Graduate Development Programs

Graduate Challenges

The excitement of finding a job after college can be quite a driving force, just don’t let it cloud the challenges you are about to face in your career.

The recruitment for graduate programs works because, well, they’re evil. Companies know how to appeal to go-getters like you and lace their advertisements with lots of catchy terminology like:

- Fast Track
- Accelerated Development
- Meritocracy
- Challenging & Dynamic
- Fast-Paced
- Learning & Development
- Diversity
- High Employee Satisfaction
- Employer of Choice
- Rewarding Career

Sound familiar? You have been or most likely will be told about how many thousands applied for the limited number of positions at the company and you think “Yeah, I’m good! Not only am I the sperm that got the egg, but of all the subsequent humans, I’m kicking goals!”. Well you probably didn’t think that; but let’s move on

Up until this point, you are likely to have had quite a lot of information re-assuring you of your talent, which you were already well aware of anyhow. Those grades didn’t get like that all by themselves did they?!

However, there is a significant disconnect between the marketing campaigns for graduate programs and the climate in which you enter an organisation. Furthermore, if you are in a relatively large organisation, there is an equal disconnect between the “Group” level graduate program activities and the day-to-day realities in your business unit. The objectives of the CEO in sponsoring your graduate job and the people you interact with on a daily basis are very different and often conflicting. This can make a graduate’s job challenging if you are not aware of it and subsequently, not ready to manage the situation.

You’re not alone in wanting to conquer the world. You are about to enter an environment full of people who have just as much ambition as you, with more experience, know more about the subject matter and most importantly, know more people in the company than you. It will probably remain that way for a couple of years, at least.

That was not intended to be a put down, but simply the reality of the situation that you will be entering as you start your career after college. You will need your soon-to-be colleagues far more than they will need you. In fact, they don’t actually need you, since the company has been in existence without you for quite some time now and if they are undertaking graduate recruitment campaigns to fill the graduate positions, were obviously doing well before you got there.

The decisions to have a graduate program and recruit people like you have been made by senior members of the organisation in order to continually infuse the organisation with fresh ideas, energy, talent and ambition. You are an investment for the future of the organisation. By encouraging greater competition for promotions, the organisation seeks to raise the standard of competence. The irony is that competence is not necessarily the sole or even primary measure for advancement and competition can often lead to destructive behaviours that lower morale as well as the overall performance of the business.

The biggest challenge you will encounter as a graduate is largely born out the fact that there are new graduates every year coming into the organisation. So while this is your first time in a graduate position, your colleagues have seen it play out before.

Unfortunately for you, they still remember the upstart from last year who told them all to be nice to him because in a few years they will be working for him!!! Seriously, almost everybody who has worked in a company that recruits graduates will have either experienced this firsthand or have most certainly heard about this very example. It only takes one person to ruin it for everybody. Even more unfortunate is that there is usually more than one bad egg. That is not your fault, but it will be your burden.

The prevailing view that you will encounter amongst those providing the most resistance to you will go something like this:

- Graduates don’t like getting their hands dirty
- You have had your nose in a text book your whole life and have little understanding of the “real world”
- You think you’re better than everyone else and lack respect
- The “Golden Child” syndrome (because grads are given preferential treatment).

Goodness knows that there are certainly some graduates for whom the above fits quite snugly. But for the most part, these are just defensive mechanisms some people resort to when faced with a threat to their standing in the business, regardless if its real or not. Others will be frustrated at seeing graduate’s receive opportunities witheld from them and resent this.

When faced with these accusations about “other grads” (because few colleagues if any, will accuse you in person), it is best not to argue with anybody. Just nod your head and say something like “yeah, I’m sure there are some grads like that”. Winning this argument is very unlikely and not going to serve you any good. It will only make you look defensive and confrontational, while the other person will likely feel defeated and resentful (if you put up a good argument).

Remember, if someone is having this discussion with you and speaking in the third person, ie about other theoretical/past grads, it is actually a good thing. They are opening up to you and sharing an experience, insecurity or concern in an indirect manner. This demonstrates a willingness to connect with you. They are telling you not to be like “the others”, not necessarily that you are like the others. So take this up and reassure them by agreeing that there are in fact grads like that, because, well there are! In doing so, you are also giving them subtle acknowledgement that:

a. You understand and agree
b. You are not like that.

Everybody is a winner!

Setting your expectations for work is perhaps the single most important thing to get your head around. It will not only help you keep focused, but also give you a settling perspective when the seas get a little rough, as they surely will.

We hope to help you achieve this by explaining the nature of the organisation, the context in which you are entering it and what you need to do in order to bring those barriers down in order to let your talent shine. Getting promoted is not just about being the best, though it certainly helps. It is about getting the right people thinking the right things about you; and this take more than talent alone.

We will show you how to hit the target.

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