Career Coaching & Professional Development

Unlock Your Next Level with Expert Coaching

A private, one-on-one coaching practice built exclusively for students and young professionals targeting careers in financial services. No cohorts, no templates — just personalized strategy from someone invested in your outcome.

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120+
Clients Coached and Mentored
95%
Client Satisfaction
1:1
Individually Tailored Solutions
What We Offer

Coaching Tailored to Your Goals

Whether you're breaking into the industry, stepping up into leadership, or working toward a credential, we have a program for you.

🎯

Career Coaching

Gain clarity, confidence, and a clear path forward in your professional life.

  • Resume & LinkedIn optimization
  • Interview preparation
  • Career pivot strategy
  • Salary negotiation coaching
  • The Dark Horse Method — 9-step networking program
📜

Professional Training

Earn the credentials that open doors in financial services, with a study plan built around your life.

  • CFA — Levels I, II & III preparation
  • CFP — certification coaching
  • CPA — exam planning & support
  • Choosing the right credential for your path
  • Study schedules & accountability
💡

Leadership Development

Level up your executive presence, communication, and team leadership skills.

  • Executive presence coaching
  • Communication & influence
  • Conflict resolution skills
  • Managing up & across
  • Promotion readiness
Signature Program

The Dark Horse Method

A nine-step networking program for the candidate nobody saw coming. Most job searches fail on volume — more applications, more rejection. The Dark Horse Method replaces that with a sequence: define your value, distribute it through the right people, then close the deal. Each step is coached one-on-one, in order, so nothing is left to luck.

9 Steps 3 Phases 1:1 Coached
Diagram of the Dark Horse Method: nine steps in three rows. Define your value proposition — personal audit; optimizing your resume, email and LinkedIn; creating your core stories and elevator pitch. Distribute your value proposition — creating your networking battle plan and calendar; LinkedIn alumni research and target analysis; conducting informational interviews and follow-up. Closing the deal — securing internal referrals; nailing the formal interview and getting offers; negotiating the best terms for your offer.
The whole path on one page: from no offers and an O.P.T. clock running down, to an offer at a prestigious U.S. company.
Phase One

Define Your Value Proposition

  1. 01
    Personal Audit

    Take honest stock of your skills, results and story so far, and establish what you are genuinely worth in this market.

  2. 02
    Optimizing Your Resume, Email & LinkedIn

    Rebuild the three assets every recruiter checks, so all of them say the same clear thing about you.

  3. 03
    Core Stories & Elevator Pitch

    Lock in a handful of repeatable stories and a pitch that lands in under a minute, in any room.

Phase Two

Distribute Your Value Proposition

  1. 04
    Networking Battle Plan

    Turn networking from something you dread into a scheduled, trackable weekly routine with a real calendar behind it.

  2. 05
    Alumni Research & Target Analysis

    Mine the LinkedIn alumni network for the people most likely to take your call, and study their teams before you reach out.

  3. 06
    Informational Interviews & Follow-up

    Run the conversation properly, then follow up in a way that keeps you on their radar long after the call ends.

Phase Three

Closing The Deal

  1. 07
    Securing Internal Referrals

    Convert those relationships into an internal referral — the single biggest lever on your odds of an interview.

  2. 08
    Nailing the Formal Interview

    Prepare for the real thing until strong answers are automatic, and turn those interviews into offers.

  3. 09
    Negotiating Your Offer

    Ask for more with evidence behind you, and close on terms you are genuinely happy to sign.

The Networking Matrix: a three-by-three grid crossing cold, warm and hot relationships against casual, business casual and business professional settings. Cold routes such as an interview via online application convert under 5 percent; warm routes such as an interview via internal referral convert 30 to 40 percent; hot routes through very close connections convert over 90 percent.

Why the referral decides it

Steps five and seven lean on one idea we map out with every client. Every route into a company sits somewhere on two axes — how warm the relationship is, and how formal the setting.

Where you sit on that grid matters far more than how many applications you send:

<5%Cold — an interview reached through an online application
30–40%Warm — an interview reached through an internal referral
>90%Hot — an interview reached through a genuinely close connection

The Method spends most of its energy moving you up that grid.

Run it as a full nine-session program or compress it into an intensive if your search is already moving. Included with every Career Coaching engagement.

Start the Method →
Nicholas Yan — Academy9
About Academy9

Coaching That's Built Around You

Academy9 was founded on a simple belief: the right conversation at the right moment can change everything. We don't do cookie-cutter programs or generic advice.

Every session is a real, person-to-person conversation designed around your specific goals, challenges, and timeline. We dig into what's actually holding you back — and build a plan to get you moving.

Human-First Approach No templates. No scripts. Just honest, tailored coaching from someone invested in your success.
Results-Driven We measure success by your outcomes — promotions earned, businesses launched, confidence gained.
Built for Action Every session ends with clear next steps. We don't just talk — we build momentum.
Client Stories

Real People. Real Results.

From investment banking to asset management, here's what happens when finance professionals commit to the process.

★★★★★
"I'd been sending applications into the void for a year with no traction. Academy9 rebuilt my story around the deals I'd actually worked on, then walked me through referral conversations at three bulge bracket banks. Two internal referrals, one superday, and an offer within six weeks."
P
Priya S.
Corporate Banking → Investment Banking Associate
★★★★★
"Coming from audit, every recruiter told me I wasn't a fit for the buy side. We reframed my background, sharpened my stock pitch until it held up under real pressure, and drilled the technicals. I moved from Big Four to an equity research seat in one hiring cycle."
D
Daniel K.
Big Four Audit → Equity Research Associate
★★★★★
"The coaching style is refreshingly direct — no fluff, just strategy and accountability. We worked on the executive presence side of managing client relationships and senior stakeholders, and I made VP two months after we started. The negotiation prep paid for the whole engagement."
S
Sofia M.
Private Wealth Advisor → VP, Wealth Management

Ready to Start?

Book a free 30-minute discovery call. No pressure — just a conversation to see if we're the right fit.

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Let's Talk About Your Goals

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✉️ nicholas.yan@academy9careerconsulting.com
📍 Available Virtually — Anywhere
🕐 Mon–Fri, 9am–6pm EST