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Every month in Connect magazine, ViewPoint puts forward a key question facing one of the island's main industry sectors.
This month, six leading practitioners say what would be the best piece of advice they would give to their younger self if they had the chance to.
"If I could meet a younger version of myself, the best piece of advice I could give me would be to get out and do lots of work experience in different industries.
"Work experience offers you the opportunity to increase your knowledge in a certain industry or sector, allowing you to make better informed decisions about future
career choices. It allows you the opportunity to develop your soft skills, such as team work, communication skills and commercial awareness. There are lots of opportunities in Jersey to try, before you commit to your first role. Being a young adult, and making those life decisions without having any first-hand experience, could lead to making some poor career choices.
"Looking back, if I had known all the different options that were available, and used careers services, I may have ended up in my dream career sooner rather than later. At KPMG in the Channel Islands, our work experience programme is designed to offer students the opportunity to find out more about KPMG as an organisation, the type of work we do and the career development expected as part of a trainee contract. It also gives you something to talk about in your first interview. I wish I could have known this when I was 17!"
"Over time, I’ve learnt that you should never regret the decisions you make. No one can make the correct choices 100% of the time, and ‘who we are’ is founded by the things we do and the decisions we make. The second piece of advice to learn early on is that things never turn out as bad as you think they will, so don’t burn time worrying about outcomes that may never happen.
"As for running a business, I follow advice that my dad gave me; make sure you pay your bills, have integrity and know the product/service you are selling inside out. My dad also told me to hire the best staff you can, going for quantity over quality never works - lower skilled staff will always be trumped by fewer, higher skilled staff. I would add, that people are the key to a successful business: finding people who care and you can trust will be critical to your success.
"My advice is to always have a purpose, don’t start anything unless you know what the end game is. Plan, plan and plan again, some of the best ideas fail because the execution wasn’t good enough; building a business is tough enough without creating your own challenges.
"Lastly and most importantly, have fun! Life goes by so fast, so enjoy every minute."
"…to believe in yourself, be confident and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
"Quite often in life I have come across good people with amazing skills, talents and abilities who merely lack confidence. This applies in every aspect of life; however, in the work place I would always encourage everyone I work with to be inquisitive. This will ensure not only that they understand how to do the task at hand, but why they are doing it, and the associated implications. Some people are afraid to challenge things for fear of failure or looking incompetent; however, we should rely on our instincts and not doubt ourselves. ‘Questioning people’ can seem quite daunting, but curiosity is natural, and it will assist each individual’s personal development. The chances are if you don’t understand, then someone else probably has the same questions, but lacks the confidence to ask.
"As I work in client service, this is extremely relevant to all levels, as asking questions leads to a wider understanding of your clients’ needs, and the service we can provide them.
"Our clients expect us to be knowledgeable, and it is important for us all as individuals to believe in ourselves, and have the confidence to speak our minds in a way that others listen to and hear.
On the other hand, I am sure we have all encountered people who come across as overly confident, yet their subject matter knowledge is limited. It’s definitely all about balance."
"My advice would be to spend some time thinking how you can change and improve yourself, not just how you can change and improve the people around you, or the business for which you work. This isn’t a question of self-promotion, or realising your ambition; but rather, how to maximise your effectiveness at work.
"It is easy to get lost in the pressures of work and believe that simply working harder and faster will achieve the best results - but losing sight of how you interact with others, and failing to develop your soft skills, and emotional intelligence, makes you a poor leader indeed.
"Recognising and tackling your own weaknesses allows you to lead by example, motivate those around you to achieve more collectively than you can possibly do alone, and to identify and empower those within your team with complementary skill sets. It may sound selfish or self-serving, but making some time every day to make an honest appraisal of your own performance and behaviours is time well spent. More valuable still is creating an environment of trust and accountability that encourages those around you to provide you with constructive feedback.
"Needless to say, all this introspection is worthless without action; formulate a plan for change and deliver it."
"If I had my time again, I’d look to work for myself from a far earlier age. It’s really all about having the courage and belief to make that leap to have a go at running your own business. I didn’t have enough of that when I was younger and I was far too focused on having a good time!
"I’d tell myself it is fine to fail, as long as you try. Running your own business brings a different type of stress, such as needing to pay the mortgage, with no set salary, and ensuring your business is always in a position to pay its staff and meet its obligations. But building a business you can be proud of is unbelievably rewarding.
"A huge positive of the journey of building a business is the likeminded and talented people you meet and work with. For me, this is a crucial part of developing your skills and understanding how to make things happen - you learn so much from the people you surround yourself with along the way.
"Finally, have as many kids as possible whilst you’re young! I always wanted lots of children, I have two, and my wife has two, so I ended up with a ‘blended’ family - so it worked out! You can’t beat watching them grow up, but also are desperate for them not to!
"Another piece of advice for me, would be to track down my now wife a lot quicker. Everyone needs a Lucy in their life!"
Read the full 'Viewpoint' column and CONNECT magazine's other features here.
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