While it is very clear how the risks worked out in my favour in the end, I am still proud of my past self for keeping on going even when it was not clear that the risks were going to be worth it in the end.

And even as I continue as a career coach, I often wonder just how much I can challenge my clients to take career risks. Just because it worked out for me, doesn’t necessarily mean it will for them.

1. Pausing school to do a short-term stretch work assignment  at Google. Before I graduated from Trinity Business School with a Masters in Digital Marketing Strategy (which btw is ranked 1st in Europe), I had actually paused school to prioritise a stretch work assignment at Google. To make matters worse, I only had 3 units remaining to graduate, and I still went ahead  to make the bold decision to pause school. At the time, it was unclear if I would get a chance to complete my studies, but I  took the risk to pause my studies because I wanted to pivot my career into Program Management through this work assignment. I can tell you this with 100% accuracy, if I did not take that risk in 2019, I probably wouldn’t be telling you that I am entering my 7th year in Global Program Management roles. On the bright side, I did finish school eventually and even went ahead to get a Second Master’s degree at HEC Paris, one of the world’s top 10 business schools.
   
2. Prioritising learning on the job over adhering to corporate politics. There were moments in my career when I chose to actively focus on learning on the job over obsessing to master the corporate political landscape. I have to say that this was quite the risk as it is often paired with resistance, opposition and discomfort. That being said, taking this risk enabled me to learn a lot about what makes large tech companies successful. At the same time, anytime I failed at the corporate game, I challenged myself to learn how to reduce the resistance that often comes when you are not playing by the unspoken rules. The reality is, there is no success without failure, and I am glad I was willing to fail so that I could win in the future.
   
3. Shutting down my award-winning blog to prioritise gaining financial independence. I used to be famous, although some people would argue that I still am. Jokes aside, my blog would have been much bigger than it was 10 years ago if I continued at the pace I was running it. But it got to a point where I realised that I need to ruthlessly prioritize gaining financial freedom, so I made the heartbreaking decision to shut down my blog. 7 years later, I have gained the financial freedom I wanted at this stage of My Life, which is why you are now reading a blog post from Me. I don’t know if I will go back to having the same popularity as I used to back then, but hey, I am still writing my story, so let’s see what the future holds.

Here are some signs of a bad CV Writing Service.

1. Anyone that promises a CV in 24 hours.
   
   All my clients know that my CV Writing process has 3 phases, and each one of them will tell you the necessity of each. I’ve worked with 1000+ people in the last decade and I can only count ONE client whose CV we completed in 48 hours. She was the only client I ever had that managed to do phase 1 and 2 with such excellence within 24 hours, which allowed me to hand her the completed CV the following day. I almost considered hiring her to work with Me, which says a lot as I can’t refer my clients to anyone else but myself to ensure 100% quality. Otherwise, with most of my clients, it can take between 3 days and 3 weeks.
   
2. Anyone that writes the CV for you.
   
   Without saying too much, anyone writing a CV for you is just handing you a general document with buzzwords. It surely can’t be a customised CV as you were not involved in the process altogether.
   
   All my clients are usually warned that it is going to take a lot of effort on their part to write a high quality CV, which they never complain about because they see the stellar end results.  That being said, I teach my clients on how to approach CV Writing with me in such a way that is fun as opposed to a stressful exercise that feels like high school homework. We are here to write one of the most important documents in your career, so we have to ensure you have fun while at it.
   
3. Constant negative reviews from past clients
   
   It may not be helpful to expect different results from a CV Writing professional who is constantly getting negative reviews. Just because they have a huge following and strong brand presence doesn’t diminish the dissatisfaction of their customers. 

Approach someone whose opinion you trust to refer you to a strong CV Writing Expert with general positive reviews and explore working with them instead. No one is immune to negative feedback, but for the most part, there are people who generally get more positive reviews than negative ones, and those are the ones you should consider.

1. If you hate your job.
   
   At this point, it might be useful to look at your job as a means to an end and access satisfaction by going to school and having positive engagements with your classmates. I always tell this to all my clients – hating your job can truly be managed by a positive mindset. You shouldn’t completely allow a job that helps you pay your bills to ruin your mood or make you sick because your mental well-being is affected. And it’s not like I am being dismissive of how bad toxic work environments can be. I am just taking into consideration that you may not have another job lined up and you may need to stay in this job in order to continue paying your bills. If this is the case, then you need to shift your attitudes to focus on the peace you get when you pay all your bills through the job you hate and then seek happier feelings from school.
   
2. If you have a bad manager.
   
   You can’t change a bad manager, but you can change by upskilling. Instead of focusing on how bad your manager is 24/7, it’s a much better use of your time to go back to school, level up and then use the new qualification to get a better paying job with a great manager. You need to understand that a bad manager will retire one day, and they can even surprise you by leaving the company sooner rather than later. Either way, you don’t have to wait for that, just focus on investing in yourself.
   
3. If your company offers to pay a portion of your school fees.
   
   If you are lucky, your company offers to pay a portion of your education costs. Just grab the opportunity even if you don’t feel like going back to school. In the end, you are investing in yourself and you can never go wrong with that.
   
4. If you lack the skills to change into the career you desire.
   
   Sometimes I will get clients who have zero experience in a specific area requesting me to help them write a CV that will help them get a job in that area. Of course, I am not one to sell snake oil, so I am always honest with my clients that they will need to put in the respective work, and that sometimes includes going back to school.

5. If your work experience has led you to the realisation that upskilling is required.

We are living in the times where jobs are being replaced with AI. If you have to go back to school to stay relevant to the Future of Work, then so be it. 

1. It is possible, but it is also very competitive. People know this, otherwise getting a  Big Tech job wouldn’t be a big deal in the first place. But I think sometimes people are not aware as to how competitive it is even for those who are already working for the Tech giants. There is an assumption that once you are in these companies, it is very easy to have career mobility, but that could not be any far from the reality. So when you see a senior role posted by any of the Tech giants, it is important to be conscious that you may be competing with candidates from Big Tech competitors or even internal employees seeking career growth.
   
   Action Required: It is important for you to continuously assess the skills required in Big Tech and be at par if not ahead of your peers in order to stand a chance to compete strongly.
   
2. Underestimating the NEED of a high quality CV. Tech giants deal with at least 100,000+ applications per month, so it would be futile to apply with a CV that does not stand out.
   
   Action Required: Invest in a high quality CV.
   
3. Visa Requirements. You may have the qualifications for an international role, but not the visa requirements to work there. I’ve seen loads of people getting excited about jobs in countries they don’t have work authorization for, which causes them a lot of stress when they don’t hear from the different employers.
   
   Action Required: During application, check to see if the employer has specified whether Visa Sponsorship is available for the role.
   
   Privileged alternative: If you have the means, you can consider relocating as a student to a country in which you desire to start or continue your career in. Before you decide on the country, check which ones have favourable visa conditions for graduates.
   
4. Instead of obsessing about a Career in Big Tech, prioritise Financial Freedom. You can’t fully control whether you get a job in a Big Tech company, but you have 100% control on your finances. There is a lot of satisfaction and growth that stems from chasing financial freedom – which ultimately can expose you to new dreams that could be better than the idea of being a Big Tech employee.
   
   Action Required: Book a coaching with me and let’s create a 6-12 month plan for yourself.

1. Requesting people to give you jobs: LinkedIn is definitely a place to seek employment opportunities, but not everyone is a recruiter. Just because someone works in a company you would like to work for doesn’t automatically mean that they have the power to get you a job in the same company.
   
2. Not requesting Human Resource Specialists to give you jobs: Now these are the people to talk to on LinkedIn. They are in direct contact with hiring managers who have informed them of the kind of candidates they are looking for. A HR specialist would be able to secure an interview for you based on how well you have written your CV and presented your case. These are the people you need to search for on LinkedIn and properly network with them. Not just inboxing them and expecting them to give you jobs, build relationships that can yield desirable results.
   
3. Not requesting for advice/tips from people working in the company of interest: Someone may not be a HR Specialist, but there sure exist different ways through which they can help you. You could ask for interview tips, referrals and any other advice that may be of interest to you at a specific time. I would not be keen on asking for jobs, but information that can get you the job you are looking for.
   
4. Lack of profile etiquette: Quite frankly I don’t understand the purpose of a LinkedIn account if you are not going to make it your digital resume. This is not Facebook or Instagram where you can afford not to upload a picture in 10 years. Outline your experiences in S.M.A.R.T way so that people begin to understand what you are about before you even talk to them. Imagine if you inbox a recruiter about a job opportunity and you have no picture or experience in your account? The recruiter might think this is one of those strange people that try to con people online.
   
5. Zero networking: It might be okay to talk to your Facebook friends once a year when you are wishing them a Happy Birthday, but LinkedIn is not that kind of platform. If you are going to add someone in your network, be purposeful and really connect with them. Make it interesting to talk to you. I really don’t get why
   

1. I won’t bullshit you.  I am not here to give you a false sense of hope so that you feel good that your career coach believes in you. Instead, you will leave our sessions with a clear sense of purpose, understanding that a lot of effort will go into pursuing your goals
   
   .- You can’t desire growth without resistance.
   
   – You can’t desire influence without opposition.
   
   – You can’t desire progress without discomfort.
   
   – If you are going to lead, you have to have the courage to be disliked.
   

– If you are going to champion change, you have to have the courage to be criticised.

– If you are going to be successful, you have to have the courage to be misunderstood.

I will empower you. I may have strong opinions on what is right or wrong, but what matters most is what my client feels is right for them. You only have one life, and it is yours to live and no one else, so it only makes sense that you should be empowered. Who knows, you may teach me (and the world) something new, all because you decided to take a bet on yourself. My job is to empower you and steer you in the right direction, but in the end, you are the one on the steering wheel writing your story, one chapter at a time.

Experience based coaching. Whereas I have grown my career from being a Marketing Intern to Global Management roles, I haven’t retired, at least not yet.  I am still in the process of growing and managing my career, which means that I am in a better position to support my clients as we are on the same journey.

I focus heavily on financial freedom. At the end of the day, whether you have 10 degrees and 100 years of work experience, all that hardly matters if you find yourself in a work environment that doesn’t serve you. The rules of the game may not be in your favour and to make matters worse,you have limited control on the outcome of your career in that specific space. So what happens to many people when they find themselves in these situations is that they start to despair and consistently overthink about how to gain control – affecting their self esteem, confidence and mental well-being. Well, once you begin your coaching with me, you will perfectly understand the heavy focus on financial freedom and how that ties to your career growth.

We will have fun. Sure look, I am Irish, so we will have some Craic. ( Craic is a term used to describe a good time, a fun experience, or a friendly conversation and is commonly used in Irish slang. )