Challenges

INTRO.............................................

I studied an MBA in International Business Management in Paris and Berlin. Before that, I worked in Vietnam for 7 years. After my MBA, I applied for jobs all over Europe. I got 2 offers, and I chose a job in Luxembourg. That was in 2020.

Over the next 6 years, I worked in 4 roles in Luxembourg. Each job gave me a work permit, so I could stay in the country legally.

Building a career in Luxembourg is hard for international people. Language is the biggest challenge. Most people in Luxembourg speak at least 4 languages. I spoke Vietnamese and English, and only a little French. Sponsorship is also hard. Before a company can sponsor you, it must prove to the government that it couldn’t find a Luxembourgish person for the role. Then it must prove that it couldn’t find another European person. On top of that, Luxembourg is known for finance and IT. Marketing jobs need a lot of local experience, not just language skills.

Then I was laid off from my job at a digital marketing agency. Many people lost their jobs at that time, and unemployment was high across Europe. On my visa, I had one year to find a new job. If I didn’t find one, I would have to leave the country. I didn’t have citizenship yet. The pressure was huge.

In 3 to 4 months, I sent about 50 applications. I applied to companies in many industries, including consumer goods, technology, medical and law. Most of the time, I got no reply or an automatic rejection email. Sometimes I got interviews and made it to the final round. But I never got the job.

I thought my resume was good. I wrote it based on what felt right. It listed all my jobs in order, with the tasks I did in each one. In interviews, I felt confident. I talked about my experience based on the questions they asked. But nothing was personalised to the job.

I needed help. That’s when I started working with Thea Ho.

Strategies

LEARNING............................

Thea helped me change my resume completely. We turned my tasks into achievements with real numbers. We removed points that didn’t add value. Then we added keywords from real job ads in 3 sections: the profile summary, the key skills and the achievements. I had never done this before. I thought one resume could work for every job.

Thea was supportive and strict at the same time. It took 4 rounds of feedback before she approved my resume. I didn’t expect that. But the goal wasn’t to make the best resume in the world. The goal was to make the most relevant resume for each job. It’s only one page, but it’s a lot of work. When I read the final version, I felt like I wanted to hire myself.

Before, I got automatic rejection emails 2 minutes after I clicked “Apply”. After we fixed my resume, I got so many interview invitations that I lost count. Some weeks, I had 3 to 4 interviews.

Thea also changed how I thought about interviews. Before, I went into every interview hoping to get the job. Thea taught me to see each interview as a chance to practise. This took away a lot of stress. After 3 to 4 interviews, I felt much less nervous.

At first, I refused to rehearse my answers. I was afraid I would sound like a robot. But I kept failing in the final rounds. So I decided to listen to Thea. I learned that every job has its own set of questions. We don’t change the facts, but we match them to what the job ad asks for. Then I rehearsed my answers many times. This gave me a clear structure in my head. In the interview, I could still talk naturally with the interviewer, but I never forgot my main points.

Thea also helped me answer difficult questions, like why I left my last job. Before, I was afraid to talk about being laid off. I felt ashamed, and the interviewer could feel it. Thea taught me to talk about it in a calm and natural way, and to focus on the facts.

She also showed me how to prepare for case studies. If you study the job ad and the company well, you can guess what the case study will be about. Then you can prepare at home, and you don’t have to think of everything under pressure in the interview room.

But the biggest support was emotional. My job search took 9 months. Many times, I thought I was close to getting a job, but I didn’t get it. I was rejected many times without knowing why. I started to doubt myself, and I wanted to give up. Thea was always there and patient with me. She shared her own story and the stories of her other clients. This helped me see that I was closer to my goal than I thought.

Results

SUCCESS.................

Near the end, I had already given up. I was planning to start my own small company. Then a former colleague referred me to a job at a big, well known company. It’s a very Luxembourgish company with more than 4,000 employees. I never thought they would hire me. I applied mainly because I respected my colleague.

The first interview was with HR, in French. I didn’t prepare at all. But all the skills I learned from Thea came out naturally. One week later, they invited me to the next interview. They told me they had been looking for someone since October and had received nearly 400 applications. They wanted to fill the role quickly. So they combined the next rounds into one interview with my future manager and the Chief Marketing Officer. I had to present a case study about a digital transformation project from my past work.

I had 3 days to prepare. I made 10 clear slides and rehearsed my presentation. In the interview, I was very nervous at first. After a few minutes, I told myself to just do my best. The interviewers were very supportive. They cared more about my skills, experience and approach than about my French.

Right after the interview, I knew I would get the job. 3 days later, they called me with the job offer. They wanted me to start immediately. The whole process took only 3 weeks. For a company this big, I expected it to take more than one month.

My colleague’s referral helped the company consider me. As far as I know, I’m the first and only Asian employee there. After that, my skills and my interview performance got me the job.

This is the most challenging role of my career. I work on digital transformation projects with many teams, and everything is in French. But I feel confident. My manager is very kind and supportive. My colleagues value my work. The team is competitive, but in a healthy way, and there is no toxic behaviour. When my colleagues see my notes in English on the screen, they switch to English to help me.

My previous jobs always felt temporary. I took them because I needed a work permit to stay. This is the first job I really wanted. I have only been here for 4 months, but I already feel attached to this job. I can see a long future at this company.

People ask me if Thea’s coaching only works in Australia. I don’t think so. Immigrants face the same challenges everywhere: visas, competition with local people and a lack of local experience. The challenges are the same, so the solution is the same too. You need a strong resume with keywords that match the job ad. You also need strong interview skills and an understanding of the local culture.

If you’re deciding whether to invest in coaching, think about the cost of waiting. When you don’t have a job, your bills don’t stop. I lost about 8,000 euros of income every month for 9 months. That’s 72,000 euros. Then there is the stress and the impact on your mental health. As an immigrant, you think about your visa deadline every day. I don’t wish this for anyone. You can’t control luck. But with coaching, you know you have done 100% of what you can, and your job search can be much shorter.

Thank you, Thea, for supporting me through the hardest time of my life and helping me find a job I truly love.

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