Key advice: learn before you leap

Graduates need to be patient, learn and plan to get ahead in the first year of their working career.

Graduates hoping for a rapid climb up the corporate ladder are being urged to temper their enthusiasm or risk jeopardising their career progression.

Experts say being too keen to get ahead can do more harm than good.

Gerry Treuren, a senior lecturer at the University of South Australia’s School of Management, says the most important things a graduate can do in their first year out of university are listen and learn.

“It sounds counter-productive but don’t send signals that you are super-ambitious,” Dr Treuren says.

“There are quite a few employers out there that are suspicious of graduates.

“Most graduates think they know it all and they’re telling people (employers) how they should run their business. That’s one of the most career-limiting moves you can make.

“My advice is people (graduates) should pay a lot of attention to what goes on in a business and not be too quick to judge.”

Research by Graduate Careers Australia shows one in 10 graduates leaves their first job within a year, while more than half change employers within five years.

Dr Treuren says the findings are typical among Generation Y, who often consider job progression more important than loyalty to employers.

He advises graduates to observe their job surroundings for 12 months before seeking a promotion but says there still are things they can do to impress their boss.

“Be willing to be involved in special projects or extra activities,” Dr Treuren says.

“That way, you get to know people (within the company but) outside your particular area, which broadens your reputation and confirms your good name.”

Career Development Australia vice-president Christine Holland agrees graduates need to be patient when it comes to their career.

“Sometimes you just need to mark time, as difficult as that may be,” she says.

“You could liken it to a business that is growing too fast and it crashes. If you move too fast, you’ll burn out and you will crash.”

Ms Holland says joining professional organisations provides important opportunities for networking, while subscribing to industry magazines keeps graduates up to date with new developments.

She says having a mentor within the company is helpful but one outside the company, yet within the same industry, is more important for advice on career progression, particularly when it comes to considering whether to change employers.

“Find someone who is going to give sound, objective advice,” Ms Holland says.

Australian Association of Graduate Employers chief executive Ben Reeves says graduates should spend their first year of employment researching their profession and deciding on matters such as whether to work in the public or private sector and whether they want to progress to leadership and management positions.

He says many graduate programs involve rotations that can help first-time employees determine what career path interests them.

“Usually there’s a laid-out training program for the first 12 months or even two or three years (of a graduate’s employment), so you can’t really divert from that (to seek early promotion) anyway,” Mr Reeves says.

For those still determined to climb the ranks quickly, Adam Twelftree says planning is essential.

Just four years after graduating with a bachelor degree in physiotherapy, Mr Twelftree was asked to be a director at sport and spinal injury clinic PhysioXtra.

Mr Twelftree, who now oversees the city clinic, believes having a firm career goal was essential to his rapid progression.

“Some of my friends from uni are working in public sector hospital positions, a few are in the private sector but none runs their own practice,” he says.

“They’re all still working for other people. It was always my plan with physio to work for myself, so I led myself down that path from the start.”

POSTGRADUATES

• 79.2 per cent of bachelor degree graduates find full-time employment within four months of completing their degrees.
• In 2009, almost one-fifth of bachelor degree graduates elected to continue in further full-time study, typically to improve their employment opportunities or to add professional qualifications to a generalist degree or for the purposes of professional registration.
• The median annual starting salary for new Australian resident bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 years and in their first full-time employment is $48,000.
• 3.4 per cent of bachelor degree graduates are unemployed, compared with six per cent for the whole population and 8.6 per cent for those with no postsecondary qualifications.

Sources: Graduate Careers Australia and Australian Bureau of Statistics