Ziying has secured a Business Analyst position at Bain & Company.
MSc in Psychology student at Edinburgh University, with BSc in International Business.
Ziying reached out to me when she started her Masters studies in Psychology. As many international students, she wanted to start her career in the UK instead of going back to China. Being a Chinese student with a limited understanding of the graduate recruitment process in the UK and no experience in applying for jobs, she was concerned about her chances to secure a position that would provide visa sponsorship. To increase her chances of succeeding and securing a job offer in the UK, Ziying has decided to start working with me.
The key challenges she was facing were:
• She could only work for companies that sponsors work visas
• Language barrier and cultural differences
• She lacked overall understanding of graduate recruitment process
• No prior experience in drafting CV, writing cover letters, attending interviews and assessment centres
• She lacked understanding what career options would match her skillset
• Her CV didn’t highlight her accomplishments and strengths
• She didn’t understand how to “sell herself” effectively while writing cover letters and answering application and interview questions
• She lacked experience in presenting herself at interviews
• She lacked experience in attending assessment centres
Ziying, just as many graduates, was lacking an understanding of what career options would match her skillset. Together we explored her professional and personal values to identify potential careers options to match her strengths. Through the carefully designed exercises I helped Ziying to clarify her desires, dreams and ambitions and turn them into precise goals. After a few sessions with me she was able to identify what a fulfilling and meaningful career looks like for her and together we defined short term, medium and long term career goals. Together we created a job search strategy with weekly application targets to keep her focused and eliminate “I don’t know what to do next” thoughts.
Ziying was aware that the graduate recruitment process is highly competitive so her performance at every stage had to be exemplary. We worked on improving her CV and LinkedIn profile. I helped her to identify her achievements which not only helped Ziying to create targeted and accomplishment based CV but also boosted her confidence. I also helped her to write strong and targeted cover letters by teaching her how to demonstrate a genuine interest in her chosen industry, company and position and that she was the best candidate for the job.
I’ve also enabled her to identify and define her “star” factor to make sure she stands out in a job market, making her a desirable candidate for companies that agree to provide her visa sponsorship. I’ve also created a personal brand for her which helped Ziying to highlight her “star” factor in her CV, cover letters and LinkedIn profile. I’ve revised all her cover letters and applications to increase her chances of securing interviews and developed interview and assessment centre skills. Together we worked on creating answers for motivational, competency and strength based interview questions. I’ve also prepared a plan to develop her commercial awareness and helped to prepare for each stage of recruitment. She got well equipped on how to answer motivational, competency, strength and commercial awareness questions and how to succeed in case studies, in-tray exercises, presentations and group exercise. I’ve not only taught Ziying various strategies to stand out in group discussions and write effective reports but I also shared real case studies used at assessment centres that he would know what to expect on the actual day. We also worked on boosting his confidence and self-belief which helped her to succeed in interviews and later in assessment centres. My feedback on how to improve her answers ensured that Ziying’s answers were top notch which made her feel more confident and sound more convincing during interviews.
My coaching has enabled Ziying to secure a Business Analyst position at Bain & Company - one of the "Big Three" elite management consultancies in the world. During my coaching Ziying learnt how to identify and capitalise on her “star factor” which undoubtedly boosted her confidence and was one of the reasons she landed a job in such a prestigious company.
“Evelina is a dedicated and inspiring career coach. She guided me through those difficult times when I found it extremely hard to define my career path where I could fully utilise my strengths. I liked her approach to coaching a lot – by using a mix of thought-provoking questions and guidance Evelina has helped me to find the answers I was looking for. Sessions with Evelina undoubtedly equipped me with essential job-hunting skills and helped me to boost my confidence. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is confused and feeling lost about their career direction and wants to understand how hiring managers select suitable candidates”.
