About

Hi, I’m Sally Watson a Career Coach, dedicated to empowering and ensuring you are equipped for your next career move.

I started my business as FOCUS RÉSUMÉS in April 2016 and rebranded to SALLY WATSON – CAREER COACH in September 2018. The new brand clarifies the full scope of what I offer and resonates with what I love – Career Coaching. In March 2019, I expanded the team, hiring 2 Career Consultants (Hannah and Emma) to assist with résumé writing, cover letters, selection criteria and LinkedIn profiles. Allowing me to focus on Career and Interview Coaching.

I am continually rewarded when clients tell me they feel proud of their skills and career profile, have clarity on their direction and are confident, equipped and empowered to leap into their next career adventure. Read the testimonials here.

I love connecting with professionals, getting to know you and what makes you tick! Identifying your strengths and showcasing YOU at your best!

My story

I have worked in recruitment for almost 10 years’ here in Brisbane and Gold Coast and in London, where it all began. I first ‘fell’ into recruitment, whilst on a working holiday in the UK, I interviewed at a recruitment agency for some temp work and the next thing I knew I was meeting everyone in the office and started work the next day as a Candidate Resourcer. It was a whirlwind 12 months and a solid grounding for focusing on the candidate; meeting their needs and exceeding expectations. It was in these early days of my career, I was taught (and soon realised for myself) that good candidates don’t always have good CV’s. The key to my success in recruitment was to look past their not-so-good CV’s. I found it more beneficial to pick up the phone, speak to candidates and if they sounded good, I’d invite them in to meet me. I had a knack for gaining an understanding of what they did, so I fancied up their résumé to market to high-end clients. And it worked! They got jobs.

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Moving back home to Australia, I worked as a Senior Recruitment Consultant for an agency in Brisbane. After 4 awesome years’ (yep I loved it) I transitioned to an Internal Recruiter for a large ASX listed corporate company with over 8,000 employees. My experience has allowed me to gain first-hand knowledge and experience of the key things recruiters AND employers look for in a candidate and their application.

“I have easily viewed at least 10,000 resumes in my time (minimum 20 per week over 10 years).
I am always astonished at how many awesome candidates have poorly executed resumes.” 

One thing I do stress is to stand out in the sea of applications is, it’s not just about having a fancy graphically designed résumé. (Learn more about Stand out CV’s in this blog). One of the most important aspects is the content of your résumé. It needs to be clear and concise with powerful and captivating descriptions of your experience and achievements. And it needs to be easy on the eye. At the end of the day, you need to present your skills in the best possible way and basically make it easy for the person reading your CV to put you in front of your competition and land the interview.

DOWNLOAD – The Résumé Success Checklist

After having my second daughter, I decided to create my own business to coach professionals through the frustrating job search or career change process.

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I went back to work (in the corporate world), after maternity leave with my eldest daughter, I felt I was living a double life! I had taken time off and wholeheartedly slipped into #MumLife. The thought of returning to work was an emotional rollercoaster throughout my mat leave. Once I returned to work, apprehensive of course, I actually LOVED it!

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I can remember saying to my husband, ‘I feel like I am living a double life!’ I had the old me back, who worked in the city 3 days per week. Then I had my new mum life in our new house in the suburbs, going on play dates and coffee catch ups the other days of the week (ok that sounds a bit too glamourous, loads of washing, grocery shopping and housework were also a large chunk of those days).

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The juggle was real, but the balance was there……. until my second bundle arrived! What a surprise package she has been.

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Going back to work and juggling being a mum of 2 was not a walk in the park for me. This time of my life pushed me to my brink and I saw some dark days, commuting to work on little to no sleep. At 3 am one night, babe in arms I got thinking ‘what skills do I have that I can offer people?’ I had a brainwave and my business was born!

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I look at résumés all day long and have done so for the last 10 years’. I had grown accustomed to accepting that people are not always good at producing a resume. This needs to change. People are missing out on their dream job and companies could be missing out on an awesome new addition to their team.

I love working with my clients to steer them through a career change and create professional and personalised résumés, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles to showcase them at their best. I provide guidance and tips on most areas of your career, your profile, job searching barriers and discovering your ideal job. If interviews are your barrier, I offer coaching specifically for you and your challenges here.

Find out more about my

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Credentials:

• 10+ years’ in recruitment/HR including 2 global recruitment firms and 5 years’ in internal recruitment for a large ASX listed company
• 3+ years’ in business; coaching professionals and overhauling their applications
• Currently studying a Diploma in Life Coaching (specialising in Career Coaching)
• Degree qualified with a Bachelor of Sport Tourism Management