(P.S. If you get to the bottom, we have some exciting news for you!)

Hi Community,

I recently talked to a friend about our career journey and how far we’ve come since university. We both spoke about where we wanted to go but also looked back at how far we had come. Our catch-up got me thinking about my career journey and some of the lessons I’ve learnt from it so far. If I had asked 21-year-old me if I would be where I am, I’d probably not believe it. It also reminded me of how I felt at 21 thinking I needed to have my career path sorted when in reality your career journey isn’t linear - and it isn’t meant to be! Following that conversation, I want to talk to you guys (especially my students and graduates) about embracing your career journey.

In this current economic and job market climate, it is easy to be short-term and despondent, especially for graduates entering it. We’ve all probably heard of the term ‘post-graduate depression’. This is the period post-university when many graduates fall into depression, usually due to a lack of success and opportunities in employment. I remember I was close to it - I was picky about what I wanted to go into when leaving university. I solely wanted to go into asset management and spent 8 months going through rejections before breaking in. At times it felt like I wouldn’t break in but looking back now I realised that the period was actually an important part of my career. journey. The period of rejection taught me a lot about resilience and how the rejections were just a part of the process towards success. It may not seem like it now, but if you’re going through the job application process - whether for internships or graduate jobs or even as an experienced professional - it’s important to see it as part of the process necessary in reaching your success.

Secondly, some of you may feel like you’re not even sure what you want to do - and that feeling is okay! If you put it into perspective, most people will be working for 35+ years so being in your 20s and feeling unsure about your progress is literally fine - you’re still at the beginning! Looking back at my career journey I felt like the 21-year-old me was too quick to focus on getting the exact role I wanted and fixated in asset management. The funny thing was when I actually got into it I realised that it actually wasn’t what I wanted to do long term! Since then I’ve gone through insurance to end up in strategy consulting. My point here is that I thought ti knew what role I wanted but actually going through my career I realised I didn’t and had to work my way through to find out what role/work I actually enjoyed. So if you know what you want to do, don't worry, life has a funny way of taking you to the right place at the right time. The focus at any point in your career is to develop new skills and embrace new experiences which will only help you find the right path

Lastly, a lot of students and young professionals I speak to talk about not being in the place they want to be in their careers. Boy can I relate to this! I’ve had this feeling so many times, especially when leaving my high-paying grad job to move to a new industry and again when I moved to strategy consulting. I felt like starting again had made me fall behind my peers but looking back it was that feeling of comparison which was the problem. The key is to remember that your career isn’t linear and that you have so many more years ahead of you. If you’re not happy with where you are, I always recommend asking yourself two questions. 1 - What is actually driving unfulfillment with your current place in your career? and 2 - Am I enjoying what I’m doing? Once you answer those two questions you’ll quickly realise if it’s comparison killing you or a more deep-rooted issue with the work that’s not working out for you.

Anyways, keep pushing guys, Once you start to realise your career journey is a journey, you’ll start to worry less and enjoy it more!

Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for our next post, we have an exciting consulting and asset management internship opportunity for your final-year students, graduates and young working professionals!