Career Energy

Initially we wanted to call this space 'Client of the Month' but it's not about being the best or investing the most. It's about overcoming obstacles, one's weaknesses, dealing with difficulties and about showing that where there's a will, there's a way. So we decided on 'Inspiration of the month'.

Every month we will publish a story about one of our clients. We hope that you will find these stories inspirational. Maybe you will find a story about someone just like you, at the same point of their journey towards a job they love. See how they manage!

Donna was a recruiter’s nightmare. An arts graduate with a wide range of skills and experience from fashion to food and beverage, she had no specific affiliation as to sector, and no specific professional label to recruiters to pigeon hole her into one job role or another. However, in her job at the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) Donna had been very successful at helping a wide range of Australian business clients in their quest to enter the UK market or find new strategies to build market share.
The challenge for Donna and her consultant was how to find a way to re-launch her career at an appropriate salary commensurate with her experience and business development skill, without having to accept an entry level position just to pick up sector specific experience.
At first Donna sought generalist business development roles across a range of organisations. It became apparent that the larger organisations were also a lot choosier; despite her personal qualities and good applications she was turned down several times including from a university and a food standards body owing to her lack of sector-specific knowledge compared to other candidates.
Donna’s consultant encouraged her to review her slightly cautious attitude to risk and perhaps negotiate harder for more ambitious roles which would utilise her skill set to the full. As the testimonials she had from Austrade proved, she was a savvy, critical thinker when it came to business, a self-starter and well capable of representing an organisation on her own, deal making and getting things done.
Drawing inspiration from her Austrade connections and from creative networks where she was mixing with entrepreneurs, Donna identified high-growth potential companies where she could add value, and contacted them. Capable negotiator that she was, Donna convinced Clean Seas, the tuna importers of Australia, that she could be instrumental in consolidating their market entry to UK, and Clean Seas jumped at that chance.
This case illustrates well the vital importance of the self-assessment process, and of clients matching themselves to the right work environment, and also of proactivity in the job search process. Following a redundancy, part of her naturally desired the comfort of working for a large established organisation, but a slow-moving bureaucracy wasn’t the place where she really could shine. Her Austrade clients really needed her, and again she is working for a company that really needs her. If you have proven business skills, somebody out there needs you. Unfortunately, larger organisations are often more concerned with ‘fit’ than with business success. Of course, one wonders where success is going to come from if these are their priorities.