I don’t do well in HR screenings…
In fact, I didn’t get through one just this week.
My CV is “atypical”, to say the least:
🙊 I didn’t do a Master’s at the French Grandes Ecoles, Oxbridge, or the Ivy Leagues.
🌟 Instead, I crossed the world to join Schwarzman Scholars, in Beijing.
How can a CV describe value that being part of a hundred scholars from 47 countries, to attend Tsinghua University, brings?
Or the adaptability and open-mindedness such a unique experience fosters?
🙊 I didn’t join a consultancy or tech company.
✨ Instead, I pursued my aspiration of speaking Mandarin fluently, and joined a rotational program (ending up in real estate 🤯)
Little can a CV screening tell you about the determination it took to get myself to Chengdu, and the struggles of being thrown in the *very* deep end, all in Mandarin, right from the start.
Or how multi-faceted and challenging managing a portfolio at Swire Properties can be, and character-building spending COVID far from family can also be.
🙊 I didn’t go back to a corporate job, when returning from China.
✨ Instead, I built my own business(es), becoming a full-time freelancer and entrepreneur.
Can a CV really tell you about the resilience and motivation of getting through that first month of zero revenue and continuing despite it?
Or the endless learnings and confidence you build by having to sell yourself again and again? (and again 🤭)
The thing is, I really wouldn’t change any of those experiences for the world. 🌍
I was gutted when the rejection came at first, but I know that these experiences shaped me.
And failing a CV screening won’t ever make me think differently.
❤️
Here’s to forging one’s own path 😘