- November 25, 2024
- Posted by: Don Wieshlow
- Categories: Leadership, Management, Strategy
Recently, a young university business student interviewed me for his class project. He asked me to share career advice with him and his school colleagues. My ten recommendations are shown below.
In this case, my advice was prepared for someone starting a business career. However, the feedback is relevant to any young career.
It is based on my learnings, successes, and things I wish I’d done differently. It is written from the perspective of someone who spent most of his career in entrepreneurial ventures.
With age (lots of it), experience, and hopefully some accumulated wisdom, I’m at the stage where I often mentor, advise, and guide current and future leaders on their business journeys. For a change of pace, for this article, my guidance is aimed at students on building a great career and life:
Career Advice from a Seasoned Pro to a Newbie
1) Master a Specialty
Mastery means that you’re always of economic value and in control of your career destiny.
Finding a mentor in your specialization will help you develop skills more quickly, make good choices, and avoid dead ends.
2) Read as Much as You Can
There is no one business book with all the answers, so read and reread as many as you can. If audiobooks work better for you than regular ones – do that.
See Patterns. Write down your thoughts and takeaways. Leverage the information to form your own solution models.
3) Be Good to Other People as Often as You Can
Help. Give. Support. You’ll be rewarded in the future. Sometimes, when you least expect it.
These actions (including volunteering) are critical for building and maintaining a healthy network and having rewarding life and work experiences.
4) Maintain a Healthy Work-Life Balance
Exercise. Be in Nature. Invest in relationships. Get enough sleep.
The most successful (and happy) people I know make these actions core to their lives. And they still have time to do fantastic work and generate significant results!
5) Have Fun. Be Fun.
Your life and career are journeys. Enjoying the trip is more important than arriving at the final destination. Make it pleasant for those who are travelling with you too.
“For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh
6) Work Harder than the Others
Then, when you have experience – work smarter.
7) Get Outside Your Comfort Zone and Learn New Things
Apply a beginner’s mindset to learning. Be willing to learn from new and intimidating situations, admit you don’t know everything, and accept that you might not be good at it when you first start.
8) Invest
To truly get ahead, take (smart) financial risks, but ideally, only what you’re willing to lose. This applies to entrepreneurship and equity investing beyond typical “safe” retirement preparation and saving.
9) Learn to Sell
To build a winning career, you will have to sell – your products and ideas, your resume, and your fit on a team or in a leadership position. Learn strategies to understand their problem and present your solution.
Take advantage of any sales training opportunities that come your way and apply the skills often.
10) Plan for Sudden Job Change
Things change. Companies evolve, projects conclude, and funding can be pulled or redirected. As you gain experience and seniority in the corporate world, you may face a higher risk of redundancy, as experienced employees often come with higher costs.
You may need to find something else. What will you do?
Have you set money aside? Created additional income streams? Have you built a strong network of quality connections? Have you developed a special, in-demand talent you can reliably earn a living with?
The tips on this page will prepare you. You may as well start young:)
What advice would you share for a young person starting out in their career?
Please let me know what you think at don@afdonex.com or on LinkedIn.
Thanks for reading. I hope this is valuable to you or the student in your life.
Bonus – Book Suggestions for Students Entering the Business World
Here is a selection of some of my favourite business and career books that would be valuable for a young person starting a business career. Sorted Alphabetically
- Anything You Want: 40 Lessons For A New Kind of Entrepreneur. – Derek Sivers (Business – Management)
- Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0 – Jim Collins and Bill Lazier (Business – Management)
- Body of Work – Pamela Slim (Business – Career)
- Built to Sell – John Warrillow (Business – Systemization)
- Fanatical Prospecting – Jeb Blount (Business – Sales)
- Gap Selling – Keenan (Business – Sales)
- Getting Real – 37 Signals/Basecamp (Business – Innovation – Product Mgmt)
- Good to Great – Jim Collins (Business – Management)
- How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie (Business – Sales)
- Lean Startup – Eric Ries (Business – Innovation – Product Mgmt)
- Linchpin – Seth Godin (Business – Career)
- Marketing: A Love Story: How to matter to customers – Bernadette Jiwa (Business – Marketing)
- Mastery – Robert Greene (Lifestyle – Purpose)
- Positioning – Al Ries, Jack Trout (Business – Marketing (Positioning))
- Purple Cow – Seth Godin (Business – Marketing (Positioning))
- Radical Candor – Kim Scott (Business – Management/Leadership)
- ReWork – Jason Fried & David Heinemeir Hanson (Business – Management)
- Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki (Business/Lifestyle – Investing)
- The $100 Startup – Chris Guillebeau (Business – Career)
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing – Al Ries, Jack Trout (Business – Marketing)
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R Covey (Business – Career)
- The Advantage – Patrick Lencioni (Business – Management)
- The Algebra of Wealth – Scott Galloway (Business – Career/Investing)
- The Dip – Seth Godin (Business – Career)
- The E-Myth Revisited – Michael E. Gerber (Business – Management)
- The End of Jobs – Taylor Pearson (Business – Career)
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni (Business – Management)
- The Mom Test – How to talk to customers and learn if your business is a good idea – Rob Fitzpatrick (Business – Innovation / Product Mgmt)
- The One page Marketing Plan – Allan Dib (Business – Marketing)
- The Practise – Seth Godin (Business – Freelancing)
- The Pumpkin Plan – Mike Michalowicz (Business – Marketing (Positioning))
- The Toyota Way (14 Management Principles) – Jeffrey Liker (Business – Lean Management)
- Traction – Gino Wickman (Business – Management)
Of course, this list could include many other great books. Tell me your favourites and I just might add them!