Lessons I learned from my first year of my career

Someone on the marketing team named work anniversaries at Kearney “Kearniversaries”, and it’s slowly but surely spreading to other employees at the firm. [I’m aware that most of my friends find this corny:)] Well, two weeks ago, I celebrated my one-year Kearniversary; one year of being a real person in the adult world!

What’s funny is that I had never thought about working at a management consultancy (this seems to be following a pattern, as I’d never thought about working at a bike manufacturer or an airline before I worked at a bike manufacturer and an airline.) However, I am so grateful to have landed where I am. It’s been a wild ride over the course of one year, and I’ve forged strong friendships and bonds with my colleagues. This is both a personal and professional reflection post.

Professional growth

Let’s rewind to a little more than a year ago. I’d just had a phone screen with (then known as A.T. Kearney), and was really excited to go for an in-person interview. I remember sitting across from someone, being so nervous and thinking “should I try and make conversation?” Then I wondered if she was interviewing for the same position and figured I’d never see her again because one of us would get the position and the other wouldn’t. (Turns out, we are great colleagues and even better friends.)

I went into the three-part interview feeling so nervous, and remember after leaving that I was thinking “I really, really hope that I get to work with these people.” The interviewers all gave me the impression that the team works hard, accomplishes a lot and moves very quickly…which is true. I’ve had a whirlwind of projects and growth.

Through the past year of working, I went from not being sure of myself and not sure what I really wanted to achieve within the next five years to finding a field that I’m specifically interested in and steps to get there. I was already the type of person to obsessively plan out my life and how I needed to get there, but the structure was seriously needed. Since starting, I’ve been a part of high visibility, end-to-end projects like our legacy reports, piloting new campaigns, worked my first A.T. Kearney event, presented to the marketing leadership team three times and get to work in a field I’m passionate about every day. I’ve succeeded due to an incredible team, support system and amazing mentors.

“If it doesn’t feel like I’m standing at the edge of a cliff, am I even at work?”

 One of the most interesting things to learn about working at a consultancy – since hierarchy is pretty flat, there are a lot of senior stakeholders. I have few interactions with my stakeholders, which means that each interaction counts. The office atmosphere is very fast-paced, and sometimes I’m running around putting out fires (love the pre-coffee adrenaline rush), but I truly enjoy how everyone is challenged to improve every day. Maybe sometimes it’s high pressure, but remember, “Diamonds are made under pressure, and we are diamonds.” 🙂

Key takeaways from my team

1. Relationships matter. People might not remember specific projects, but they’ll remember you

My favorite part of my job is talking with stakeholders, figuring out their needs and adapting a strategy. The most important lesson that my mentor Chiquira (who is the greatest) constantly reminded me of was that in our work, the stakeholders change from project to project and they may not remember the actual work that was given, but they’ll remember how they felt when working with you. If you took the extra call, made the extra asset, it counts because people notice the effort.

2. Kick it up for the spotlight

This seems obvious but if you have a big call, go ahead and practice. Use your team members to go over your decks, your documents, and proofread an extra time to catch typos, formatting errors, etc. It’s the little mistakes that detract from what you’ve worked so hard on since it comes off as unpolished and ill-prepared; concentrating on operational excellence will ensure that small errors that don’t seem like a big deal don’t give stakeholders the wrong impression of you.

3. Live and learn

We make mistakes, but I’m a big believer in not making the same mistake twice. “You can’t crush it everyday,” is something that one of my colleagues frequently says, and it’s true. You can’t be absolutely perfect every day. Doing your best doesn’t mean not making mistakes at all, it means constantly striving for improvement. If you have a bad day, just come in focused to smash it tomorrow and knock your next project out of the park.

4. Take pride in your work

You do great work and after a project, it’s always nice to see the results. Be proud to see your name attached to something.

Personal growth

This year I really wanted to force myself into situations and activities where I’m not naturally comfortable. I moved into my first apartment in the city from the suburbs and decided that I was now going to push myself to grow. I wasn’t going to go to work in the office and do my work amidst a bunch of strangers; I made a concentrated effort to get to know people that I now see and talk to all the time. I started volunteering as a mentor to a high school student, meeting a whole bunch of young professionals in the process. I was/am terrified of presenting and hosting an event. Aside from running my first work event a few weeks ago, I was approached to plan the office holiday party and just said yes, despite events being a huge source of stress for me. (No pressure at all. Chicago A.T. Kearney colleagues, don’t worry, everything is under control…!)

Do stuff that freaks you out. Nothing will faze you afterwards.

Joy

I frequently receive comments from friends and other connections that are similar to “You spend a lot of time with coworkers.” or “You seem to be having a lot of fun at work!” or even, “Marketing looks like they have a lot of fun.” All of this is true. I spend a lot of time with my coworkers and we have a lot of fun at work. We all work extremely hard and produce high quality work, and I challenge my colleagues to have fun and laugh at the office.

Coincidentally, A.T. Kearney’s Managing Partner who was elected this year, urges employees to be joyous and take joy in their work. It’s an energy that reverberates throughout leadership teams and my department, which I really connect with. I had the hardest summer of my life two years ago, when getting up to go to work every day was a chore and doing really simple tasks was like trying to navigate through a thick haze. Since then, I’m grateful for the growth I’ve had that will ensure I’ll never be in that head-space again. As I spend most of my time at work, I make every effort to smile and laugh while knocking out objectives and I will never take this feeling for granted. I find that, while happiness is not a choice, your outlook most certainly is. I choose to have fun- at work and otherwise-and push to ask more of myself. (This makes a lot of sense given that I’m hyper-competitive and landed at a consulting firm…)

The office also has a committee that focuses on the employees, plans office events, charity activities, etc. Honestly, I accidentally fell into it (you answer one survey question and suddenly you’re on four side projects!) Listing out my activities made me realize how much I’ve also put in around extracurricular activities. The reason why is because I’ve made great friends at the firm and look forward to seeing people in the office and out. I love connecting with other people, learning their stories (even in Uber Pools) and pushing people to make connections too.

Lastly…

It still blows my mind that students reach out to me to ask questions on my career experience and for professional advice. There are two reasons for this – firstly because I was in their shoes not so long ago, looking for internships and a full-time job. It feels like an eternity ago, but also yesterday. The second reason is because I still cold-connect with professionals on LinkedIn and in the Chicago area asking for their advice. I didn’t consider myself really qualified to do the same, until I really reflected on what the past year has meant for me personally and professionally, and what I’ve managed to work on.

 I am 23 years old. This was year one, and I have so much that I need to do.  

[originally published on my Linkedin account, October 25, 2018]