Out into the working world I go…

Just over two years ago with a feeling of uncertainty, a hint of excitement, a sense of anxiety, and full of expectation, it was time to make the transition from education to full-time work.

During my time with IBM, having worked across multiple industries, and in a number of different roles, I have regularly been thrown out of my comfort zone. I want to take this opportunity to share with you some of the things that I have learned, and the insights I have gained during my time within the organisation.

You are the manager of your career

Challenging you with your day-to-day tasks, you have your Task Manager. Looking out for your development and guiding you through your career within IBM, you have your Line Manager. But ultimately, the direction you take, the decisions you make, and the opportunities you accept are all down to you, the individual.

Learn all you can, train when you can, and look to gain experience that will enable you to continually develop.

Outside of your immediate role consider; what else can I get involved with? What other skills can I learn? Who else can I gain insight from? Approach your career proactively and you are able to significantly influence the speed at which you progress, and the level to which you develop.

Network for opportunities

“Networking” – A term I rarely heard before starting my career, but now a word that is regularly used within IBM, and something that is frequently encouraged… and I now realise why.

Whether you are in need of support on your work assignments, or maybe you are looking for a change of role within the organisation, your network is there to help you. As with any social media site where you are frequently prompted to connect with friends of friends, your network gives you the opportunity to meet with contacts of contacts – the only difference being these secondary contacts are useful to connect with.

Manage your time effectively

Sometimes you will be super-busy, finding yourself in the office beyond normal working hours. Other times you will feel like you need to be given more work. In both circumstances, it is important that you manage your time effectively.

Today, many of us have traded effectiveness for mere busyness. Don’t just fill your time, use it!

If you have a huge workload in front of you, prioritise which tasks are most important, and focus first on getting these done. If you have less work to do, don’t just make yourself look busy, make yourself effective; ask for more work, learn a new skill, support a colleague with their workload.

Adaptability is essential

Whether it be your role, the industry within which you work, your project team members, or your location – your circumstances change on a regular basis. With this, you must adapt in order to remain at a consistent level of personal performance, and in order to continuously progress.

In addition to this, the key focus of the organisation will be ever-changing; ‘change is fundamentally the business.’ It is therefore our responsibility to remain up to date with key shifts in the marketplace, and to maintain an awareness of the impact this is having on our career.

Look beyond the now

I remember sitting in the living room with my university flatmates, pondering over the question; “what do people actually do in a full-time job?” Today, this is still a question I would struggle to answer, but early on in your career is a great time to evaluate all of your options, a great time to explore the working world.

It is easy to settle into an organisation, settle into a project, and settle into a role. You will feel comfortable, you will know what you are doing, and you will feel like an expert.

However, if you want to see progress in your career, you must look beyond your current situation. Where do you want to be in 5 years? What do you want to be doing in 10 years? Without an idea of where it is we really want to be, and what it is we really want to do, we will only end up somewhere we don’t want to be, doing something we don’t want to do.

Envision the future of your career, and start now to take the steps that will put you on the right track in achieving your goals. Your aspirations may change along the way, but as long as you are heading in a direction of passion, you will have nothing to regret.

Jake studied Mathematics with Sports Science at Swansea University and is currently working as a Business Consultant for IBM as well as starting out as a Corporate Keynote Speaker.