Secrets of the Career Game

Qualified professionals are getting rejected for jobs they should absolutely be landing. That's why I wanted to chat with fellow career coach Irina Posan. We've both seen too many smart, ambitious professionals treat interviews like a memory test instead of a strategy exercise. Irina knows this world well as a former HR director and the host of the Career Cravings podcast. In our conversation, we get into why overpreparing can actually hurt your interview performance, how candidates lose clarity under pressure, and what it really takes to stand out in a crowded job market.
We also talk about the mindset shifts that matter before you ever apply, including how to get clear on the right role, how to communicate your value without sounding rehearsed, and why hard work alone is not enough if you want to get promoted. Irina shares her Top Five Story Method for interview preparation, plus a powerful reminder that career growth often comes down to visibility, advocacy, and relationships. If you are job searching, preparing for interviews, or trying to position yourself for your next promotion, this is the kind of career advice that can change the way you approach your next move.
In this episode, we discuss:
• Why do qualified candidates still fail interviews?
• How can I stand out in a competitive job market?
• What is the best way to prepare for interview questions?
• Why does overpreparing make interviews worse?
• How do promotions really happen at work?
What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?
🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course
About Your Host: That Career Coach, Kendall Berg
Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.
☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move.
Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up
Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?
Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_
Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/

Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_
About Irina Posan

A career coach with 15 years of HR experience, including leading Recruitment and Talent Management teams. She brings insider insight into what it really takes to get hired, earn promotions, and succeed in leadership roles. From securing highly coveted job offers to advancing within competitive organizations, she helps ambitious professionals navigate every stage of career growth.
Website: https://www.irinaposan.com/ 
Instagram: @careercoachirina 
 
Podcast Produded by Daniela Albertina

Applying to more jobs is not the answer if your search has no strategy behind it.
Too many smart professionals spend weeks applying, tweaking, and refreshing their LinkedIn profiles, yet still feel nothing is moving. In this episode, I talk about why a scattered job search creates more frustration, not better results, and what to focus on instead if you want to land the right role.
I walk through the three parts of your search you can actually control: how many jobs you apply to, how tailored your resume is, and how intentional your networking outreach is. I also share why I want you to stop casting such a wide net, why LinkedIn Easy Apply can pull you off track, and how to build real name recognition with hiring managers and recruiters through thoughtful outreach.
🎯 What you'll learn:
→ Why applying to 8 quality jobs beats applying to 80 
→ How to use LinkedIn to get referrals (step-by-step) 
→ Why LinkedIn Easy Apply may be hurting your chances 
→ How to tailor your resume with job-specific keywords 
→ What makes a company the right fit — beyond the salary
Resources Mentioned
LinkedIn outreach scripts: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-my-networking-guide-now-p9qvc7eg 

My course with a job application tracker

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?
🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course
About Your Host: That Career Coach, Kendall Berg
Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.
☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move.
Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up
Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?
Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_
Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/

Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

Everyone looks rich online. New houses, European summers, luxury cars, and somehow no one ever mentions what it costs or whether it is intentionally helping you build the life you actually want.
We work 40 hours a week, so of course we want to treat ourselves to nice dinners and beautiful trips. The difference is not whether we spend, but how we approach those decisions so we can build generational wealth and still create a rich life.
I had a conversation with financial expert Lucy from The Lucy Space about what intentional spending actually looks like. Directing your money instead of letting it direct you. Using simple systems like a 30-day wait list, basic expense tracking, automated investing, and thoughtful travel planning. Not extreme budgeting. Not deprivation. Just clarity and control.
What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?
🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course
About Your Host: That Career Coach, Kendall Berg
Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.
☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move.
Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up
Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?
Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_
Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/

Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_
About The Lucy Space
The creator behind The Lucy Space. I'm a JD/MBA, corporate working mom, and content creator passionate about helping people live well financially, stylishly, and intentionally. Through my platform, I empower my audience to budget smarter, shop with purpose, and build a life that aligns with their values, without sacrificing style, joy, or peace of mind.
With a professional background in law and business, I specialize in breaking down complex financial topics into practical, real-life strategies that are easy to understand and apply. My content blends money, lifestyle, travel, fashion, and family, offering tools and systems that help people feel confident and in control of both their finances and their time.
https://www.youtube.com/@thelucyspace/videos 
https://www.instagram.com/thelucyspace 
https://beacons.ai/thelucyspace

Your personal brand is going to be the single most important investment that you make this year. Not your resume, not another certification, not even your performance review. Your personal brand is essentially your professional reputation personified. It shapes what senior leaders, peers, and stakeholders say about you when you are not in the room, and those conversations directly influence your opportunities long before you ever see them.
I see high performers get stuck all the time because they assume hard work speaks for itself. It doesn't, at least not entirely. Performance absolutely matters, but your reputation shapes how people interpret that performance and whether they believe you can operate at the next level.
In this episode, we discuss:
• What is a personal brand at work, and why does it matter for promotion
• How does personal brand influence performance reviews and nine-box ratings
• Why do high performers get overlooked for leadership roles
• How do you identify and communicate your unique value at work
• How long does it take to rebrand yourself inside a company

Making a career pivot without clarity is how smart professionals end up in the wrong job twice.
Before you make a career change, you need a clear destination. That's exactly why I wanted to interview Michelle Schaefer, bestselling author of Cultivating Career Growth, to talk about what actually creates a successful career transition.
We walk through the five questions that create real career direction. We talk about the work that energizes you versus the work that drains you. We unpack what transferable skills really are, what real company culture actually looks like, and the non-negotiables every professional needs to identify in order to define long-term fulfillment.
We also challenge some of the biggest job search myths circulating online. Sending hundreds of resumes without a strategy is not a plan. Online applications are only a small part of a strong job search strategy. And networking is not using people, even if it feels that way at first. We explain why it is the opposite. If you want referrals, influence, and real opportunities, you build relationships intentionally.
If you are considering a career change, navigating a layoff, or questioning your current role, this conversation will help you move from emotional reaction to strategic career clarity.
In this episode, we discuss:
• What are the five questions to ask before making a career pivot?
• Why does sending hundreds of resumes rarely lead to interviews?
• How much of a job search should focus on networking?
• How do you evaluate real company culture before accepting an offer?
• What are career non-negotiables and how do they evolve over time?
🤝 Networking doesn't have to be awkward. Learn how to connect authentically, grow your influence, and turn conversations into opportunities.
Get the Networking Guide → https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-my-networking-guide-now-p9qvc7eg
What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?
🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course
About Your Host: That Career Coach, Kendall Berg
Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.
☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move.
Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up
Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?
Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_
Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/

Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_
 
About Michelle Schafer
Michelle Schafer is an ICF-certified career and leadership coach, author and facilitator who helps professionals navigate career transitions with confidence and purpose. After experiencing two unexpected restructurings early in her career, Michelle discovered her true path: supporting people to move from job-search frustration into work that energizes them. As founder of Michelle Schafer Coaching, she partners with clients across federal and municipal government, high tech, financial services and not-for-profit sectors, helping them clarify career direction, craft compelling personal brands and land roles where their values align. Her award-winning #1 bestseller Cultivating Career Growth: Navigating Transitions with Purpose and her recognition as one of Ottawa's Top Coaches in 2024 underscore her impact.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleschafercoaching/ 
Website:  https://mschafercoaching.ca/ 
A free chapter from my book - sign up here: https://mschafercoaching.ca/cultivatingcareergrowth/ 
Order my book Cultivating Career Growth: Navigating Transitions with Purpose here: 
https://mschafercoaching.ca/cultivatingcareergrowth/ 
Download the reflection tool Career Focus Framework here: https://mschafercoaching.ca/gain-clarity-and-confidence-in-your-job-search/ 
Email me here: [email protected]
Book a complimentary 30 min discovery call with me here:  https://calendly.com/coaching-with-michelle-schafer