Gianna Prudente’s Post

Never Say Whatever. My advice can be summarized in those three simple words. Career (and life) success is found through making the thousands of small decisions each day. Every time "whatever" is involved with a decision you are not making the decision. The big decisions are few and deserve careful consideration especially since they all seem to happen at the same time. But ahhh, the river of small decisions that we make shape our lives. Never Say Whatever.

I just talked to an old college classmate (from 50 years ago!) about this exact topic. He said he was on a six-month rotation program in his first job with a major corporation in four different roles. It involved manufacturing, logistics, project management and programing (on a time share using Basic). He said it was a great platform to build a great career. He's now (still) the CEO of a mid-size VC. Getting this type of broad experience is worth much more than a 10-20% pay increase upfront. That's why I urge everyone to value the career opportunity over the initial pay package. It's what you'll be earning in 5 years that really matters and the difference can be 2-3X.

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Volunteer for the tough assignments. Always be willing to ask - "what else can I do to add value?." Establish a reputation of being a "connector." Do this by asking "who else needs to be informed of involved in decisions related to my work?" Seek to add more than you receive. Form strong relationships with your peers versus always looking upwards for approval. Later on those relationships may add value to your life BUT form them for the joy of relationships not for way they may bring you by way of benefits. What advice would I give to my young self based on the experience that I gained in 43 years with a large multinational? 1. Realize that when seeking career advancement concentrate on improving yourself not competing with others. 2. Realize that there will ALWAYS be people more skilled and with higher potential than you. don't envy them but rather seek to learn from them as a source. 3. Focus on being excellent at the job you hold rather than looking at the next job. 4. Sometimes jobs will be offered to you that develop your skills and abilities. Sometimes jobs will be offered that do not do so but are needed to be done by the Company. It is give and take.

My first 2 years in the workforce were the most challenging primarily having to learn how to work in the US vs India where I was born and raised. I had some wonderful people around me that helped and looking back, here is what helped me overcome the challenges and catapult my career. 1. Be consistent and have integrity - do what you say and say what you do. It’s how you build followership. 2. Learn to persevere through adversity - be it a challenging problem, challenging coworker, challenging boss. Stick with it and learn to overcome the problem. How do you sp that? Read! Read as if your life mattered on it. Most people give up reading once they graduate. Read books on improving your soft skills, specially working with people. There are many books out there, one of the most influential books for me was Skill with People. 3. Speak and share your thoughts, but always listen more. Be a sponge and soak in the info so you can apply it. 4. Establish credibility through small wins. It’s nice to want to be a hero and hit the ball out of the park, but those are rare. Plan to win daily. 5. Lastly, seek a mentor. We all need one if our life even when we are grown up adults. Find one you aspire to be like.

Sometimes it makes me sad to see people who have perfectly fine skills, yet no clue how to write a resume or a cover letter. It makes things 10x worse when I watch someone far less qualified, but better at marketing themselves, score the interview. It's true, the resume is only a foot in the door, and you'll still need to do well on the interview to get the job. But you'll never get that chance if you do a poor job of communicating your skills and standing out from the pack. Honestly, I think learning how to do this well could consume an entire college course. And who knows how many doors that could open that might otherwise remain closed?

You won't qualify for all the requirements mentioned for a job so don't let that stop you from applying. If you match all the requirements, what will you learn at the place, probably nothing new. As an immigrant, I can comment that you need to be creative with job search on platforms like Linkedin. Use the hashtag feature to find jobs, that will show you the job poster as well, so probably you can reach out to them directly. Be shameless, don't hesitate in reach outs. The recruiter/HM may or may not reply, but do you have anything to loose by reaching out? Probably not.

As key advice to new grads and career starters I would say network network network. When I started my career search after graduation, I was mainly doing online applications and hoping for answers. That was not working. At the time, I had about hundred connections on LinkedIn. A career coach advised me to bump that number up. Moreover, he told me to not only apply but also reach out to recruiters or managers after or before I apply. As a result of this I gained more visibility and more replies. The positive replies would make you happy and the negative ones would help adjust your "reaching out" approach until you land your dream job.

15 year Googler here but here are a few lessons i’ve learned in my career. I plan to post a more detailed description on each topic later this month:  1. Apply anyway - you miss all the shots you don’t take  2. Put in the time, grind away, even when the lights go out 3. Follow what gives you energy, trust your gut  4. Go where you’re celebrated, not tolerated  5. Work your way through setbacks  6. Take ownership of your career by regularly checking in on performance and expectations 7. Advocate for yourself - It takes time but invest in yourself  8. Know yourself to lead yourself  9. Create your own stretch goals 10. Partner with the best people - they will motivate you  11. Never stop learning  12. Find what inspires you and keep doing it  13. Lean into your strengths - know your worth  14. You will meet kind hearted and socially minded people when you build community  15. Vulnerability feeds connection

For those entering into the workforce for their first career step, always remember to stay positive and understand that mistakes will be made. “ Learn from them”. Identify a good mentor and be a team player, remember there’s no I in team!! Don’t make up excuses for things you don’t know or understand, simply ask questions. Don’t get caught up in the email world, pick up the phone and talk to your colleagues when the opportunity presents itself. Most of all be fair and consistent with everything you do and all will be just fine!!!