I grew up on a farm in the countryside of São Paulo with a chicken as my pet. My childhood dream? To become a famous American singer. Over the years, I discovered that becoming an American wasn’t as straightforward as I thought, but at least I could learn English.

That’s how, at 15, I convinced my mother to let me go on an exchange program to Australia. However, the September 11 attacks happened, and terrified, my mother crushed my dream of learning English far from home just as the Twin Towers fell.

Like any teenager, at 17, I fell in love with the man of my life, and this overwhelming passion even helped me set aside the project of living and studying abroad. Ironically, five years later, the same man who made me forget about kangaroos and Australia and become fluent in English broke up with me and bought an exchange package to Australia. That’s when I learned my first life lesson: To be valued by others, you first need to value yourself.

From that learning, participating in an exchange program became a matter of honour!

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Just two semesters shy of finishing my Psychology degree, Brazil was going through one of its worst crises, and the scenario was filled with uncertainties. Yet, nothing could make me give up on my dream again. Without a second thought, I locked up my university enrollment, sold my old car, and went off to learn English.

That’s when another love story began, this time between Ireland and me. I chose Dublin and landed in an Ireland that was also in crisis, with few opportunities. Even with a European passport, I didn’t speak any English. Like most, I had to hustle hard to land my first job.

Alone, I wrote the worst CVs of my life and faced the worst job interviews, lacking the vocabulary to respond to interviewers but not determination and persistence. Yet, nothing was easy. I worked as a waitress, babysitter, and barista and even handed out flyers on the street dressed as a geisha. Every adversity was overcome because I knew that this was just a phase of my life, and soon, I would be back in Brazil working as a Psychologist.

Like many exchange students, I limited myself to thinking about the future back in Brazil, with fluent English and more job opportunities. Because of this mindset, I didn’t apply for formal jobs, thinking my English wasn’t good enough. Time passed, and what was supposed to be just six months of study turned into two years.

Then came the moment I had to decide whether to return to Brazil to finish my Psychology degree. At that time, my foreign boyfriend asked me, “Drop out of college and stay here with me.” Ah! But I had already learned that lesson. Of course, I… returned to Brazil, right?

Back in Brazil, during college, I had the opportunity to intern as an HR consultant, where I began to use and fall in love with LinkedIn, even without knowing how to use it strategically. Meanwhile, I kept applying for positions to return to Ireland, as I couldn’t adapt to the reality of Brazil: the disrespect of politicians, infrastructure problems, and everything else that only we Brazilians know exists behind all the beauty that God gave our land.

I lost count of how many times I applied for jobs and was unsuccessful, which often left me demotivated. I gave up trying from afar and with bravery, decided to return to Ireland with just a diploma in HR Management from CIPD.

At that moment, I bet on another vital tool: networking! In the course, I met a Spaniard who hired me to intern with him at Adecco. Okay, it wasn’t paid, but I gained experience. With that experience, I landed a job as a recruitment consultant at Sigmar Recruitment, one of the best recruitment agencies in Ireland. At Sigmar, I witnessed the BOOM of job opportunities for Brazilians and expats. I recruited Brazilians and professionals of other nationalities for companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, Bank of Germany, Symantec, and Microsoft.

One fine day, a friend who had just received Italian citizenship asked for help to escape underemployment. We sat down, and I explained how the market worked and which companies recruited Brazilians. I assisted her with her CV. We updated her LinkedIn in English together, and from that day on, interviews started coming. Confident, we did some mock interviews in English, and less than two months, she was employed at a multinational.

That’s how I discovered why I was there, why Ireland, and what I could do to help other Brazilians in a similar situation to secure good job opportunities in Europe.

After two years at Sigmar, the feeling of stagnation chased me. I started sending CVs to my big professional goal, LinkedIn. I applied many times and was rejected every time. However, giving up is not in my vocabulary. I kept applying for vacancies on LinkedIn until one day, they called me for an interview. At that time, I was already working at HP as a Recruitment Specialist (where I worked for 1 year), and there I had a colleague who was a natural coach in personal branding. She taught me how to highlight my strengths and successes. This worked like a mentorship and helped me a lot for the interview! I went, did the interview, and passed!

As Einstein said, I tried 99 times and failed, but on the hundredth attempt, I succeeded. Never give up on your goals, even if they seem impossible. The next attempt may be the victorious one.

Sometimes I still remember that girl who played with her pet chicken in the countryside of São Paulo, the teenager who saw her dream evaporate along with the Twin Towers, and the desire to become a famous American singer. Ten years later, I managed to achieve so many other dreams, new dreams, dreams that arose, resurfaced, and which I fought to achieve one by one: participating in an exchange program, learning English, and working at LinkedIn, top the list of many others. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that one realized dream always makes room for the next dream, and the current dream is to help other people achieve an international career just like I did.

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