ALL REVIEWS
What others are saying about
Career Coaching Pro
MELISSA I.
SENIOR DATA ANALYST
“Carmelina helped me focus my job search and improve my interviewing techniques. I’m in the tech industry at the senior level and her advice was extremely valuable in finding a job even in a down market for tech. She is easy to work with and flexible on schedule. Highly recommended..”
AJ R.
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
“Carmelina is an amazing mentor, leader, and colleague. I've had the pleasure of working with Carmelina and calling her a mentor to me and couldn't be more grateful for her. She really takes the success of her team, clients, and colleagues seriously. I feel very lucky to have her in my corner and think it would be a wise decision for anyone looking for professional or career support to reach out to her. Thanks so much for all you Carmelina. :)”
CAITLIN E.
ART + DESIGN + CODE
“Carmelina has acted as my Design Mentor as I have transitioned into more senior IC roles, helping me find and address blind spots in my planning, deal with UX integration and maturity challenges in various organizations I have worked with, and generously providing me a wise, design-focused, human-centered sounding board when I have needed. Her kindness and warmth are matched only by her thoroughness as a thought partner - which has come in clutch more times than I can count.”
MICHAELA J.
UX DESIGNER
“After working with Carmelina during my time at my bootcamp, I have learned how to value and apply my transferrable skills from previous careers, pursue UX opportunities with an open-mind and interview with confidence. Before even completing my Bootcamp certification, Carmelina’s direct feedback, industry insights and interview preparation helped me to land my first full-time UX job.
She encouraged me to reframe my unique skills and prior work experiences in a way that has empowered me as an early-career designer. From advice on personal branding to maintaining self-confidence during the job search, Carmelina’s authentic and candid coaching style will help you to succeed in the career world and beyond.”
LYDIA B.
UX RESEARCHER
“I found Carmelina about 4 months into my job search and dearly wish I’d found her sooner! Her advice on my resume and portfolio was very helpful and her coaching on LinkedIn networking was invaluable. She helped me prepare for interviews and was a wonderful cheerleader when my spirits were low. Equipped with the tools she gave me, I ultimately landed my first UX role. I can’t recommend her coaching services enough!”
EMMA C.
UX DESIGNER AT CISCO
“Carmelina is an amazing career coach! She helped me transition and mentor me through my career change and set me up for success. She provided 1:1 coaching and resume support to help me get in front of the right people, and helped me interview prep and practice for technical challenges. She is very kind and professional to work with. I would recommend Carmelina to anyone looking for a new career, she will guide you every step of the way.”
EDDIE Y.
SENIOR PRODUCT DESIGNER
“I cannot say enough about Camelina, her professionalism, and her deep care in helping you prepare for your next career move. Carmelina strikes a balance between being a mentor and coach, and her thoughtfulness through the questions she asks exposes your potential. If you're looking for career guidance or ideas for your next career move, I can't think of anyone I'd recommend more highly than Camelina.”
JESSICA T.
STRATEGIC PRODUCT | UX DESIGNER
“Carmelina provides very actionable resources that you can use immediately to increase your chances of getting contacted by a recruiter and hearing back from them. Her resources will also help you ace your first interview with a recruiter or hiring manager. Whenever you are searching for a new job, you can refer back to these resources.
Nevertheless, her expertise lies in building confidence. Carmelina helps you reframe your skill sets and past accomplishments into what’s in the job description. This will help you feel confident that you’re the most suitable candidate for the job.
When it comes to a job search, it’s essential to have a coach to guide you through the process. You don’t want to shoot in the dark and assume that rejections are due to inability. Carmelina can help you present your credentials and convincingly demonstrate your capabilities to companies. You will make a wise career investment by using Carmelina’s services.”
OLIVIA K.
PRODUCT DESIGNER
“Carmelina mentored me throughout my UX bootcamp. Her guidance and support helped me strengthen my UX skills, but most importantly, her industry knowledge and expertise helped me lean into a role I already had a lot of experience in (product management)!
Carmelina helped me:
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Create a polished online portfolio to highlight my UX/UI skills
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Redesign my LinkedIn profile to support my career goals
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Renovate my resume to highlight accomplishments
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Brand myself as a product manager
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Pursue designations to strengthen my PM skills (like the CSPO)
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Connect with other PM’s to learn from industry experts and grow my network
If you’re looking for a mentor or career coach, I can’t think of anyone I’d recommend more highly than Carmelina. These past 10 months have been such a gift working with her!”
TONY G.
ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT
“Needing guidance and positive affirmation, I hired Carmelina to help in my job search. Carmelina became my navigator in the process and helped me to land a role that I was comfortable with. In a short time, I was able to get tons of interest and landed an offer after one month. I would definitely recommend her to anyone seeking career guidance. She is cordial, present and effective in her role as a job coach.”
TRANG V.H.
UX DESIGNER | GLOBAL MEDICINE EDUCATION
“Having Carmelina as a mentor has changed my life for the better! Carmelina was my mentor at my bootcamp and she proved that her coaching was invaluable when I landed 4 offers in a few weeks even before I had finished my program.
Her top traits are:
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Knowledgeable and UX expert: She’s my go-to person when I need to seek advice on UX techniques, human-centered design thinking, and career transition.
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Ability to provide feedback: She created a strategy that fit my needs and created long-term and short-term goals to help me become who I want to be. She made sure that I could identify my strengths and work on my weaknesses. Her insight into the UX field helped me find my niche. She helped to boost my confidence in my abilities and always reminded me to embrace who I am and my background.
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Career and branding coach: She helped me with my resume, LinkedIn profile, storytelling, and portfolio which attracted many recruiters and prospective employers. Then, she prepared me for interviews and practice design challenges which were effective in helping me land multiple offers. She taught me how to negotiate my offer by showing what values I could bring to the table.
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Availability: She always tries to make time for me when I need help even though her schedule is tight.
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Attentive listener: Transitioning into a new field takes a lot of courage and my journey hasn’t always been completely flat. Carmelina always got my back during the up and down moments. During our sessions, she listened and provided input that is courageous and motivate me for staying positive.
I highly recommend Carmelina as a coach and mentor!​​​​​​​”
DALENA T.
UX ARCHITECT
“I highly recommend Carmelina for career coaching and mentoring services. She was my mentor at my bootcamp where she taught me many valuable things by being attentive and honest. From our very first virtual meeting, she was organized and prepared with questions to ask me to best provide help as my mentor. She checked in on me when she knew something significant was happening to provide me moral and emotional support. I needed more help since I transitioned into UX design from another career so these check-ins although seemingly small showed me that she cared.
Carmelina also always encouraged and reminded me of my transferable skills. I always gained more confidence after a call with her since she would provide me with practical wisdom and related to me with her own experiences. On top of her empathetic nature, she always had a task for me to accomplish so that I could continue to network and get my portfolio online early so that I had a better chance of getting job opportunities.
In my UX design course, she always gave me objective feedback on my assignments and gave me actionable tips that I could apply to my designs and design thinking process. Thanks to her, I completed my portfolio and was able to land an interview. I believe anyone who works with Carmelina will feel extremely fortunate. She is dedicated to ensuring her mentees and clients are successful by going above and beyond expectations to help them.”
TARA S.
LEAD PRODUCT DESIGNER
“Carmelina is an amazing mentor and human being. During my conversation with her, she gave me candid feedback about my resume, portfolio, and branding. She also provided me with suggestions on how to improve those elements that allowed me to get my current job. I will definitely take advantage of the insights she shared with me in my future career journey.”
ANITA F.L.
DIGITAL DESIGNER
“When I reached out to Carmelina with probing questions about the UX field, she was very responsive, eager to listen and help. She immediately acted as a mentor figure, even though we met through a mutual connection without knowing each other beforehand. She not only listened to my questions with an open ear, but after getting to know my goals, my background and strengths she gave me useful and specific advice on how to change careers into UX. After completing a UX case study, which would serve as a portfolio piece, I knew I could go to Carmelina for a project critique. Sure enough she reviewed my case study and provided me with detailed feedback on how it could be made better. It’s great to know I can count on someone as seasoned and knowledgeable as Carmelina for career coaching and encouragement, while transitioning between career paths..”
ANGELICA D.
PRODUCT DESIGN MANAGER
“I graduated with my BFA in Visual Communication in 2008. This proved to be an extremely difficult economic time and I found myself a bit lost with so little available job opportunities.
Carmelina Piedra has willingly invested her time to guide me through my transition from student to professional. She has quickly become my mentor and for that I am truly grateful. Carmelina has a great sensitivity to my interests and abilities. She is always challenging me and paving the way through her own accomplishments. Carmelina is an excellent example and role model.”
