Career tips for the Class of 2020

This year's commencement ceremonies at most universities across the World have been conducted on a virtual format. However, they will remain more fixed in our memories than any other previous physical graduation, as we will remember the Class of 2020, composed of resilient, entrepreneurial and committed graduates.

Even without having the chance of throwing their mortarboards into the air, this year's graduates want to jump quickly into their careers, despite the severe challenges brought by the pandemic. Some have known their preferences since childhood, or simply decide to follow in their parents’ professional footsteps. The braver among them may launch their own businesses, arguably, the most interesting option, and one that while it requires sacrifice to begin with, in the long term can garner the greatest rewards, financially as well as professionally. Actually, current global difficulties may prompt the upsurge of so-called "forced entrepreneurs".

But a lot of people in their early twenties, fresh out of university, are still undecided about what they want to do or which company to join, if any. And so, drawing on my own experience, both professional and personal, perhaps I can offer some advice about starting your career.

In the first place, and using a much-employed but appropriate analogy, we need to see our professional lives as a long-distance race, one with constant change and filled with permanent uncertainty. There are three phases to this: what we might call the early years, followed by the mid-career, and finally, the senior career.

Careers are rarely linear, and instead are prone to luck, good and bad, disruptive opportunities, as well as requiring the help of mentors, while what we can achieve through our own work can shorten, lengthen, or omit some phases. For example, I believe it is more appropriate to characterize a career as a series of different lives related to each other or that become a whole only when we look back on them in later life. In short, we live blended lives.

As a long-term activity that could lead anywhere, it is important at the beginning of a career to avoid short-cuts, put money first, or put your professional or private reputation on the line. I’m not talking about mistakes, which we all make, but behaving ethically, and not putting too much emphasis on money, at least until you have proved your worth. My experience has been that the best and the brightest are not overly concerned about their salary in the early stages of their career.

The two questions anybody faces who isn’t going to work for themselves are which position to fill and which company to work for. In addressing the first question, the acid test is knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are, which is not easy when you are young. It is also natural to focus on the profession that appeals most to us, regardless of family pressures. But there are a few key questions worth asking that should give us an idea. Are you an analyst, a back office person, or are you a front-of-house person, comfortable with a lot of interpersonal relations? Are you analytical skills better than your colleagues, or are soft skills your forte? Are you a team player or a loner?

Do you like to think things through or bolt into action? Over the course of your career you’ll improve your skills or acquire new ones, particularly if you continue studying. But initially, it is important to associate your strengths and your preferences with the responsibilities of the post, so as to carry it out best and help you chances of promotion. Some graduates have rather mystical ideas about consultancy or financial analysis, and apply for jobs in these areas without knowing what the work really consists of or without having the necessary skills. The best way to think about which job might suit best is to identify those areas of study where you have excelled or that you particularly enjoyed. In any event, the first jobs we take do not determine how successful we will be in later years.

One piece of advice I often give to people looking for their first job is that while it’s important to read surveys and guides about careers and tendencies, they shouldn’t be too influenced by data. Statistics shouldn’t determine somebody’s career: at most they should be an incentive to be the exception to the rule. There are CEOs with degrees in English Literature, or who have spent much of their career working in human resources rather than finance or sales.

The second big decision is which company to work for. Despite the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, there are industries and sectors hiring talented, young professionals. There is a widespread misunderstanding that large multinationals are preferable. But don’t forget that in smaller companies, you will likely take on more responsibilities, have a more direct relationship with the senior management, while developing a more global view of what the company does and how it does it.

That said, large corporations do offer the chance to link one’s career with well-known brands. A line in a CV with the name of a Fortune 500 company or one of the big four from any global sector can be a deciding factor in future selection processes. For example, in the area of business schools, reputation is the first factor taken into account when teaching staff apply for new positions.

In my opinion, aside from reputation, another fundamental decisive factor in deciding which company to join is the existence of internal training programs for young people who have recently joined.

Other criteria that should be taken into account are mentorship programs, or diversity and inclusiveness policies. A study by Bain & Company, revealed that while 43 percent of women have aspirations to reach top management positions at the beginning of their careers (compared to 34 percent of men), this percentage drops sharply within just two years to 16 percent, while for men, the figure doesn’t change. The main reasons, says the survey, is the lack of support by bosses and supervisors, along with a lack of role models: “the majority of leaders celebrated in a corporate newsletter or an offsite meeting tend to consist of men hailed for pulling all-nighters or for networking their way through the golf course to land the big account”, explain Orit Gadiesh and Julie Coffman. Increasingly, diversity and inclusivity programs are managing to counter these types of situations. Before choosing your company, you might want to know the number of women in middle management, on the C-suite, or the board.

Another important decision that needs to be addressed is whether to go for a job that will mean an international posting. In the early stages of one’s career, before you’ve started a family or children are still young, working abroad is relatively easy, and it’s always a good idea to have a few international miles on your CV, particularly in the global environment that more and more companies are now operating in: as well as boosting your professional standing, you’ll learn some important cross-cultural skills.

Finally, and bearing in mind the drive that characterizes young professionals: do not be overly concerned with immediate success. Generally speaking, success comes after lengthy effort, after one’s prestige has been consolidated by working with a wide range of stakeholders, rather than through a lucky break.

That said, although patience is particularly necessary in the early stages, it is important to monitor one’s professional and personal progress, and to make sure that one’s merits and efforts are being recognized. In general, if you haven’t been promoted within four years, despite working hard, or if other people with similar profiles have moved up or been given pay rises, then perhaps the time has come to ask for a transfer to another department, or even to think about moving to another company or sector.

Each generation tends to think that it faces unique problems, which in some ways is true, but it’s also the case that some questions about what we are to do with our lives are sempiternal: one of the best pieces of advice about choosing one’s career can be found in George Eliot’s masterpiece Middlemarch, which provides a vivid portrait of life in early 19th century England, a time when the country was changing rapidly. Fred Vincy’s family wants him to join the clergy, but he feels no calling. He asks his future father-in-law what he should do, and is told: “You must love your work, and not be always looking over the edge of it, wanting your play to begin. And the other is, you must not be ashamed of your work, and think it would be more honorable to you to be doing something else. You must have a pride in your own work and in learning to do it well, and not be always saying, There’s this and there’s that—if I had this or that to do, I might make something of it.”

Note: This article is dedicated to the Class of 2020, in the hope that they will achieve their dreams, personal and professional (adapted from my book "Cosmopolitan Managers: Executive Education that works", Palgrave Macmillan, London 2017.