalized roadmap
3. Try `/resume-tailor` with a client resume and a target job description
4. Add your Google Drive and Calendar details to `.env` for session management
5. Run `/interview-prep` with a company name to generate a full prep package

---

## About Me
I'm a career coach helping professionals navigate transitions — whether that's landing a promotion, switching industries, or recovering from a layoff. My work is equal parts strategy and confidence-building. I need to deliver tangible assets (resumes, plans, prep materials) while keeping the human side front and center.

---

## Pre-Built Commands

| Command | What It Does |
|---------|-------------|
| `/career-strategy` | Creates a personalized career roadmap with milestones and timeline |
| `/resume-tailor` | Rewrites a resume optimized for a specific job posting |
| `/interview-prep` | Generates likely questions, talking points, and company research |
| `/linkedin-optimize` | Drafts headline, about section, and experience bullets for target role |
| `/salary-research` | Pulls compensation benchmarks for a role, level, and location |

---

## How Claude Connects to Your Tools

| Tool | Why You Need It |
|------|----------------|
| Google Drive | Store client documents, resumes, and session notes in shared folders |
| Google Calendar | Schedule coaching sessions and send prep materials automatically |
| LinkedIn (via AnySite) | Research target companies and roles for client strategy |
| Gmail | Send session summaries and action items to clients after each call |

### Setup
```bash
# Required in .env
GOOGLE_DRIVE_FOLDER_ID=your-coaching-drive-id
GMAIL_ACCOUNT=your-email@gmail.com
CALENDAR_ID=your-calendar-id
```

---

## Coaching Rules
- **MUST:** Always understand the target role before touching a resume — optimization without direction is polish on the wrong story
- **MUST:** Never guarantee outcomes — frame everything as strategies that increase probability
- **SHOULD:** Lead with the client's strengths, not their gaps — confidence drives action
- **MUST:** Quantify achievements on resumes whenever possible — "increased revenue 40%" beats "managed revenue growth"
- **SHOULD:** Ask about energy and motivation, not just skills — misaligned careers fail even with perfect resumes
- **MUST:** Keep all client information strictly confidential between client folders

---

## Project Structure
```
clients/
  [client-name]/
    intake.md
    resume-versions/
    strategy/
    session-notes/
    job-targets/
resources/
  interview-banks/
  salary-data/
  industry-guides/
templates/
  intake-template.md
  resume-template.md
  session-summary-template.md
```

### What These Folders Mean
- `clients/` — One folder per client with all coaching artifacts and session history
- `resources/` — Shared reference materials: interview question banks, salary benchmarks, industry overviews
- `templates/` — Standardized formats for intake forms, resumes, and session summaries

---

## Automation

| When | What Happens | If It Fails |
|------|-------------|-------------|
| New intake form saved | Auto-generates initial career strategy draft | Run `/career-strategy` manually on the intake file |
| 24 hours before session | Sends client a prep email with agenda and action items to review | Check calendar and send prep email manually |
| After session notes saved | Generates session summary with action items and sends to client | Draft summary manually and email from `templates/` |
| Job target added | Auto-tailors latest resume version for the posting | Run `/resume-tailor` with resume and job description |
| Monthly on the 1st | Generates client progress reports across all active engagements | Review each client folder and summarize progress manually |

---

## Gotchas
- **MUST:** Never review a resume without knowing the target role first — you'll optimize for the wrong audience
- **MUST:** Save every resume version — clients change direction and need to go back
- **SHOULD:** Send session summaries within 24 hours — momentum fades fast after coaching calls
- **MUST:** Never copy language between clients' resumes — each person's story is unique
- **SHOULD:** Check salary data freshness before sharing benchmarks — outdated numbers undermine trust
- **MUST:** Frame career pivots as "building on" past experience, not "starting over" — language shapes client confidence

---

## Memory & Learning
Claude builds context over time:
- Client backgrounds, career goals, and target roles
- Resume versions and which tailoring approaches worked best
- Interview feedback patterns and common improvement areas
- Industry-specific terminology and hiring trends
- Session history and action item completion rates per client

To save something important: just say "remember that [fact]" in conversation.
To review saved memories: use the `/memory` command to open the memory editor.