Our esteemed colleague, Bob Kelling, passed away in May, 2003. He died peacefully in his sleep, one week before relocating to North Carolina, where he and his wife had planned to live, in retirement, close to their son and his family.

Bob joined The Ayers Group as an adjunct in 1995, having been recruited from one of the major outplacement firms. He was subsequently promoted to a full-time staff position as Senior Consultant. Bob quickly added value, on his arrival, in the areas of individual counseling, job search skills, negotiating (he originated the Ayers Group seminar on this topic), starting a business, working as a consultant, and planning for an active retirement.

Bob was comfortable working with a broad array of outplacement candidates, from the most senior to the junior. His knowledge of functional skills and industries was comprehensive, and in addition to the Fortune 500 categories, he worked with candidates from the not-for-profit and government sectors.

Bob was truly one of the fathers of the outplacement industry and was one of the first career counselors to introduce career transition techniques in the United Kingdom. He partnered with such luminaries as Saul Gruner and J.J. Gallagher at THinc., the early and excellent prototype from which the modern career transition industry derived.

Bob’s corporate career, before he transitioned into career transition, encompassed a Controller position with Louis Dreyfus; earlier, he was a Regional Controller for Continental Grain Company.  His academic credentials included a dual-major B.A. in Business Administration and Political Science from Ohio Wesleyan University.