Dear graduating class 2020,
I'm Mai-Britt Poulsen, Managing Director and Senior Partner
based in Copenhagen.
A big congratulations with a huge milestone in your life
and a big step to begin your career.
In this unusual and difficult time,
a new reality has begun.
I want to share my career advice
based on my personal learnings over the past 16 years
since I graduated in 2004.
My advice is to follow your passion.
It's the best and most effective fuel
on your career journey.
Never stop learning.
In today's world, I expect jobs will change
driven by technology,
and we will need to be adaptive and change as well.
In fact, when I look back at my past 16 years in BCG,
I have learnt more every year
than an average year in university.
And I believe you will experience the same.
Learning is so important to keep advancing.
If you can, try different roles, different jobs,
try different functional focus areas
in the first chapter of your career,
which is at least the first five years of your career.
Do that to figure out what you're really good at,
and what you're really passionate about.
Also remember to be curious.
It will take you new places and bring you new opportunities
that you've never thought about.
Don't be afraid of making mistakes.
Rather learn from your mistakes.
I made a lot mistakes,
and I will continue to do so.
But I believe you advance the most
when you are outside of your comfort zone.
Invest in personal relationships
with your peers and colleagues.
Relationships are fundamental to deliver results.
In fact, I found out quite late in my career,
that having the best idea, having the best analysis
will not bring you far
if you don't have the trust in the organization
to convince people to implement your ideas
and that is what drives results.
And finally, the best career advice I probably ever got
was to find a life partner who supports your passion.
I wish you all the best of luck
in finding your first full time job.
And even though, it might feel difficult right now
because of the current situation and the high uncertainty
in the labor market,
I'm sure we will soon enter a much brighter time.
Good luck to all of you.