Careers – Dr Sherrie Lee

The Credential Trap: Why International Professionals Struggle to Get Hired in New Zealand

admin — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 08:07:53 +0000

Many international professionals arrive in New Zealand with impressive qualifications and a decade of experience — and still can't get hired. Not because they're not capable, but because the local labour market screens for something credentials alone can't provide: community, local networks, and cultural familiarity. This article maps the credential trap, why it catches experienced professionals by surprise, and what career-changer migrants and the advisors who support them can do about it.

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Navigating the Third Space: What International Professionals Need to Know About Working Across Borders

admin — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 09:38:44 +0000

What is the third space? Learn how international professionals navigate cultural identity and career challenges across borders—and how to share your story.

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My International Career Journey: Everything Everywhere All At Once

admin — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 22:22:40 +0000

At the start of 2025, I set out to deepen my craft as an international career coach through professional development, character strengths workshops, and strategic portfolio planning. This year brought planned happenstance—unexpected opportunities that aligned perfectly with my goal of expanding impact on international professionals. From earning my Certified Career Services Provider credential to launching the CDANZ Special Interest Group on Character Strengths, from facilitating workshops for European audiences to exploring the contrasts between New Zealand and Singapore's approaches to professional development—it's been a year of chance and control, much like Jackson Pollock's Convergence. Join me as I reflect on professional development lessons, the transformative power of VIA character strengths in career coaching, and what it means to build a meaningful international career portfolio. Carpe diem—seize the day, make your life extraordinary.

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The Portfolio Career I Didn’t Know I Was Building

admin — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 07:43:49 +0000

From "chaotic" CV to coherent portfolio career: How I discovered my hidden pattern through Holland Codes after 25+ roles across two countries. A career retrospective for international professionals.

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Who Am I? Finding Identity as an International Professional

admin — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 09:44:40 +0000

After living away from my home country for more than 10 years, I still struggle to answer one simple question: who am I? As a career coach for international professionals, I see this everywhere—LinkedIn profiles that sound the same, networking introductions that fall flat, people defaulting to stereotypes instead of their authentic stories. The truth is, being able to articulate who you are matters professionally. But how do you move beyond generic labels? In this post, I share my defining moment on a snowy mountain in Canada and challenge you to discover your own inciting incident—the experience that reveals what truly drives you as an international professional.

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