Anna Zadrożna

How it started:

While completing her Master’s degree in Psychology at SWPS University, Anna began her professional journey at TMP Worldwide (now Morgan Philips Hudson) in 2001. She recruited for sectors incl. Pharma, Heavy Industry, Construction, IT, and FMCG. In 2006, she transitioned to internal HR roles: first as Senior HR Specialist at LOT Polish Airlines, then HR Manager at BDO and IDEA Bank, followed by HR Development Manager at Getin Holding SA, and finally HR Projects Director at PKP Intercity SA. Along the way, Anna pursued three postgraduate degrees at Kozminski University: “Managing Professional Competences of Employees”, “Professional Coaching”, and “Payroll & Labor Law”.

How it’s going:

Anna began collaborating with Career Angels in 2011 on a project basis and joined the team permanently in 2016. Today, she supports:

1) Managers and senior executives in career management and job search across Poland and Europe.

“I’ve unexpectedly lost my job once – I know how it feels. What helped me move forward was reframing what could be seen as a failure into an opportunity. As they say, magic happens outside your comfort zone.”

2) HR departments in developing talent, improving recruitment processes, and enhancing organizational effectiveness.

“I draw on my own experience as a headhunter and HR Director – from implementing performance systems and recruitment strategies to designing L&D programs and succession planning.”

Anna also contributes as:

– Lecturer at the Warsaw University of Technology Business School since 2016

– Certified Consultant in Decision Dynamics tools (“Career View” & “Culture View”) since 2017

– Webinar Lead since 2020 (recordings available on YouTube)

– Community Manager for the Challenge Accepted project since 2019

Why are you a Career Angel? What’s your favourite part of your work?

I’m a Career Angel because working with executives gives me a lot of satisfaction and enables me to realise my career goals.

It’s also a continuation of my previous professional experiences; I use the knowledge I acquired as a headhunter and HR Director.

I also make my other dreams come true: I share the knowledge I have with other people and I support them in their further development.

As a coach I support my clients and observe how they:

– Make changes

– Achieve their goals (e.g. a higher position, better salary, industry change or even a change in their profession)

… and it makes me happy to see how much positive energy and satisfaction they get out of our cooperation.

What’s your life motto?

“Magic happens outside your comfort zone” – I just strongly believe in it!

Nobody likes to leave their comfort zone, but magic happens outside that zone. It’s where we learn, develop ourselves and broaden our minds; it’s where we ascertain that our dreams are possible and get energized to pursue them.

What’s the best & worst career advice that you have ever received?

The best advice I have ever received is, “Go forward and don’t regret anything ever”. My father gave it to me and it is useful in both my private and professional lives. I know from experience (mine and my clients’) that even when we lose a job, even when we fail, there is always something new arriving afterwards. Something that gets us to a new place – a better place than before. And we might have never gotten there if it wasn’t for that difficult (at the time) situation.

The worst advice: I don’t know if it can be called advice, it’s rather a mistake that we make on our career path. At some point, I should have taken more time to stop and ask myself a question: is my career goal from five years ago still up-to-date? Do I still want it? Not verifying that may lead us to a moment when we reach the goal – but we are not happy.