Includes excerpts from the book Graduate Edge: 27 principles to navigate the professional world – and build a career, your way.
As the first in my family to go to university in many generations, I felt acutely aware I had a lot to learn once I was there.
Through hard work, some blind ambition and a timely conversation with a high school careers counselor, I landed a place studying Economics at the University of Queensland, one of the top universities in Australia.
And I had no idea what to expect next.
I didn’t have anyone to show me the ropes or tell me what it would be like. And there was one or two other people from my school going to my university – and none of my closest friends.
I soon found myself exploring the clubs and societies on campus and discovered in my time there that 1) there was a lot more to university life than I imagined; and 2) there was an entire skill set that would prove paramount to any successful career that university was not going to teach me.
My time involved with and leading a student-run organization on campus exposed me to the idea there were so many other skills required. And most of them, you can learn and develop over time with the right mindset.
That single realization has shaped me ever since.
Human skills, people skills, professional skills, career skills. Call them what you may.
Fast forward several years, and I was in a graduate programme, in Sydney, Australia. Working for one of the big four professional services firms and was proud to be doing so.
About ninety days into that graduate programme, a senior leader in the organisation gave me some advice I will never forget: “Josh, you’re young, smart, and ambitious. We like you a lot. But you need to know something…”
It was a large global firm, and we were in the aftermath of numerous economic shocks and there was much uncertainty. Many organisations had been restructured to cut costs. There were many redundancies happening across lots of sectors. Due to a restructure, my role had significantly changed since I accepted my offer almost a year earlier.
The senior leader continued, “Josh, you will never achieve your career goals, the career you aspire to, or the amazing career experiences you want. You will never, ever get there…”
Here was the moment; I was going to be made redundant too. It made sense given everything that was happening in the world. I would try and not take it personally. Maybe I would go travelling again; I had only just returned from living overseas and travelling through Europe for five months. Maybe I would get back there much sooner than I
thought. All of this was running through my mind when he delivered that one unforgettable line: the one line that has inspired my career every year since.
“The good news,” he said, “is that the person you will become will. The person you will grow into has the potential to have everything you want and so much more. You’re young; you have the world at your feet. Make the most of it.”
The reason we were having this conversation was that I was thinking about resigning. I was very unhappy in the role I found myself in. With a degree in economics, marketing and management and a passion for personal and leadership development, I was spending five or six days a week doing financial and systems audits.
However, inspired by his advice, I decided to stay, give it my best, and see what I could learn. And I am so glad that I did.
After several great years with the organisation, and at the age of twenty-five, I eventually left to go into business for myself.
Today, my company, Development Beyond Learning (DBL), specialises in early talent development programmes for interns, graduates, and apprentices in leading organisations all over the world.
Over the twenty years since, we have worked with more than 250 graduate employers and thousands of young professionals in more than forty countries around the world.
This has given me direct, unfiltered access to the principles that, when adopted early in their career, empower people to navigate the professional world with confidence.
Now I have developed Graduate Edge to make that knowledge accessible to more people, everywhere. To level the playing field.
I believe you shouldn’t have to land a spot on a great graduate programme in a big company to learn principles and skills that can change your career, and your life. And even if you do, I can tell you this – not all graduate programmes will teach you these principles and skills.
Your learning is ultimately in your hands, so grab hold of opportunities like this and use them.
Our newsletters, podcast episodes, the book, and short courses support you at every stage of your journey from student to professional. All curated from everything we have learned, and from the same training and development programmes leading graduate employers use to train their own graduates.
The easiest way to get started is to join my newsletter, below.
Thanks for stopping by.
Josh
