.jpg)
Career development for experienced professionals and the organisations they work in.
You may want to make better use of your experience, prepare for greater responsibility or feel more confident contributing at work. You might also be questioning whether your current role still suits you.
For employers, the challenge may be developing a manager, sharing responsibility more effectively or helping good employees see a future within the business.
I’m Paula Donnan, a Career Consultant and Coach. I work with individuals and organisations to understand what needs attention and agree practical steps for development.
Based in Belfast, working across Northern Ireland, Ireland and the UK.
When Work Needs a Closer Look
You may be doing your job well but finding little room to progress. Or you may manage a team where the same people carry too much and others need help to develop. We can examine these situations together.
Your role no longer feels right
You may have little room to progress, responsibilities that have become difficult to manage or fewer opportunities to do work you enjoy. You want to understand what could change.
Hold back despite knowing your worth.
You find it difficult to speak up in meetings, explain your contribution or ask for greater responsibility, even when you have relevant experience and something useful to offer.
Too much depends on the same people
You manage a team, but work keeps coming back to you or a few reliable employees. You want others to take more responsibility, but you need to understand what would help them do that.
Good people need room to develop
You want to retain capable employees, but opportunities to progress are limited or unclear. You need practical ways to develop their skills and contribution within your business.
Two ways to work together
You can work with me on your own career development or on developing people within your organisation. Choose the relevant route below to see what is available and what each service includes.
For Professionals
Working out whether to stay, move, or push for more starts with an honest read on where you actually stand: what you bring, what's being missed, and what's realistically within reach. This is where that clarity gets built, one decision at a time, so you're acting on a clear picture instead of a gut feeling.
For Organisations
When performance stalls or good people start disengaging, more effort rarely fixes it. What's usually missing is a clear diagnosis: where judgement is breaking down, where communication fails under pressure, and what's actually limiting the team. This is structured, evidence-based development built around what's really going on, not a generic leadership programme.
Client Case Studies: From Workplace Challenges to Practical Change
About Paula
Drawing on fifteen years of experience across employability programmes, public sector organisations, further education colleges, and charities, Paula established Donnan Coaching Services in 2023 to help professionals find clarity and build confidence in their careers.
Now operating as Paula Donnan Advisory, Paula works as a career consultant in Belfast, supporting both individual professionals and organisations through strengths-led consulting and development.
Paula also works as a freelance associate coach for Executive Connexions and as a partner for Neurodiversity Spark. A certified Strengthscope practitioner and Level 5-qualified Coach and Mentor, Paula is an active member of the Association for Coaching. Her approach is practical, evidence-based, and built around the individual, ensuring every client achieves meaningful and lasting professional growth.
Certified industry expertise
.jpg)
Quietly Capable: Building Career Confidence at Work
You agree to another request when your workload is already full, let a comment pass or leave a meeting wishing you had spoken up. Afterwards, you feel frustrated because what you needed to say only becomes clear once the moment has passed.
The Career Confidence Coaching Programme provides one-to-one support to help you express your views, set boundaries and handle workplace conversations more assertively, in a way that feels natural to you.
We begin with a short questionnaire to identify the situations you find difficult and what you want to change.
Over four months, two consultations and four coaching sessions focus on your priorities. We work through real situations, decide what you want to try and review what happens at work. Between sessions, you can email me or book a short check-in, and a follow-up session two months after the programme ends is included.
Sessions take place online, with limited in-person availability in Belfast.
A free 30-minute Initial Briefing gives us time to discuss your situation and whether the programme would suit you. There is no obligation to book further support.
£750 · Personalised one-to-one support over four months
What happens when you get in touch?
Start with a free Initial Briefing
We discuss your situation and what you would like to change. I offer an initial perspective and suggest a next step you could take, whether or not you choose further support.
Understand your options
If a consultation or ongoing support would help, I explain what it involves and the cost. You have space to consider the options, with no obligation to book.
Decide how to proceed
You can use the initial guidance yourself or arrange further support. A paid consultation gives us time to examine your situation in more depth and agree practical recommendations.
Not ready to book?
Start with the free 20 Prompts for Career Clarity.
Practical AI prompts to help you see your strengths, gather your evidence and make your case for what's next at work.
This is a free resource for anyone who knows they're doing more than their job title says and wants to show it. Work through 20 prompts across four areas: getting clear on where you stand, making your strengths visible, building real evidence of your impact, and planning your next step without handing your judgement over to AI. Each prompt comes with a short note on where AI helps and where your own thinking needs to take over. It lands in your inbox as soon as you request it.
Enter your email below to get started, and you will also receive a weekly dose of honest thinking on work, careers and what comes next.
LevelSight for Monitoring Each Application
LevelSight is a free job application tracker that keeps every application, interview and follow up in one place, so you always know exactly where you stand. Every application you track also helps build a public Hiring Experience Score, which encourages companies to treat candidates with more care and respect. I am one of the coaches on LevelSight, and I recommend it to my clients as a practical way to stay organised, confident and in control while they wait to hear back.
The need is real. According to The Interview Guys, around 75% of applications never receive a response, and Forbes reports that 72% of applicants say the job search has harmed their mental health. LevelSight gives you one clear picture of your search and connects you with vetted coaches when you want extra support.
Get Your Free 20 Prompts for Career Clarity + Weekly Updates
Enter your email below to get started, and you will also receive a weekly dose of honest thinking on work, careers and what comes next.