I was approached by someone in public asking if I was FO Perspectives (can’t even go Farmer J’s anymore 🌚) and how my career looks ‘sick’ with all the intern and grad jobs I’ve worked at. Now the funny thing for me is that I’m going through a period building a business in which I’ve faced a lot of struggles, and also have had a LOT of rejections/mistakes in my career to date.

And this encounter has also made me want to share my more of my rejections and career mistakes with you all (because there has been a lot!).

It’s going to be 6 years since I graduated this summer and in that time I've worked across asset management, insurance and Strategy consulting, giving me quite a unique and rich diversity of experiences. However looking back at my (very short) career so far there have been decisions I’ve made which if given the chance, I would definitely change.

There’s a saying that “those who don’t hear must feel” (shout out my mum for 26 years of banging out this phrase) and I feel it is apt I share these mistakes so you don’t make the same ones!

Going through university, I was surrounded by the ‘finance industrial complex’ (yes I’ve made that term up but a lot of you probably know what I mean!). This meant the only thing I focused on in my career journey was High Finance. I particularly at university wanted to become an investment analyst and I spent university and my first year out focused on breaking in.

I was able to complete an internship at BlackRock and secure a grad job at Wellington Management. However, I quickly realised there’s more to life than the ‘sexy roles’ and working at an asset management firm wasn’t actually what I really enjoyed and the hours of monotonous work really didn’t excite me. I quickly realised that consulting - strategy specifically- was what I enjoyed and suited my skillset and what I’ve been in since. So ask yourself ‘What are my skills’ and ‘What type of work do I enjoy doing’ before blindly looking to break into ‘big name’ roles.

Now, this is a hard one because I’m honest enough to say that if I had the opportunity again, I probably would have made the same decision (sorry this economy is peak!) but pushed for a different project team. But something that is really important to consider, especially early on in your career, is whether making a move is the right thing for your long-term career trajectory.I was headhunted for a role that basically paid double what I was currently earning and involved increased responsibility at a big-name company. However, I probably made the move slightly early in my development as a strategy consultant, and the actual work wasn’t reflective of what I thought it was. During my time there, I only worked on one strategy project and spent my last six months doing Business analyst work, which had nothing to do with my strategy skillset, meaning my skill development was stunted.

If you know me, I’m a proper friendly guy in the office. I can have chats with more or less anyone and have taken the class clown into my career as the ‘funny guy’.

This has worked in my favour in the past but has also worked against me, particularly at one company (the same as above), where I probably trusted people too early and took their comments/promises at face value. My key tip is to keep a diary of conversations (preferably with screenshots and an audit trail) and don’t always take people’s words as the whole truth. Most people have their own ulterior motives which unfortunately is the corporate world

Can’t talk too much but if you’re looking to secure work experience and land a 2026 internship, we’ve partnered with an Investment Bank to drop some opportunities for you (Especially if you’re a woman or from a black heritage background)