Celebrating 15 Years of Career Angels: From Industry Doubts to Global Recognition
15 years ago, Career Angels was founded. The first reactions were:
- “You won’t go far with a name like Career Angels. It’s not serious!”
- “We will never do business with a brand that has “angels” in its name.”
- “You should put your own name into the company name. That’s a very personal business. Nobody will want to work with a brand. But with you yes.”
- “Nobody will pay for these career services. Headhunters are doing this for free!”
From One Client to 12,000: Our Journey of Organic Growth
15 years ago, despite the overwhelming skepticism, we started out with one client who recommended us to three of their colleagues, two of which became clients… who then recommended us to some of their friends… and this has organically grown to us having supported over 12,000 (!) professionals across the world. And we can confidently and proudly say that we’ve had clients on every continent! Well, almost… except Antarctica!
In fact, more than 75% of our clients have come through referrals – a true testament to the trust and quality we’ve consistently delivered.
Sharing Know-How with Business Schools and Professional Communities
We’ve been invited to (guest) lecture at the best and most prestigious Business Schools across Europe – like POLIMI Graduate School of Management, Warsaw University of Technology Business School, Vlerick Business School, Mannheim Business School, SBS Swiss Business School, Kozminski University – but one that definitely stands out is the WU Executive Academy. Why? Because we had our first lecture there in 2014! Manfred – thank you for your trust and initiating a long-term partnership! Regine & Viola – thank you for over 10 years of cooperation; thanks to you, we’ve delivered 40+ (!) on and offline lectures, and we’ve individually supported over 700 G/E/MBA students and graduates!
We’ve also shared our know-how with leading professional associations like Leading Women by EY Fundacja Liderek Biznesu, SkillSprint, Siemens Women Network, LEAD Network, DIMAQ, Future Collars, and many others; two that we’d like to highlight particularly are: Krzysztof Frydrychowicz from CIONET and Agnieszka & Damian from ACCA – thank you for your continued trust! Not to boast, but our ACCA webinars regularly attract up to 1000 registered participants!
Supporting Organizations and Individuals Through Career Solutions
We’ve cracked our own attrition challenge with new hires: we went from 30-50% of personnel turnover to virtually 0% and now share with other companies how they can do it too.
We’ve done amazing B2B consulting projects: supported a leading bank in designing and kicking-off THE FIRST in-house Career Center ON THE MARKET – followed by two more at an insurance company and a tech company. Or led a cultural integration and transformation project across 7 countries! We won’t mention the countless (out)placement projects across Europe… the list would be too long.
We’ve supported ambitious, career-driven women through lectures, mentoring, and hands-on advice – collaborating with networks like PWN, Leading Women by EY Fundacja Liderek Biznesu, Siemens Women Network, Working Moms, LEAD Network, and more. For those ready to step into leadership roles, we launched our “Women on Boards” program – to help women build a clear strategy, strengthen their leadership presence, and confidently go for board positions.
Over the years, we’ve led CSR projects to support those most in need – like long-term unemployed executives and 50+ professionals with “too much” experience. Our free program has helped many regain direction and re-enter the job market.
Moreover, we’ve been setting a high bar for career consultants on the market by educating current and future colleagues. Since 2018, we’ve trained 208 professionals through 11 open editions of our “Career Consultant” course and 6 in-house training for HR teams. Why are we so confident? Because our know-how is built on a proprietary career management methodology that we’re proud to share to raise the standard of services in the market.
Honoring the People Who Shaped Career Angels
Who is “we”?
We is a team of wonderful, competent, kind people. And here, we’d like to mention two of them particularly:
* Anna Zadrożna who started collaborating with Career Angels in December 2011; Anna, most of our services and programs exist thanks to your invaluable input; clients appreciate you for your expertise and no-BS honesty! And you are a great mentor to all new consultants!
* Maria Bożek who started collaborating with us in March 2013; Maria, you are the quality foundation of Career Angels and the glue that holds us together. You hold us to the highest possible standards. We’ve been privileged to observe your transformation from shy back office assistant to confident consultant!
A big THANK YOU to the two of them and their kind, dedicated, loyal, and competent colleagues: Adam Czerwoniec, Marcelina Woroniak, Lidia Igielska, Mira Bożek, Anna Mady, Alicja Kujawka, Natalia Strug, Katarzyna Łomako, Wiktoria Pawłocik, Magda Wójcicka, Wiktoria Gralla, Gabriela Łuksik, Wojciech Kalisiak, Lena-Kristine Brönstrup, and Madalina Ungureanu. We’d also like to mention selected Career Angels alumni who have contributed to our success story: Valeria Lebedieva, Lucia Nikolaou, Zsuzsanna Fáy, Jacques De Jager, Tanja Sakelsek, Izabela Michaliszyn-Liwińska, Magdalena Dyrduła-Swacha, Izabela Kurpiewska, Marta Jaszczuk, Justyna Gładysz-Młynarska.
A Heartfelt Thank You and Anniversary Gifts for You
We’d like to thank everyone who has ever contributed to this 15-year journey – our partners, supporters, fans, ambassadors, followers, readers, critics (yes, you too – you push us to be better), and, of course, our clients! Would you like to meet some of them? We’ll be sharing selected client cases on our blog over the coming weeks – here’s the first one: How to Break Into Exclusive Industries at the Executive Level – A Career Transition Success Story.
To express our gratitude, we have two gifts for everyone:
1) Free webinars on the current state of the job market and how to maneuver it:
– in English
– in Polish
2) Following the philosophy of “Happiness shared is happiness doubled”, we won’t be offering a 15% discount, but a double of that – 30% off on any scope. To receive the discount, simply fill out the short consent form – and we’ll send you the special offer. Those who have been following us for a while know that we don’t hand out discounts left and right :)
