Career Advice - What I wish I had known
Most people receive surprisingly little practical advice about finding a job and building a career. The following is what a number of us wish I had been told.
These points are taken from us at BNR but also from an array of friends and colleagues from an array of differing industries and roles who have been kind enough to share their experiences.
1. Choose people before prestige
This is most relevant at the start of your career; the person you work for may matter more than the organisation’s name, your job title or your starting salary.
An outstanding manager will teach you how to think, communicate, make decisions and conduct yourself. They will give you honest feedback, set high standards and trust you with responsibility. A poor manager can waste several important years and leave you demoralised and stagnant.
Look for intelligent, principled people who are excellent at what they do and interested in developing those around them. Notice how they speak about colleagues, particularly those who are more junior.
Do not focus so narrowly on finding the perfect title or entering one particular industry that you overlook an exceptional team elsewhere.
A useful objective is:
I want to join an excellent organisation, work for people I respect and become genuinely useful as quickly as possible.
Surrounding yourself with capable, decent people will influence your standards, confidence and future opportunities far more than you may initially realise.
2. Treat looking for a job as a 9 - 5 job
A serious job search requires structure, consistency and clear targeting.
Do not spend the entire day scrolling through job boards or sending indiscriminate applications. Build a list of organisations you would genuinely like to join and target them.
Include a range of employers:
Large and established organisations
Smaller specialist businesses
Growing companies
Local employers
Charities and public bodies
Organisations outside the most obvious names in your chosen field
Keep a record of:
Organisations you are targeting
Vacancies and application deadlines
People you have contacted
Conversations and introductions
Applications submitted
Interview dates
Follow-up actions
LinkedIn
Divide your time between researching employers, speaking to people, updating your CV/LinkedIn/Portfolio, developing relevant skills and submitting carefully considered applications. Remember, some of the best opportunities are found through ‘bus stop’ conversations and happen long before a formal vacancy is advertised.
Applying to fewer roles with greater care will usually produce better results than sending dozens of generic applications.
3. Research every organisation properly
Always research an organisation before an interview, coffee or introductory conversation. The less formal the meeting appears, the easier it is to underestimate its importance. Remember, every meeting IS AN INTERVIEW.
Your research should be appropriate to the type of organisation. It might include:
Its website, leadership team and published priorities
Its annual report, accounts and filing history on Companies House (always look it up)
Charity Commission records for charities
Recent news coverage and announcements
Its products, services, customers or beneficiaries
Competitors and alternatives
Customer reviews and public reputation
Its social media and other public communications
Important developments affecting its sector
Data from customers/clients
For a small business, formal information may be limited. Look closely at its customers, reputation, website, social media, local coverage and the backgrounds of the people working there. The same is true for a charitable or public body.
For a retail, hospitality or consumer business, experience the product or service where possible.
Research is not about collecting facts merely to recite them during an interview. It should help you understand:
What the organisation is trying to achieve
How it makes money or receives funding
What pressures it faces
What makes it different
How the role contributes to its success
What they are looking for in a candidate
Aim to be better prepared than almost every other candidate, but do not turn the interview into a display of how much you know. Use your research to hold a thoughtful conversation. Remember, your interviewer does not wish to have the facts about the company they work at stated for them.
4. Look at the decision from the employer’s perspective
Most candidates concentrate almost entirely on what they want. Instead, invert the situation and consider what the employer needs. Remember, recruiting someone is a risk. The employer wants confidence that you:
Can do the work or learn it quickly rather than sitting back and waiting to be taught
Genuinely want this particular opportunity
Will be reliable
Will get on with colleagues, customers and clients
Have sound judgement
Will represent the organisation well
Can cope with the demands of the role
Are likely to justify the investment made in you
Do not leave the interviewer to work out why you are suitable. Spoonfeed the connection between their need and your experience clearly. Should there be any discrepancies in your CV, for instance:
If you are changing industries, explain the logic.
If your experience is limited, demonstrate how quickly you have learned before.
If there is a gap in your CV, explain it briefly and confidently.
Your task is to reduce their uncertainty.
Read the job description carefully and identify what the employer is really trying to solve. There may be a problem hidden behind the list of responsibilities:
The staff turnover is high, think why?
The team is overstretched
The organisation needs new skills
Customer service needs improving
A project has fallen behind
The business is growing
Someone dependable is needed to take ownership
5. Prepare your personal story
This is a gift of a question and comes in many variations, you just need to prepare the narrative clearly for each employer:
Tell me about yourself.
Walk/talk me through your CV.
What have you been upto since leaving university/school.
It should normally last between 60 and 90 seconds.
It should explain:
Where you have come from
What you have done
What you have learned
What you are good at
What interests you (include something quirky if you can)
Why this opportunity makes sense
Do not narrate your CV from beginning to end. Give the interviewer the argument for hiring you, again, spoon-feed the fact that your skills match what an employer is looking for.
Your story should connect your previous experiences to the opportunity in front of you. It should sound considered but not memorised.
Be particularly clear about why you want this organisation and role. General enthusiasm is not enough. An employer wants to know why you have chosen them rather than simply why you need a job.
6. Prove what you claim
Employers are not persuaded by unsupported adjectives.
Do not merely say that you are:
Hard-working
Resilient
Organised
Creative
Commercial
Good with people
A strong communicator
A natural leader
Prepare examples that prove these claims.
Before an interview, have a bank of examples covering:
An achievement
A difficult setback
A mistake or failure
Teamwork
Leadership or initiative
Persuading or influencing someone
Solving a problem
Learning something quickly
Receiving difficult feedback
Acting with integrity
Dealing with a difficult person
Working under pressure
Your examples do not all have to come from paid employment. You can draw on:
Education
Voluntary work
Sport
Clubs and societies
Caring responsibilities
Part-time jobs
Personal projects
Travel
Community involvement
Family responsibilities
Structure each answer clearly:
What was happening?
What responsibility did you have?
What did you personally do?
What happened as a result?
What did you learn?
Use numbers and outcomes when they add genuine meaning.
Instead of saying:
I helped with an important project.
Say:
I took responsibility for coordinating the project (outline it), identified a delay and reorganised the work so that we delivered on schedule resulting in a xx fee.
Selling yourself does not mean boasting. It means making your contribution easy to understand. Give other people credit but do not erase your own role by saying “we” throughout every answer.
Books, films and podcasts can demonstrate curiosity and provide interesting points of reference. They should not replace evidence from your own life.
7. Prepare thoughtful questions
Always arrive with at least three questions from your background research but also add in a question or two that comes up during interview. It shows you are listenting.
Good questions include:
What would good performance look like after six months?
What are the most important problems the person joining needs to solve?
What distinguishes people who thrive in this team?
What opportunities are there to learn and take on greater responsibility?
What do you personally enjoy most about working here?
What are the organisation’s most important priorities over the next year?
Why has this role become available?
How would you describe the working culture in practice?
What is the greatest challenge facing the team at present?
Your questions are not simply another way to impress the interviewer. Remember, you are interviewing the company too. You need to know that the organisation and manager are right for you.
Listen carefully during the interview. Do not ask a prepared question that has already been answered or something you should know already i.e. on their website.
8. Remember, every interaction counts on interview day
Whether a formal interview, or chat, or cup of coffee, this is an interview and it begins before you enter the interview room/café or other meeting place and continues after you leave it.
Put your telephone away before entering the building. It is not a good look sitting in reception/café table scrolling through messages, wearing headphones or appearing completely absorbed by your screen. Instead, look up, notice and talk to people.
Be polite to the receptionist and speak naturally to others in the waiting area when appropriate. Say hello rather than behaving as though nobody else exists. Your behaviour towards receptionists, assistants, security staff, junior employees and waiting staff may reveal more about you than your behaviour towards the most senior person present. When hiring for Citigroup, I always called the security guard, Louis Mallin who stood at reception, whenever any candidate left the building from interview. I learnt more about them this way than sometimes I did at interview.
Do not force conversation or interrupt someone who is clearly busy. The objective is not to perform. It is to demonstrate that you are courteous, comfortable and engaged with the world around you.
People notice how you treat those whom you do not believe are making the decision.
A cup of coffee, telephone call or informal meeting is also part of the assessment. It gives someone an opportunity to observe you outside the artificial environment of a formal interview.
Before an informal meeting:
Research the person and organisation
Know what you want to learn
Prepare a concise explanation of who you are
Have two or three intelligent questions
Look work ready, not a shambols
Listen properly. Be interested rather than immediately asking for a job.
Before leaving, agree a reasonable next step where possible. This might be:
An introduction to another person
A recommended organisation to research
A book, event or report to investigate
Permission to remain in contact
Information you have agreed to send
Ask clearly but do not corner anybody into helping you. Make it easy for them to decline.
Never leave a useful conversation without knowing what you will do next.
Remember to send your CV, connect on LinkedIn. Most importantly thank them for their time verbally and via email and pick out one or two points you found particularly interesting.
9. Present yourself professionally
Small details matter because employers often interpret them as evidence of wider habits.
Arrive early but not absurdly early. Aim to be ready five to ten minutes before the meeting.
Know the route, allow for delays and have the interviewer’s contact details with you.
Be clean, well groomed and dressed appropriately for the organisation.
A suit may be right for some businesses and completely wrong for others. Understand the organisation’s normal working style and dress slightly more smartly than that.
Bring:
A notebook
Two working pens
Copies of your CV
Any requested documents
Your prepared questions
Check every email through AI for:
Spelling and grammar
Names
Dates and times
Attachments
The correct recipient
Clear and courteous wording
No candidate is rejected merely because another person’s shoes were more polished. However, careless presentation can give an employer an unnecessary reason to doubt your judgement or attention to detail.
Make it easy for people to take you seriously.
10. Use personality and humour intelligently
Employers are not recruiting a collection of qualifications. They are recruiting someone with whom they and their team may spend a considerable amount of time. Be professional, but allow your personality to be visible. A little dry humour can make an interview feel more natural and human. A modest story against yourself can demonstrate warmth, confidence and self-awareness. However, humour must be natural and risk averse.
Never make yourself the punchline about your competence, honesty, reliability or judgement and of course, avoid crude, controversial or overly personal jokes.
Do not try to become “the funny candidate”. The objective is to help people understand what it would be like to work with you. Being likeable is not about performing or agreeing with everything. It is about listening well, showing interest, reading the room and making other people feel comfortable.
11. Tailor your CV and professional profile
Create a detailed master CV containing every role, achievement, project and piece of voluntary experience. Then tailor the version you submit to each opportunity. We have a whole blog on CVs, access it here.
The first stage of recruitment is often a comparison between your CV and the employer’s requirements. Make that comparison easy. Employers do not have time to connect the dots from a JD to your application. Use the employer’s language where it accurately describes your experience. Emphasise evidence, achievements and results rather than simply listing responsibilities. Do not expect the reader to work out why you are suitable.
Depending on your industry, your professional online presence might include:
LinkedIn
A portfolio
A personal website
Published writing
A social media account showing creative work
Examples of campaigns or projects
Recommendations or testimonials
Your CV, application and online profile should tell the same broad story. Review anything that is publicly visible and make sure it passes the Grandmother test. Employers, recruitment consultants and headhunters will look at it. A picture of you in the pub on LinkedIn can fail you for selection during a search.
After meeting someone professionally, send a personalised connection request rather than an empty connection.
12. Use AI as an assistant, not an impersonator
AI can help you:
Compare your CV with a job description
Identify missing evidence
Practise interview questions
Improve clarity and grammar
Research unfamiliar terminology
Develop questions to ask
Test your understanding of an organisation
Find clearer ways to explain your experience
It should not invent achievements, manufacture opinions or replace your voice. Generic AI-written applications often sound polished but contain little personality, evidence or genuine understanding. Always check its work. You must be capable of discussing every sentence in your application without assistance.
Never submit an AI-generated claim that is exaggerated, misleading or untrue. Some employers have specific rules about the use of AI during applications and assessments. Follow them.
13. Practise the whole selection process
Do not prepare only for the interview.
Recruitment processes may also include:
Telephone screening calls
Video interviews
Presentations
Written exercises
Numerical tests
Verbal reasoning tests
Practical demonstrations
Role-play exercises
Portfolio reviews
Group tasks
Trial shifts
Case studies
Find out what the process involves and practise accordingly.
If the role involves writing, practise writing clearly under time pressure.
If it involves numbers, refresh your basic maths.
If it involves presenting, practise aloud rather than merely reading your notes silently.
If it involves technical or practical skills, make sure they are current.
Record yourself answering questions. Most people speak for too long, fail to answer the actual question or bury their strongest evidence beneath unnecessary detail.
Do not say that you are naturally bad at something and leave it there. Practise until you improve.
Once you have finished making your point, stop talking. Waffling on weakens your answer.
14. Follow up and do what you promised
Send a short thank-you email on the same day or the following morning.
Mention one specific part of the conversation and reaffirm your interest.
For example:
Thank you for meeting me today. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the organisation’s plans for the coming year. Our conversation reinforced my interest in the role and I would be delighted to continue to the next stage.
Do not send an essay and do not grovel. Complete any action you promised promptly.
If you agreed to send a portfolio, reference, example of work or further information, do not wait several days. Reliability is demonstrated through small actions.
Keep in touch with useful contacts, but only when you have a reason. Share an update, ask a relevant question or thank them when their advice has helped you.
Networking is not collecting names. It is building genuine professional relationships over time.
15. Assess an offer as carefully as they assessed you
Being offered a job does not automatically mean you should accept it.
Before doing so, consider:
Who will manage you?
What will you actually do each day?
What will you know after two years that you do not know now?
Will you receive regular feedback?
Will you be given responsibility?
Does the team appear principled and supportive?
Is the organisation financially stable?
Why did the previous person leave?
What opportunities might the role create?
Can you sustain the hours, travel and expectations?
Does the reality match what was promised?
Will you be proud to be associated with the organisation?
A famous employer with a poor manager may be a worse choice than a smaller organisation where you will be trusted, taught and stretched.
Salary matters, but so do the quality of the manager, the learning available, the working environment and the direction in which the role can take you.
16. Learn from rejection
Rejection is information, not a verdict on your worth.
Look for patterns. If you receive no interviews, your targeting, CV or applications may be weak. If you repeatedly fail after first interviews, your motivation, preparation or communication may not be coming across clearly.
If you regularly reach the final stage but are not selected, your examples, confidence or perceived fit may need work.
Ask for feedback but do not expect every employer to provide it.
After each interview, write down:
What went well
Which questions you answered poorly
Where you lacked evidence
What surprised you
What you learned about the organisation
What you will do differently next time
Do not repeat the same approach and hope for a different result.
At the same time, do not overinterpret a single rejection. Another candidate may simply have had more directly relevant experience.
17. Be interested as well as interesting
Read books. Follow the news. Listen to good podcasts. Attend events. Speak to people outside your immediate circle. Learn about your chosen field but do not restrict yourself to it. A broad understanding of the world makes you more thoughtful, adaptable and enjoyable to work with.
Be ready to answer questions such as:
What have you read recently?
What did you learn from it?
What issue or idea has changed your mind?
What is happening that might affect this organisation?
Who do you admire professionally and why?
What is the toughest setback you have overcome?
What are you curious about at the moment?
Do not manufacture impressive answers.
You do not need to pretend to know everything. You need to demonstrate curiosity, judgement and a willingness to learn.
Questions you should be prepared to answer
Why do you want this role?
Why this organisation?
What do you understand about what we do?
What can you contribute?
What are your greatest strengths?
What do you need to improve?
Tell me about a time you failed.
What difficult feedback have you received?
When have you persuaded someone to change their mind?
Tell me about a problem you solved.
What is the toughest setback you have overcome?
What would your previous manager, teacher or colleague say about you?
Why should we take a chance on you?
What do you want to have learned in your first two years?
What questions do you have for us?
Finally
Be informed, interested and interesting. Be confident without becoming arrogant. Be ambitious without believing that any task or person is beneath you.
Make yourself someone whom an employer can trust, develop and enjoy working alongside.
The aim is not simply to secure any job. It is to find an environment in which you can learn, contribute and build the foundations of a worthwhile career.