THE 3 REASONS

YOU'RE STUCK IN YOUR

MID/SENIOR IT CAREER
AND

HOW TO FIX IT
A Proven System
To Break Free From
Mid-career Stagnation And
Become Industry Leader Without
Being Inauthentic Or Playing Politcs

WRITTEN BY

EHSAN ALI, CAREER COACH

CONTENTS
Introduction 02

Why listen to me 03

Reason #1
06
You lack Clarity

Reason #2
You can't communicate your value 11
effectively

Reason #3
You don't know how to connect with 15
decision-makers

Conclusion & Next Step 19

 2

INTRODUCTION
WHY THIS WILL TRANSFORM YOUR CAREER AND
HENCE YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU IMPLEMENT IT…
No fluff, I’m going to get straight to the point with this!

The sad truth is we were never trained to build our

careers, rather we were trained to do a good job.

By doing a good job, your career would have grown in

the first 10 years or so, but then stagnated despite the
hard work.

By now you would've realised that doing a good job isn't

enough to escape mid-career stagnation.

On top of that, if you are like most professionals, you are

taking wrong advice from friends who are themselves
stuck in the rut or you're consuming random content on
internet that takes you nowhere.

This guide will tell you exactly what works.

Remember, what brought you this far won't take you

there. If it did, you wouldn't be feeling stuck, right?

Why listen to me?

Because I've been in your shoes, and not only did I

overcome my career deadlock but also helped
transform many others’ careers.
 3

WHY LISTEN TO ME
My name is Ehsan Ali (LinkedIn).

I’m not an HR or Recruitment Consultant who has never

experienced first-hand what you are going through.

Rather, I've been an IT professional myself for 22 years

with 15+ years in sales & delivery leadership roles. And, I
have also gone through the pain and frustration of
being stuck at mid-senior level for many years.

During Covid19, I quit my so-called established IT career

and embarked on a new journey of Purpose, Impact
and contribution.

12 months later, I was in a worse condition, struggling to

build any income on my own!

That's when I took another bold step - launched a

groundbreaking podcast to interview and learn from
successful professionals and entrepreneurs who were
on top of their game.

I met professionals who had reached CXO level within 4

years of arriving in Australia, and some were earning a
million-dollar+ salary!

Everything changed from that point. Their stories and

strategies became my guiding force.

These individuals gave me the new belief that

extraordinary success was within reach.
 4

WHY LISTEN TO ME
Now, I could either go back to build my career or pursue
my entrepreneurial spirit. I chose the latter.

But this time I didn't rely on trial & error on my own,

rather I hired a successful business coach.

We brainstormed various business ideas to find

alignment with my passion, my strength, my unique
abilities and professional experience.

As a result, I launched my Career Coaching Practice

with a mission to empower 100,000 IT professionals
break free from mid-career stagnation.

I took everything I learnt from top professionals,

entrepreneurs and my own 22 years of corporate
career and put it together into an easy-to-follow
system - the Career Accelerator System (CAS).
 5

WHY LISTEN TO ME
Many professionals went on creating uncommon
breakthroughs using my system:

💥 $100k raise in 3 months

💥 3-Level jump in 7 months
💥 Salary doubled in 9 months
💥 Industry leader in 12 months
to name a few.

These professionals varied in seniority level (From

Senior Analyst to VP in billion-dollar enterprise)

Mind you, irrespective of their seniority level, they were

all feeling stuck because of the same 3 reasons.

But as they got clearer on the real reasons that were

keeping them stuck and when they implemented our
Career Accelerator System, they started to create
uncommon breakthroughs.

And that’s exactly what I want for you because I’m

obsessed with creating breakthroughs.

By the way, I was able to replace my full-time income in

18 months (not that I'm somebody extraordinary, but
because I took help of experts!).

Leveraging experts to buy back time is true wisdom.

That being said, let’s get into the 3 main reasons why
you may be stuck in your mid-career and how to fix it.
 6

REASON #1

You lack clarity on

Direction
Your true value
your market-fitment
 7

REASON #1
The truth is, without clarity, you are essentially driving in
dark!

You need clarity in 3 areas:

Direction, Value and Market-fit.

Direction - Without the right direction, you may end up

wasting years in roles that don't contribute to long-
term career success.

Value - Without clarity of your true value, you will

remain underpaid and accept roles way below your
capability.

Martek-fit - Without understanding of your market-

fitment, you will be like the masses, aimlessly applying
to 100s of jobs and yet remaining stuck and unfulfilled.

Clarity is at the core of anybody's career transformation

journey.

Let me share one of our client’s story of transformation.

Jalpa, a Senior Security Operations Analyst with 14 years

of professional experience, was stuck at the same level
for many years. She tried very hard for the last 2 years
to get to the manager level but in vain.

That's when she decided to work with me.

 8

REASON #1
7 months later, she made her biggest career move - a
Director role in Big4, an incredible 3-level jump!

When I asked her what part of our program contributed

the most to her breakthrough, she said "Clarity"!

Then she said, other segments of the program were

valuable but wouldn't have worked without going
through the clarity exercises.

So, let's go through the 3 areas of clarity

1. Direction: To get clear on your career direction, do a

deep dive into:

Who you are (your core values, what you can and
cannot tolerate, your interests and passion, what
energises you and what sucks your energy)

What you want to do and who you want to become

(roles, designation, earnings, learnings, recognition
and impact)

Who do you admire - look for someone who has a

similar background as yours and is significantly
ahead of you. Reach out to them to understand
what it takes and also the good, bad and ugly in the
path they are on
 9

REASON #1
2. Value: You must discover your true value

If you have been working for over a decade, I believe

you are sitting on a Mountain of Value!

Once you discover it, you will suddenly start feeling 10

times more valuable. I see it quite often when coaching
mid-career professionals like yourself.

I have developed a powerful tool to capture your career

assets - "Mountain of Value Cheatsheet".

It enables you to analyse your career from 36 different

angles and reveals your value in ways you could never
imagine before.

This is such a powerful exercise, most people can

secure a better role within 90 days, with at least a 30%
raise after doing this.

Like to have a copy of the Cheatsheet?

I'm so excited about how it's been changing people's

lives, I am happy to give it to you for FREE.

Click here to get your copy of the “Mountain of Value

Cheatsheet".
 10

REASON #1
3. Market-fit: Explore only those roles and companies
that match your aspirations and value.

Shift from trying to fit into an advertised role in any

company to a targeted approach of developing a list
of companies that are best fit for you. Find companies
that need your expertise and hence will value you more
than others.

The intersection of these 3

areas (Direction, Value and
Market) is the sweet spot
where you will have the best
chance of career success
and fulfilment.

The truth is that the traditional methods of searching for

jobs online and trying to fit into job descriptions have
rarely led anyone to significant career growth. Why?
Because it’s not fully aligned with their aspirations and
strengths!

So, stop following the masses and taking advice from

people who are trapped in mediocre jobs with no clarity
and no inspiring career roadmap of their own. Rather,
develop absolute clarity of your direction, value and
market.
 11

REASON #2

You are unable to demonstrate

your value effectively
 12

REASON #2
You might have noticed on many occasions that
professionals who are growing fast are not necessarily
more knowledgeable than you.

And you think because they know how to talk, and you
don't! Well, it's not really about being a glib talker.

Let me reveal to you the 3 elements of communication

that will make you a highly valuable professional.

1. Your Story

Without a compelling career story and a unique value

proposition, it's hard to stand out in a crowded market.

How do you develop your career story?

Use your "mountain of value cheatsheet" as the

foundation

Then research to understand your market (the big

problems and the trend)

Combine the two to develop your value proposition

highlighting how you are best positioned to solve
those big problems in the most unique way.

All your marketing materials (Resume, Cover Letter,

LinkedIn Profile) must reflect your unique value
proposition!
 13

REASON #2
One of my clients, a Senior Automation Engineer in
Silicon Valley, was just made redundant when he
decided to work with me (referred by his brother who
had already benefited from my coaching program).

Together, we developed a powerful value proposition

and a compelling career story.

As a result, he secured the role of Senior Principal

Engineer, which is kind of 2 levels up from his previous
role. His renumeration went up by 45% (uncommon
during this time of mass layoffs)

All because he had a well-rehearsed value proposition

and career story.

Interestingly, he had not even applied for the role he

finally got – the executives at the company decided to
offer him this role based on his perceived value!!!

There are two other important

elements of Communication
apart from a Compelling Story –
Visibility and Authority.

Remember, people tend to hire

people whom they KNOW, LIKE
and TRUST.
 14

REASON #2
2. Your Visibility

When you are present where top professionals and

leaders in your niche hang out, you are likely to develop
visibility and trust.

Enhance your visibility by crafting a robust LinkedIn

profile, actively engaging with thought leaders, and
participating in relevant online and offline forums and
communities.

3. Your Authority

Authority is about developing your thought leadership

in areas of your expertise. You do it by sharing your
knowledge in writing and speaking. You authority grows
when you share it on more credible publications and
platforms. That's how you become part of the top 1% in
your niche.

Jalpa, whose story I shared under "Clarity", become a

thought leader across Asia and Australia within 12-14
months from the time we started working together.

Without these 3 elements in place (Story, Visibility and

Authority), it's almost impossible to escape mid-career
stagnation in today's highly competitive market.
 15

REASON #3

You don't know how to

connect with decision-makers
and get access to quality
opportunities!
 16

REASON #3
The truth is that most of the quality job opportunities
never reach the online job market. They are filled within
the hidden networks. That’s why it’s called the hidden
job market. It works on the same principle of KNOW, LIKE
and TRUST.

And when you are going through an online application,

they don’t know you, they don’t know whether you are
likable, and of course they can’t trust a stranger.

You may call it unfair, nepotism, politics or whatever

you want to call it, it doesn’t matter because you can’t
change it. The truth is we all like to work with people
whom we know, like and trust.

Hope now you understand why it’s so difficult to get a

good role through online job portals.

That’s why your ability to develop strategic

relationships with decision makers and key influences
in your market is key to advancing your career.

There are 3 steps you'll need to

master - connecting, having
informational interviews and
identifying right opportunities
and converting.
 17

REASON #3
One of my clients, a Senior Data Analytics professional,
was stuck in a town in Australia. He wanted to move to
Sydney but was having no success applying to
hundreds of online job openings.

After developing absolute clarity about his next career

move and sharpening his value proposition, we devised
a game plan to reach out to the decision-makers in the
companies he had shortlisted as best fit.

We trained him how to do an effective “Informational

Interview” with those executives. To his surprise, two
days after he had one such conversation, HR called him
with an offer for a role that didn’t even exist! This is
powerful, this is how you find the best opportunities in
the hidden job market.

The truth is, you will never have to go through the pain
of sending hundreds of online applications or getting
ghosted by recruiters once you learn how to create
referrals and connect directly with decision-makers in
your target companies.

While no one can do this for you, you can quickly

master this valuable skill. That’s exactly what this senior
data analytics professional did under our guidance and
secured a strategic role in a top TELCO in Sydney within
12 weeks.
 18

CONCLUSION & NEXT STEP

Having understood the 3 reasons, I am sure now you
know why you may be stuck in your career.

I don’t care how motivated you are...

If you want to go north but you are heading south, no

motivation will get you there. Most are running in the
wrong direction.

I was one of them. I wish someone had given me this

system when I was painfully stuck in my own career.

I'm glad I eventually quit and decided to become the

person I needed the most.

I have done the heavy lifting, so others don't have to. My

system is now proven with many career breakthroughs
under its belt.

Now, I don't want anybody to go through the same pain.

So, if you are ready to implement the system to escape

mediocrity and unleash your full potential, I will be
happy to sit with you and develop a personalised game
plan for you for FREE!

Just a heads up: This session has a true value of $500

which is what we charge for our time at a consultancy
level.
 19

ready?
then
DO NOT MISS OUT
ON THIS limited-time
opportunity
 20

I have opened up my calendar for a limited time to do

1:on:1 career breakthrough sessions for ambitious
professionals like yourself.

Click on the image below to grab a slot before it's gone.

In this FREE Career Breakthrough Session with me, I will

show you exactly how to apply my Career Accelerator
System to help you get unstuck in your career.

As a result of this session, we will fix the problems that

are right now the biggest reasons for your frustration in
your career, be it lower salary, no growth opportunity or
burnout caused by repeated unchallenging tasks.

Think about it, if you knew what exactly was keeping

you stuck and if you had access to proven strategies to
move forward, you would have already hit your targets
– high income, high growth, high recognition, higher
designation, quality of work, or anything else that you
desired in your career. Isn't?
 21

However, because you have downloaded this guide,

right now you have this opportunity sit with me and
implement my proven system for FREE!

I don’t know how long we will be doing this so if you do

not book today, you may miss out.

This is your opportunity to replace your trial & error slow

methods with a proven system to get unstuck,
accelerate your success and buy back your time.

Book today before we close them down. Grab this

opportunity to copy my CAS method and have it
individually tailored to you and your career goals so
that you can be proud of your career when around your
peers, without being inauthentic and without sacrificing
your family life.

Click on the image below to Book Your FREE Career

Breakthrough Session