Corporate Survivor with Mei Phing : Career Growth In The Corporate World - Ep138: What 3 of my clients did to attract opportunities.

Episode Date: May 24, 2022

✅ Get My FREE '5-Day Career Growth' Guide + Training 👉 http://www.meiphing.com ✅ Grow your career in the 9-5 corporate world with clarity, confidence and opportunities! ⚡ 👋 Welcome to the Corporate Survivor with Mei Phing — corporate career coach, ex-corporate leader who has led multimillion-dollar projects across 43 countries and creator of the ultimate career course for 9-5 professionals, The Corporate Survivor™. On this podcast, you'll learn how to grow your career in the corporate world without getting stuck with Mei Phing's 3-step framework to gain career clarity, improve work confidence and attract new job opportunities. ✅ WEBSITE ⮕ https://www.meiphing.com ✅ FREE GUIDE ⮕ https://www.thecorporatesurvivor.co/5days ✅ COURSE & COACHING ⮕ https://www.thecorporatesurvivor.co ⚡ 📌 ABOUT MEI PHING: Mei Phing Lim is a Professional Career Coach and former Corporate Leader in the financial services and consulting industries. Mei Phing went from a shy quiet introvert to leading multimillion-dollar projects with teams from over 43 countries as the Senior Director and Head of Governance at Standard Chartered, and now teaching 9-5 professionals how to navigate the corporate world and grow their careers with her career coaching course, The Corporate Survivor™. Mei Phing has been featured as a LinkedIn Top Voice 2023, sharing expert career advice in guiding young professionals to plan, navigate and grow their careers. Mei Phing is a keynote speaker on corporate culture, work performance and career growth, and sharing perspectives on what truly takes to build a strategic and successful career without getting stuck. ✅ LEARN MORE: https://www.meiphing.com

Welcome to the Corporate Survivor Podcast, where we talk about how to grow your career confidence, build your skills and value, increase your salary, and the many lessons we learn in the corporate world. For more career support, click on over to www.mayping.com. This is Mayping, your corporate leader turned career coach. I hope you enjoy, like and subscribe. Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to my 30-day career live stream series and good to see you here to learn more about how you can be successful in your 9-5 corporate career. So if you are new here, hi, my name is Mei Ping.

I'm a professional career coach and former corporate leader in the corporate world. And if you are a returning subscriber or watcher of the live stream, I am so sorry that I missed the last two days. And the reason is because I have been sick. So if you're watching live right now or listening to like to the live right now you may notice that i sound very tired and that is because i have been sick so um if you have also been following me across different social media whether it's linkedin instagram tiktok youtube and other platforms as well you also notice that i have not been the most active because i didn't feel that well basically there are only two things that i maintain during my rest time and that was basically posting on LinkedIn as well as continuing on my one-on-one client sessions that I've already promised. So for me, my client sessions, if it's still possible and I'm still okay, okay, and the last bit of energy

left, I just want to make sure that i fulfill my client sessions particularly one-on-one sessions because i know that it's really really important that my clients get my advice so with the bit of the downturn or rather the rest time that i had for the past couple of days and aside from just the one-on-one client calls, I decided to talk about, I'd rather share with you some client success stories that my clients have been sharing with me and some of the things that we have been working through over the past, you know, three to seven days or so. And I think that some of these really quick stories will definitely inspire you. So if you are very, very new to my live streams or podcasts, or rather if you have been a bit of an older subscriber, you may recall that last year in 2021, I did record like a full client success story series,

whether it's job search or actually getting more opportunities or getting promoted in the corporate world. So this is today's episode, rather today's live stream may be a bit of a quick snippet on that. I hope that you also enjoy. Hopefully inspires you that you can still get opportunities even if you're not actively looking and how you should actually be more open in your career and continuously increasing your value so that you create a very positive reputation about yourself and you will get headhunted over time as well. So anyway, a couple of stories I want to share with you.

Maybe we'll share three stories today. So the first story is basically a client that I worked with since last year and helping her transition from the public sector to the private sector. So basically this client, and I think I covered her story in a podcast episode 62, where I talked about how she was actually working with a government-linked company, government-linked entity for X number of years. And she really struggled to get into the corporate world, meaning the corporate commercial world. So we actually went

through a very very intensive process of working together from really helping her understand or rather open up her mindset that there are more opportunities available and after that revamping positioning herself on via her resume updating her linkedin profile even though at that time she did not really understand how linkedin worked in even though at that time she did not really understand how LinkedIn worked in terms of career opportunities, but she did it anyway, coached her through the interview process, and ultimately managed to help her get a 39%,

not 39%, increase in her overall package and really joining the new company, which is a really top global multinational company, as an assistant manager. So I started working with her probably sometime in July last year, and by the time she joined the new company, rather the big MNC, it was in October. So everything was great, she was good, she was happy and so forth. But as you all know, a lot of times when I work with my clients one-on-one more a bit for a longer term um usually

what you what usually happens is that they are actually part of my um online course that is the foundation work that all my one-on-one clients have to go through and that's actually the three step framework that i teach in the corporate survivor that's my online program so it's at the www.thecorporatesurvivor.co where all my one-on-one private clients will have to go through this course if they want to work with me long term so anyway back to this particular client story so i have been having you know one-on-one catch-up sessions with her one-on-one coaching sessions with her every month and it was actually about last week or so she was approached by somebody quite senior in her company saying that they really liked her.

She had a really good reputation, well-known for over-delivering and really being really good at her job. And she was personally nominated to take on a managerial position with the business team. Now, she's actually not in the business team. And as you all know, it's not the easiest to get into the business teams unless you have certain qualification. So the opportunity actually came at the perfect time. And again, you know, she was a bit hesitant to take on. So what we did in the past couple of weeks or so was to actually help her think through

that opportunity, whether that makes sense in her career or not. And then the next part is to, of course, help her to outline the roles and responsibilities and expectations and how she's actually going to convey that to the new team or rather the new manager, the new director, actually. And the last part is around how to exit your team gracefully. So these were some of the things that I worked with her over the past couple of weeks.

And that was, yep, so that was in probably early May or so. And actually just last weekend, I was working with her to draft the announcement that her new managerial promotion to another team and a business team

will go, you know, will be in effect on 1st of June. Now, I'm super duper duper happy because it's actually a huge, huge, will go, you know, will be in effect on 1st of June. Now, I'm super duper duper happy because it's actually a huge, huge, I think, progress from the time that we first worked together in July of last year when we actually had our first one-on-one session. She was still feeling so unsure, feeling like she does not even believe in her own value and her ability to even you know move out of like whatever that she was doing right so from there on and be able to land that role in October with a 39 overall annual

compensation increase that's just a matter of okay so it's July August September October so it's about four months she landed the role and now now, starting her role in October, and now being able to get promoted to a manager position, which is in a separate team, you know, better title, better responsibilities, better pay in effective 1st of June. And that's probably about half a year. So, this just goes to show you that you actually need to focus on how you are performing at work after you get the job. And I think that sometimes a lot of nine to five professionals tend to forget because we're all very interested in job search, right? The resume, the interviews and all those things. But you need to remember that your real value is generated when you do a good job at

work right because you know opportunities do not necessarily come from external for this particular client the opportunities initially was an external opportunity but because she did so well in this job right because she she basically went through my three-step framework that I teach in my Corporate Survivor Program and solidified that. So online course and solidifying it further with the monthly coaching sessions really allowed her to build her reputation and also be able to spot the opportunity

and not be afraid to catch the opportunity when the opportunity presents itself. Now, that's not the easiest thing to do, but I'm super duper happy for her. So that's really the first climb up there I wanted to share with you. It's been less than a year, but I think she has done a great job increasing her pay significant amount, getting the ultimate title that she wanted. So initially she was a senior executive at her first government link entity, government link company.

And then right now, effective 1st of June, she's going to be a manager, which is really what she wanted. So it's a journey. How fast it really depends on you, but there's actually a lot of it is actually mindset as well.

Mindset and strategy. The combination of the two. And of course, the third one, as I always say, is consistency. And the consistency is solidified with the coaching session, right? So, like I said, the first part was mindset, which I think the first few sessions around mindset helped a lot.

Then after that was all about strategy from job search, and then when she entered the corporate world, the real strategy on actually how to be successful at her job, which is something that I teach in my online course, get clear, get confident, and get visible. And that helped her create the reputation that she needed to get handpicked to take on this manager role. So she got the job almost immediately because she was a candidate that they all wanted. So hope this story, or rather this very quick snippet of this story

also inspires you that it's possible for you. Then the second story I wanted to share with you was also a client that I started working with in probably, was it April? Maybe April last year. So this client, I think I talked about her story in episode 81. So episode 81 of my podcast, where I talked about how I helped her to nail and pass the job interview for her dream job she is currently in right now, even after she had worked with other coaches

that didn't get any results. But nonetheless, I helped her pass the interview and she joined the company. Everything was really great. And she has also been in my workshops for a long time. And right now, she's actually currently in my program also. And as usual, solidifying it with one-on-one coaching sessions. So the update that she gave me was she's actually really happy at the job.

So she's been getting really good feedback from her managers, her bosses. Everything's great. Everything's great. That's great. The interesting part is because even previously, she did quite well in some of her earlier interviews, even though her answers were not perfect, but she still managed to demonstrate a pretty good impression, even though she did not get the job. But she was memorable enough to impress one of the department's hiring managers at still a pretty big MNC in her country.

So what actually happened over the past week or so was that this director level, head of department, reached out to her asking her if she's happy with what she's doing right now and if she's looking to move. And even though she's at a senior associate position, they were actually willing to offer her assistant manager position with more responsibilities than actually what she wanted. Now, this is also very interesting

because this particular client of mine did not specifically look out for any opportunity. She was actually doing really well at her job and we were initially working towards a promotion at year end. Now, so how did these people find her? First thing is that you need to make sure that you always give 100% during your interviews and even after your interviews, because even though you may not be like the best fit for that job, it doesn't mean that, you know, there will not be any opportunities, maybe immediately or in the future, because if the person has a really good impression of you, it's actually quite easy to get future

opportunities. Of course, one of the best ways actually is to continue the network on LinkedIn, which is also something I teach my clients as well. So what we talked about over this weekend was the first thing, should she even take up the opportunity? How does it actually fit her bigger career goal? And I think that's always a very important conversation to have. Then the second thing that we talked about was, okay, so if she's going to go for a manager, like an assistant manager position, then technically how much salary increment should

she be asking? Because we kind of got into the salary negotiation portion and she told me that for her current role, she actually made some really big mistakes when negotiating her salary and therefore her salary is kind of at the lower end so we kind of spent about a session or so to really talk about the job search not job search the salary negotiation mistakes that she had made and i also walk her through step by step how to calculate an overall a compensation plan and how do you go about negotiating with hr and how do you present your case to get the maximum equipment possible? So those were some of the things that we talked about. And I think chances of her actually landing this role is actually really high

because it was the head of department who reached out to her. And I mean, like, you know, how close of a decision maker do you need, right? So I think high chance that she's going to get the job. But I think that more maker do you need, right? So I think high chance that she's going to get the job. But I think that more importantly, you know, I hope this second client story inspires you that, hey, just because the door closed for that job that you interviewed for that you didn't get, doesn't mean that all doors closed, okay?

If you do a good job, you set a good impression, you have a good reputation, and you have a very good networking strategy, now the doors may open again, okay? But if you behave badly, then the doors will be forever closed, if that makes sense. Anyway, for this particular client, I'm actually waiting for an update from her. I think she should be able to get a bit of an answer by next week or so. That was basically what I have been up to with this particular client number two. I'm actually really, really proud of her because we worked together from probably April last year and

she has actually been extremely diligent like even after you know I helped her during the for the interview coaching session and she got the job and she still continued on with my my online course and she also continued on with coaching sessions to make sure that she keeps herself continuously improving because for this particular client, she actually moved from a startup SME company into a global MNC. So why she initially came to me, aside from interview coaching, was for me to help her better adapt into an MNC because that is something that she is not the most familiar with. So that was actually the main reason why I designed this course at www.thecorporatesurvivor.co because I realized that a lot of you guys

actually don't know how to operate in the corporate world. That's kind of a big problem, especially if you just landed a new job and you're all very happy, right? You guys got more money, you're always a great company, big name, da- name da da da then you go in and then you feel lost because um an mnc and it's pretty a big brand which is you know what you all call a dream company like it's not the easiest to operate within if you don't know what you're doing you could feel overwhelmed very easily you could feel

like you don't belong there you could feel like it's so difficult to navigate because you just don't know what's going on because the dynamic of a global MNC, like what I call the real corporate world versus a, you know,

SME or a startup may not always be the same. So, anyway, there's a bit of a story about that client but I'm super duper happy for her because

she did not actually look for this role and in fact, she was actually really surprised that her past interviewer from one year ago actually remembered her and reached out to her and said that she made such a positive impression.

So good luck to my client. I'm still waiting for an update from her. So moving on, moving on to the third story, I've actually been doing quite a lot of one-on-one coaching sessions. So obviously, it's not just these stories that, you know, that's what I've been up to. But these are, I think, some of the more memorable ones that happened over the past seven days. I really wanted to share with you guys and inspire you a little bit because I've been MIA for the past few days because I was a bit

sick. Okay, moving on to the third client story. And this is also a client I'm super duper duper proud of. So this is a client who started working with me in May last year. So this particular client, I don't think I've shared her story yet, but she remains a super awesome client. I've been working with her about a year now. So she first approached me in May last year, telling me that she's working in a very small company and her pay is basically peanuts and i'm

not kidding you it's really really low and i think it's very unfortunate given her qualification so she came to me very honestly and she told me that uh mei ping my uh you know my goal you know given my qualification i want to join this company which is basically one of the top companies in the industry she said i really want to join these companies and i don't understand why even though i'm highly qualified i'm actually caught up in this small company in this small job that really pays me peanuts and i'm not going to say how much she was making but it was very low like really really very low now so she came and she came to me and she told me that she's been spending a lot of time on YouTube and Google, but she still feel like she hasn't gotten the answers that she needed.

And she's been like job searching for like six, seven months, you know, since she started working, but she's still stuck in this small company and they pay her peanuts. And she was, you know, asked to do some stuff that she felt was a bit unethical and she was a bit unhappy about that. So anyway, so she decided to work with me. So we started with a consultation session first and then she actually worked with me throughout the job search process. And I will be honest with you.

And, you know, because I feel like, you know, my client's ability to afford the coaching program, I think is very important. And I think actually it's way more important than, you know, me, like, you know, forcing you to work with me, which is never my intention. So I think for that particular client, I had a lot of sympathy for her and I felt that, okay, like to work with me, I mean, I know what I'm doing. I know the strategy.

And I told her that, like, if you want to work in this top company I have actually done it myself so I can actually share with you what I have done what a lot of my clients have done and I actually have a lot of friends in the industry and we know what we're doing and because a lot of us have done that the similar pathway to get to her dream company but I told her that um I do charge this much and if this is something that you are serious about, you can actually think about it, and you can come back to me. So she actually did thought about it.

And I'd say that, like, she actually invested her full one-month salary to work with me, to get her to her dream job. And the good thing is, anyway, this is a bit of a story from last year. We're going to get to the point of this year's story. So after working for her starting May last year,

by July or so, she had already signed the employment contract to start with a huge company, not yet at her dream company, but very close. So we decided to take on that position because it was already so close and immediately was double what she was making.

Immediately. The moment she signed the job offer, she was already making double what she was making in her previous job. Right? So we did that. She started her job in, I think September last year.

Yeah. She started a job in September last year. Then we still continue on. As I told you guys that a lot of clients who work with me one-on-one, they are also part of my online course because this is where I actually teach the foundation. So they have to go through the online course in the corporatesurvivor.co and then in a one-on-one session, actually I'll be a little bit more personalized.

So I've been working with her since she started her full-time job. So that was so continuing from the job search program. I worked with her on the one her full-time job. So that was continuing from the job search program. I worked with her on the one-on-one program, improving productivity and more importantly, how to transition from a small company into a huge firm. Now that, again, is really about small company into the corporate world, which I think the mindset is completely different because initially when she first finished, she also felt very overwhelmed,

but all good. And then September, she started. By December, she actually got a promotion because she showed such huge potential that they actually promoted her to the next level. Now, that is almost like two times immediately, right? Remember, I worked with her in May. She was with this small company.

Then by September, she already landed a job at this huge company. She was already doubling. She doubled her pay immediately the moment she signed the employment contract. Then in December, she got promoted to the next level. Better title, better pay. Now, we are in May right now. She actually only texted me this today, so I can share this update with you. She was actually headhunted on LinkedIn

from a recruiter from that dream company that she wanted. So actually, it's like a 12-month transition because I actually remember I started working for her in May last year. And she's an awesome client. I've been catching up with her every month or so, really willing to learn, really great attitude. I think one of my best clients for sure. But I think the point I wanted to share with you

in this story is that the effort, the strategy, the mindset, the skill set, the visibility strategies, the branding strategies actually do not stop once you start your full-time job. A lot of people make mistakes in their career

because they think that the only time they need help is doing job search. No. If you really want to be successful, like, it's the entire journey, actually. And for this particular client, to be honest,

we just literally had a coaching session over the weekend and she was actually talking about her work and how she wanted to do better in her current job. But it's only actually today, literally during lunchtime, she texted me and told me that um there was a message on linkedin from a recruiter from her dream company she was asking me hey you know do you think i should pursue this and everything else and i told her that hey you remember this is really what we wanted to get to when we first started working last year right so if that's the main goal then of course yes yes so

what we are going to do this weekend is um to really help her craft her career story a little bit better and obviously we want to retarget and make sure that she gets into her dream company which is really our biggest goal where we first started working together last year but i think that given her own progression and her own learning journey is really moving from like you know doubling one thing at a time so like doubling salary getting the brand name getting the title and then right now right actually moving into that big company at least mentally she's a lot you know readier compared to that time when she was you know she moved from a small company to a big firm because that's kind of a little bit

more difficult to handle so that's something i'm actually really really happy about because these these three clients that i'm telling you about like as you can as you can as you notice i started working with them like wait like you're talking about last year so one was in april the other one's in may and the other one was in july i think these three these three of my clients actually proven that no it's it's about how open are you towards opportunities because these three clients, I've worked with them like literally from the job search process

and then helping her, helping to transition and adapt into a new company which is a global multinational corporate MNC which is quite different from their earlier companies

because for these three clients, one was from the public sector like government company. The other one was from the public sector, like government company. The other one was from like a startup SME. And the other one was like a small consultancy firm. So all these three, the commonality between these three clients in terms of their past employment is a bit unstructured. And it's not how a global MNC is structured.

So I think the long-term program, I think kind of helps them to also take note that it's a journey. And, you know, as long as you are open to it, then we need to keep improving. And also, I think being able to spot opportunities, I think is quite important. Because if you can't spot opportunities, right, that is a much bigger problem. Because if you can't spot opportunities, right, that is a much bigger problem

because the opportunity can fall onto your lap. But if you don't see it, then you don't see it, isn't it? So really, really think about it. And I hope that, you know, these three client stories actually inspire you to think about how opportunities can appear at any time. But are you ready for those opportunities?

I think that is the only question that maybe you can answer or if you still feel like you don't know, maybe you are lacking some perspectives and maybe right now is a good time to open up your mind. So with that, I hope you all enjoy the inspiring client stories I shared with you all. And I hope to be back on the live stream every

single day as we end May and if you have missed any of the earlier episodes and want to replay you can always

check it on YouTube if not on Spotify. So I also hope to be back on all my social medias once I feel a little bit

better over the next few days and I'll see you guys soon. Bye!