Pretty Successful Careers

Alex – Intensive coaching – Juggling work, study and play!

I had the pleasure of mentoring Alex for over 5 months.

Alex came to me at a time where he had failed the same certificate level CIMA exam twice and needed to make sure the next exam sitting he passed!

He had a very active social life – football related – and a full time Management Accounts job in the NHS. 

Alex was feeling overwhelmed and over worked, being unable to balance all of the great things in his life and not really knowing which to prioritise.

Initially the mentoring focused on what are these ‘things’ he has going on and what are his thoughts and feeling around them – ie – how do they contribute to where he wants to be in his career and why.

Getting Alex to identify his strengths and weaknesses was an eye opener for him and really key in him forming the realisations that he needed.

The next focus for us was to give Alex the right tools and techniques that would really help him focus and pass his next exam. We worked hard on a teaching schedule (Alex was a self studier), a revision plan, tips to keep focused (one of these was clicking his fingers!), and being focused right up until the exam day.

I had weekly hourly calls with Alex, where I followed up on the session with an email. As with most of my coaching there is a lot of talking and asking questions. I like the talking to flow, so I make sure I write notes so that I can summarise the session and my clients can look back afterwards.

Also the can look back at the summaries in the future to really add value to them.

One of Alex’s ‘problems’ was that he was trying to juggle a lot of balls – we called these glass balls – because each was super important to him and was a big factor in his life and career future. Initially there were some small balls that we worked on putting on the floor – whilst we concentrated on the big balls! The technique helped Alex to only hold 2 balls at a time (only have 2 things going on) – so that he had 2 strong hands to hold them – so much less chance of dropping them and running the progress. For instance, one glass ball was his CIMA exam.

The juggling coaching technique I used was successful to focus Alex into to doing one thing at a time For example if he was at football- then don’t try and study during games. Or if he was studying then don’t try to reply to emails or think about the next football game.

The best tool Alex implemented was to find a picture of a crazy man juggling loads of balls (google it and see what you find!). He found one – and as instructed, printed it off and put 1 up at his desk at work and 1 in his bedroom. He used this man to motivate and focus him to NOT be that person! Firstly cos they look silly, and secondly because it does achieve anything.

Ellie – Specific coaching – CV, Presentation skills & the Finance Career Ladder

Ellie invested in my coaching for a few reasons, one was to get some coaching tips for an upcoming presentation, one was for financial careers advice and what other industries could offer a qualifying accountant and lastly for improvement in her CV.

The presentation Ellie was asked to give was to a room full of budding apprenticeships in her industry (she works in the public sector). As an AAT prize winner, Ellie was pleased to be asked to help others and explain how her apprenticeship helped her career progress, but she had never done a presentation before – and was nervous!

We worked on a practical plan and approach to what she was going to say and why. As well as ways Ellie could bring out her personality and tell her story to encourage other peers.

The presentation went really well and Ellie definitely grew in confidence ready for the next one!

As part of the coaching, we focused on researching and understanding other industry opportunities available to a CIMA studier. Ellie has only worked in one industry (in the public sector) and was limited in knowledge of what she could do and when.

There was a big part of Ellie that wanted to qualify and expand her career, she is ambitious and has some great academics to support this.

With my coaching help, we worked on what career path she was actually interested in, and what her strengths and weaknesses are to make sure they are show cased in the right environment.  Ellie researched into difference industries and we worked on understanding the roles of a Management Accountant and Finance Manager in a few specific places.

The exercise really helped to open Ellie’s eyes and make her more knowledge about other offerings once she had qualified. She is motivated to qualify before her wedding next year and she is put in the right work experiences now in her current job to ensure she has the best skill set and can stand above other candidates in a variety of industries once the time comes.

As part of her career strategy, Ellie and I worked on and created her new CV. We did this in two ways, firstly working on her current CV and then secondly working on her ‘dream’ CV that she could offer in a few years (once she had qualified).

I helped Ellie to use her strengths and dreams in a way that would motivate her and help her see the future clearer. As a Senior Finance Lead I have had a strong finance career path so I was able to guide and help Ellie in knowing the ‘real’ jobs that are out there.

I also coached her through what I would be looking for if I was hiring an Assistant Accountant, and how she could show her skills to impress a potential Finance Manager, like myself.

Rebekah – Coaching a busy mum life schedule where study came last!

Rebekah was searching for coaching and some support due to a number of factors. She had just gone back to work full time, with two young children now at school. Her husband was away during the week and she was part qualified and wanted a proper career to show her girls an amazing role model mum.

Rebekah didn’t have the support at work or home regarding the motivation she needed to keep studying and needed a coach to be that support system for her. That’s definitely something I can do for my clients, and we make an agreement that the commitment which they put in will be rewarded with my support.

I had weekly hour calls during Rebekah’s lunch hour on a Friday (a time that suited her).

The initial coaching sessions were based on understanding her current situation and breaking down the overwhelm into manageable time slots. I remember asking her to write a list of everything she has to do in a day. As a busy mum, this was heavily weighted to her children and chores.

Rebekah came to me so I could help her pass her CIMA exams, so that’s what my focus was when we worked together. I was her cheerleader to keep her on track with this and politely remind her that she needed to set and stick to a plan that encompasses real studying time.

I asked Rebekah to write the list and then we worked on reducing some of the things on the list and adding in more study time, a revision plan and setting a date for her next exam.

I also did some coaching to reduce the overwhelm feelings she had about doing everything to keep the household running. One of the biggest changes was to ask her husband for more help- just around study and exam time! For example the days he was home, the new plan (which he agreed to due to the approach we took) was to cook dinner for 30 mins whilst she studied.

Verity – Coaching through the whole job application process.

Verity had worked in the same role at the same company for a number of years, and then promotion (within that company) came up! This was something that was rare in the business and Verity knew she wanted to go for it.

The competition was fierce for the new roles, there was 40 jobs and over 300 people applied.

Verity hadn’t gone for promotion for years so she was a little low in confidence, and she knew she only had 1 chance (at each stage) to impress. The negative committee was very prominent in Verity’s brain – you know the one that says ‘you cant do this, don’t be silly!’.

I am a coach that flicks that negative committee off your shoulder and tells it to ‘go away!’.

So that’s what I did, every time Verity got nervous or her negative thoughts took over.

There were 3a few stages to the promotion, firstly the job application (you know the big ones with the ‘hard’ questions to describe yourself in 500 words). The second bit (part of this 1st stage) was a CV, and then if this was passed she had a full day of a face to face interview AND a roleplay!