As a Plymouth University Alumni, I was asked to present in front of students about my career journey and give tips on how to grow a global career. These are my slides.

1. Iliyana Stareva
Global Partner Program Manager
Author of Inbound PR
HOW DISCOVERING AND FOLLOWING
YOUR PASSION CAN HELP YOU HAVE
A GLOBAL CAREER

2. ILIYANA STAREVA
● Global Partner Program Manager at HubSpot
● Author of Inbound PR: The PR Agency’s
Manual to Transforming Your Business with
Inbound - published by Wiley on 24 April 2018
● I speak four languages and I’ve lived in four
countries
● I’m 28
● @iliyanastareva

3. Topics for today
MY BACKGROUND MY CAREER MY TIPS

4. MY BACKGROUND

5. Where I was born

6. Where I went to high school
Foreign Language High
School “Bertolt Brecht”
Pazardzhik, Bulgaria
Graduated top of
the class

7. AND THEN WHEN I WAS 19, I PACKED
60KG OF LUGGAGE IN TWO SUITCASES
AND MOVED TO A 600,000 PEOPLE
CITY ALL ALONE IN GERMANY, NOT
KNOWING ANYBODY

8. I really wanted to go to the UK but couldn't afford it so...

9. I found my passion in Year 1: PR & Communications

10. I had a plan how to make it to the UK!
What a great year
I had at Plymouth!

11. MY CAREER

12. Set goals even if long-term and dream big.
Everything is possible.

13. My first career steps while at university
Year 1 (Germany) ● Started my blog and Twitter feed
Year 2 (Germany) ● Got an unpaid 3-month summer internship at a marketing agency as a Social Media
intern
Year 3 (UK) ● Got a writing contract for ongoing blog posts for a marketing agency
● Got a 3-month paid summer internship in social media and communications at
bluestone360 (digital agency) in Plymouth
● Got a 6-month PR internship at a PR agency in Cheltenham
Year 4 (Germany) ● Got a part-time (2 days a week) job at a PR agency to help with social media that
lasted for 6 months before they made me an offer for a full-time job once I
graduated
TOTAL 18 months of career-relevant work experience before I even graduated

14. My first proper job: Social Media Account Manager

15. And then one day in the summer of 2015…

16. My dream company where I’m making a true career
Channel Consultant
December 2014 January 2016 April 2016 May 2017
Principal Channel
Consultant
Global Partner Program
Manager
Senior Channel
Consultant

17. At the of 27, I signed a deal with Wiley!

18. MY TIPS

19. ✓
Passion Fit
● What do you like?
● What are you really good at?
✓
Market Fit
● What’s missing in the market?
● What problems can you
solve?
What do you need for a successful career

20. You won’t have all the answers and that’s
why you need to try and experiment

21. Consciously set
one big goal every
year and make a
plan how to hit it

22. Get real-life work
experience while studying

23. Build your brand and
reputation before you
graduate and put active
effort into it after.

24. Create
routines.
Habits are the
key to success.

25. You make or break your day
between 5 AM and 7 AM

26. Beware the
self-doubt but
keep pushing

27. Practice, practice,
practice!

28. Remain focused and
persistent to hitting
your goal

29. Key takeaways
Try different things to find
out what you like
Develop and practice these
new skills
Keep practicing and
become an expert
✓✓✓

30. Thanks!
istareva@hubspot.com
www.iliyanastareva.com
@iliyanastareva
linkedin.com/in/iliyanastareva

31. Q&A