Graduate Development Programs

Starting on the Graduate Program in your first job after college, you will sometimes encounter a feeling of helplessness about the level of influence you can have on the working environment.

That may not be a problem for some, but soon enough your colleagues will begin to form their views about you. Regardless of how informed these views may be, your colleagues will share them with others, thus creating a profile on your behalf and perpetuating these perceptions about you.

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Resistance
Resistance to you will come about largely as a result of the perceived threat that you present. However, envy is also a major source of resentment that manifests itself in resistance towards you. At a fundamental level, this also relates to the perception of you threatening one’s prospects.

Some members of the organisation will resent missing out on opportunities and exposure that you will get in your graduate program. They see you being given high profile assignments while they are…..

Support
For the most part, senior managers and executives are highly supportive of graduates. It is this group whose support will be critical for your progress in the organisation, but don’t make the incorrect assumption that the game of influence begins and ends with them…..

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Your colleagues will be thinking about whether you threaten their prospects, social status and whether you are of any use to them.

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We all like to be acknowledged for our efforts and even better still, that they have resulted in something quite exceptional. To be acknowledged for exceptional work a a graduate, you need to make time to work on “exceptions”. That is, work which is not operational. A project or a piece of analysis. Something that is exceptional by definition should be very different from the expected.

The results of operational work, that is work related to the core function of a department, are measured often and tallied at the end of a quarter, half-year or annually. Operational work is what you are expected to do.

Operational performance is usually measured relative to your peers and various benchmarks, so differentiation is challenging and highly competitive. If you beat your targets by 10% and everybody else has exceeded them by 10% too, then you are not going to standout. The spotlight will shine on the person who topped the group with 30%.

So why not be that person? It’s too much work and besides, you can work the hardest and smartest yet still be trumped by someone due to circumstance. Why risk it?

For example, if you are in sales and your colleague picks up a “windfall” client who proves to be exceptionally lucrative, you will be blown out of the water. Such clients are not available to target in every portfolio and can be down to luck more than effort.

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Companies can often do a great job of welcoming their graduates. However, this is the Graduate Development Program that will show you how to build a successful career. A step-by-step graduate training scheme that covers all the bases a successful graduate needs in order to get ahead, while avoiding the pitfalls. I will show you how to take charge of your career ambitions and develop the momentum to take you from your graduate job to the career fast track.

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