Is there any advice you would give to young people when choosing their career path that you wish you knew earlier?

At the beginning of my career, my path was very mapped out for me and I actually never considered that I would want to do anything else, which is terrible! I didn't sit down and think, could I do this day-to-day for 8 hours. Or was this in any way linked to my passions. It was there so I took it. And then I lost time where I could have been chasing what I do now and what I love, which is tech. 

So I would say it's very important to dabble earlier rather than later in your career. I have trained people who do rotations, they spend time in finance, they spend time in commercials etc. And these guys have gone on to be directors because that movement between the different teams gave them visibility of "I want to be in tax" or "I want to be in commercial." So make sure you try different things early on.

What are some of the different ways young people can find opportunities and get into a career they're interested in?

So let's say you decide you're interested in a particular career. If you go onto a relevant company's website, there's often way more information about vacancies and other opportunities than you'll find on LinkedIn alone. Company websites are a much better source than people realise.

Also, think about bootcamps. Finding a job is no longer linear. It's not necessarily, "I go to school, I go to university, and then I get a job." You might find an 18-month bootcamp that gives you the skills and experience you need to get into a career you're interested in.

Essentially, you need to look under every tree and stone you can, because there are so many opportunities that aren't necessarily being plugged on LinkedIn, where a lot of people tend to look. For example, have you thought about listening to presidential updates where they talk about programmes that they're running? Make sure you do your wider research.

What advice would you give to someone who has sent lots of job applications but keeps getting rejected?

My advice to young people who keep getting rejected is you keep going. And don't get stuck in an industry. One lesson I learned a while ago is everybody has some kind of element of what you're looking for. If I say I only want to work with tech companies, I want to work with Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, AWS - you're boxing yourself into an industry. But if you actually think about it, every single company has tech. The banks, FMCG. So don't get bogged in an industry that rejects you because maybe you're not certified - it's about the domain you want. And if you can't get the domain you want in one, you move to the next one.

What advice would you give to a young person to succeed in their first month at their new company?

You're wasting time if you spend your first month feeling like you don't belong. The only difference between you and me is I got here earlier. If we arrived at the same time, we would be at the same level. So the first thing is, let go of the imposter syndrome. Leave that thing at the door. You are inside - there's no need for you to be grateful to me that I got you in. Your qualifications got you in. It's no accident that you're here. And then in that month, let us hear your voice. Show us that you actually care about this company, that you care about where you are. Settle in, learn your organisation and build credibility.

What kinds of things can someone do to build trust with their manager?

If I'm your manager and I'm giving you a task, the kind of questions you're going to ask me tells me exactly what kind of person you are. You're going to ask me, "How many times do you want to connect before the final piece, so that you can tell me whether I'm on the right track?". You're going to ask me, "Is there work that was done before that I can look at?" And you're going to ask me "Is there anybody in the team that I should talk to before I start?". It's very plain, but the person who says "Ok, thanks, bye" and walks out of the room - you're in trouble.

How can someone make sure they are continuing to develop and build their career?

For me personally, a lesson that I learned is I reached out to mentors too late. I should have done it earlier, because we go through things that we don't have to because other people have done it. I wasted 15 months in a role that I didn't like from day one. Somebody could have asked me the right questions, and that would have guided me towards things I'm passionate about. An executive committee member once asked me why I waited so long to ask for mentorship, because the worst she could say is no. So mentorship, mentorship, mentorship.