Hello, I’m Gary Dumais…
Welcome to my personal website – a great place to learn about my background.
If you’re interested in the consulting services I provide, please visit my Business Psychologist or Candidate Assessment or HR Consulting and Career Coaching websites.
I grew-up on a Christmas tree farm in Upstate New York as part of a small, hardworking, blue-collar family. In addition to growing evergreen trees, my father worked as an electrician at the Kodak factory. I was also fortunate enough to have a stay-at-home mother.
Of course, my upbringing had a tremendous influence on who I am today. My father was raised in poverty on a farm in Canada along with his eight brothers and sisters. As a result, he knew the value of hard work, doing things right the first time, and persisting in overcoming obstacles. As a young adult, my father had the courage and spirit to leave the farm and immigrate to the United States to find work. Through his example, I learned at an early age that being responsible, committed, and always believing there was a way to solve any problem were keys to success. At the same time, work on the Christmas tree farm taught me long-term thinking, perseverance, and patience. Every tree begins as a small seedling. It needs to be planted carefully and then tended to consistently (e.g., fertilizing, weed removal, pruning and shaping) for nearly ten years before a happy customer cuts it down and takes it away!
I applied the same work ethic and long-term thinking that I learned on the tree farm to my education and career. When I was a child, my father explained that work was a necessity in life, and that I could pursue higher education and have a choice of what type of work I’d do. He encouraged me to pursue a career I was truly interested in – something that I would enjoy doing, give me purpose, and make me proud. After some thoughtful reflection, I realized that there is nothing more interesting than people, and I would most enjoy a career dedicated to understanding and helping people.
With all that in mind, I decided to become a psychologist. And while the focus of my graduate studies were on becoming a clinical psychologist, I quickly began to apply what I learned to the world of work and helping people in the workplace. Now I specialize in helping people find work that fits their personality, skill-sets, and aptitudes. I also coach people to increase their effectiveness on the job, become better leaders, and shape their career advancement. Looking back to my early years growing-up on the tree farm and the influence of my hardworking parents, it seems like my career choice was destined.
Now, with over 20 years of experience, I’m an Executive Coach, Business Psychologist, and Human Resource Consultant at Select Human Resources, a company I founded in Philadelphia in 2008.
If you’d like to know more, you can also visit my LinkedIn page.