Success Stories: Against All Odds: Grace’s Incredible Success Story

How does someone who…came into Canada with a Visitor visa, someone who got denied when she applied to change her visitor visa to a student visa, someone who worked multiple menial jobs as a babysitter, caregiver in a nursing home to make ends meet, someone who had three major surgeries… eventually secure an incredible Business Analyst position with a top Consulting firm and a mouth-watering 6 figure package?

One word…Hard work, Resilience, and Self-belief. (okay, three words 😊)

This is Grace’s incredible story

Grace arrived in Canada as a visitor in 2018 and, after staying a few months, decided to start a Master's program and convert her visitor's permit into a study permit. Her initial application was rejected, and then she had to appeal, including escalating to her Member of Parliament. During this waiting period, she exhausted all her savings and even had to borrow to make ends meet.

Now, I’m sure someone is asking why is this part of the story relevant. Well, for some people, all it takes is one “Rejection” or one “No” to end their dreams. Some people would have just given up and returned to their home country, but not Grace. She persevered against all odds, and that is what this story is all about—Perseverance. After a period of 12 months and lots of back and forth with her appeal, her status was restored, and she was granted her study permit.

During her Master's program, she had to engage in all sorts of activities to make ends meet, such as babysitting, washing plates and clothes, working in a nursing home, etc. Grace eventually completed her Masters program and started looking for jobs; after multiple applications and rejections, she decided to accept a Clerk role with the government (a role that does not even require a University Degree). For Grace this was a step in the right direction as she has now gotten her foot in the door of proper employment.

From Clerk, Grace was asked to temporarily step into the role of an Eligibility Officer (as the original employee had been away for a few months). Even with this role, she was still unable to make ends meet and, as a result, had to work seven days a week, supplementing her government job with a nursing home job by the side—all to pay her bills and keep her head above water.

One day, her new manager advised her to find something else as the original owner of the role would be returning; this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. She realised that she could achieve much more and started seeking solutions. She contacted her friend, who secured a BA role via TCA and asked for TCA’s contact information. She quickly reached out. Following an initial discussion, she promptly signed up for the BA program.

Grace took things personally. Within her group, she was so involved in all the activities that she completed the tasks on time while supporting team members. Even when she needed to go for the first surgery, she went in for it, came out successfully (all glory to God), and then quickly caught up with the live project activities.

She completed the program but was initially reluctant to apply for jobs due to imposter syndrome. She then had a chat with a friend of hers who is into HR, and after her friend reviewed her CV, her words were literally – This is an excellent resume; whoever refined it did a thorough job as it contains everything – Grace, what are you waiting for? This significantly gingered Grace and she started applying for jobs. She also started getting our dearly beloved “unfortunately” emails – which, by the way, is a fundamental part of the transition process.

During the application process, Grace had two more surgeries. To God be the glory, all were successful, but what baffled us the most was that each time she recovered, she fully jumped back into the job application and interview process like nothing had happened and was always laser-focused on the goal. A lot of people would have given up at this point, but not Grace. She kept going against all Odds.

Then, one day, she saw a missed call on her phone. Her initial instinct was this was probably a spam call and there was no need to call back, but then something in her urged her to return the call, which she did and not only did the recruiter pick up the call, but they conducted a telephone there and then on the spot. A few hours after the phone call, she was invited to another interview, this time with two directors. This next stage was more like a chat, and one of the directors was so impressed with her interview performance that she even said to her, ‘ It’s not every day that you speak to a BA that understands the role and uses all the appropriate terminologies to communicate their suitability for the role effectively.”

Within the same day, Grace was made a verbal offer and was given a fantastic 6 figure package. Now, she works regular hours from Monday to Friday and works from home three times a week, and she is making more than enough to take care of her needs/bills and still has more than enough to put aside as savings – no need for menial jobs to augment earnings. Grace was able to achieve through our comprehensive BA coaching program what her Masters degree could not achieve.

There is a quote that Grace kept repeating during our discussion. It was a quote that she learned from her High School (Airforce Secondary School, Ikeja): “Perseverance breeds Success.” Grace strongly believes that nothing good comes easy and that to achieve, we need to put in the work.

Grace had one piece of advice for aspiring tech professionals: Giving Up Is Never An Option. You have everything you need to succeed; all that is required is for you to keep your eye on the prize and keep going Against All Odds. Remain focused and do the work. Shut down all the noise. Don’t let people tell you it is not doable. Surround yourself with people that will help you grow and you will have no other option that to succeed.

If Grace can achieve her DREAMS, you too can!

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