Dear Interns, You Got This.

A couple of earnest interns asked, "What would you say made the biggest difference in your career? And hence what is your best advice for us? What do you study to get a job almost immediately?"

These questions came after several pints of beer at 10pm. Totally unplanned, the interns set up their chairs for some career advice. On one side was a colleague who believed in knowing what you want. Then there's me, the juxtaposition - nonchalant about where I want to be yet somehow articulating the secret to feeling comfortable not knowing what's next.

This article is my personal collection of deliberate choices I shared on that faithful night. These simple choices made the biggest difference to my self-confidence and ultimately my career. May this inspire other interns too.

Overseas assignments are life changing and eye-opening. Books on how to work across cultures just isn't quite the same as experiencing it for yourself.

Here's why. You will experience how easy or difficult it is to get the same things done in different countries. You become unassuming. You know how decisions are made and how connections are formed. You'll know how an idea will practically be perceived in the different markets.

So why earlier in your life? Not later? We have fewer life commitments like elderly parents or young children in our 20s. So spread your wings and fly. Life weighs you down later in life, like it or not.

I call this the art of knowing how things work, or context. It is easy to get spoilt (and lazy) in the era of drag-and-drop and prompt-for-answers tools. But the world ain't perfect.

We can't solve the world's problems by dragging dropping and typing prompts. The world still needs people who will get their hands dirty to appreciate context, simplify problems into shorter problem statements, and figure out what work lies ahead.

Not talking about passion here. The vast majority go about their work lives not knowing what they enjoy doing. They do however have lots to say about what they dread doing. So, they are dumbfounded when you ask them, "What will you like to do then?"

Let's get real. With every job, it's going to be hard to find a job where all responsibilities spark joy. So let's be crystal clear about what we are happy and content to spend our time on and make those responsibilities a major feature of our day, day after day, till we lose track of time. Which brings us to the next point...

Jobs will keep evolving and so will our interests. That means if we keep doing what we are doing or what we loved in our teens, we can and will expect to be irrelevant or not loving the jobs we thought we loved.

So as with point (3), figure out what you enjoy and are willing to do 9am to 5pm repeatedly. From 100percent, let's drop that to 80 percent, saving 20 percent for a completely new area of experience - 20 percent is learning while leveraging on 80 percent of your strengths. Then of that new 20 percent, perhaps you come to love a quarter of that more.

Over time, you'll discover more of what you enjoy and new realms of knowledge and skills without ever feeling uncomfortable. And for practical reasons, no one will pay you less for applying 80 percent of your strengths to your new role.

Just I was leaving Accenture, one of the Partners asked during my exit interview, Why aren't you content to be a generalist?" In his words, "Afterall, the general in the army is a generalist."

To which, looking back, I gave the most defiant rebuttal at 24, "Unlike the general, I have never been a specialist. To credibly lead the troops, I would like to master the specialist skills such as operating a weapon." And that was the end of my leaving interview.

The term generalist has been widely misunderstood. There are 2 possible types of generalists:

1. Those who have superficial knowledge of topics sufficient to sound smart with those who did no prior research.
2. Those who are multi-skilled and can pick and choose from their repertoire of skills acquired from trying.

Avoid feeling like an imposter later in life. Choose to be the second type of generalist.

Call this cheeky or maybe even borderline rebellious. But I thoroughly enjoy spotting what executives avoid talking about or thinking. No idea where to start? Failed trying even with subject matter help?

These assignments are so exciting. Not always greenfield but definitely open to interpretation and alternative solutions. After having attempted a few of these, I would say executives struggle with:

1. Anticipating sentiments and questions.
2. Making sense across multiple specialist disciplines.
3. Delivering potentially bad or uncertain news.

The choice to embark on the less ordinary assignments makes for a great career story and sets your profile apart from the crowd.

There you have it, all the advice I managed to deal to interns under the influence.

Dear Interns, may you figure out your own recipe to your next adventure. Discover you as you contemplate your career. You got this!