Hopefully, the title has grabbed your attention, but before going any further, let me throw in a quick disclaimer; if you want me to loan you some money the answer is no!
On a serious note though, I write this as someone who is truly passionate about the people. For too long people are either hiding their success or obtained it by some illegal means (apparently JFK grandfather was a bootlegger). I wouldn’t consider myself to be exceptionally smart, but I believe that if I can do it, then anyone can.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s get started. I graduated the year 2011, it took me four years to graduate because I decided to do a placement, in hindsight this was a blessing in disguise. My placement was at an international development consultancy; it was the perfect environment to learn from some of the brightest minds around. My classmates also graduated the year before, which meant less distraction when I returned to university.
One of the first things I started my final year was sitting down with my best friend to calculate what we needed to get a 2.1. In my first and second year, I messed around a lot so I was averaging a low 2.2. I needed a 1st just to get a 2.1. We thought it was impossible but decided to try our best, we carried on with the 9 – 5 mind-set. We would get to university everyday at 9am regardless if we had classes or not, and we wouldn’t leave until 5pm at the very minimum. I formed better relationships with all of my lecturers, my attitude changed, and as a result, my grades changed. I got that 1st which meant I graduated with the 2.1 overall.
The day after my last exam, I started looking for a job. My money was low and I felt I had to find something quick. In hindsight I’m not sure this was the best approach; I think if I took my time, I would have found the right opportunity from the start. My first job was in recruitment, the starting salary was £17,000 + commission, the base salary was less than I made on placement, but the potential to make the commission was very real. The environment was surreal, I was in the office at 7am working until 9pm/10pm, and every Friday we celebrated like we were millionaires, I felt like a real city boy. I just didn’t have city boy money.
Recruitment made me comfortable talking to C-level executives, it also made me comfortable dealing with rejection. Everyday we had to make around 200 calls and 90% you were hearing NO! The hours provided me with an insane work ethic and it made me a disciplined saver. The turnover in recruitment was high, and I wanted to make sure that I had a security account if anything went wrong. I was there for about a year and managed to save £10,000. I was earning on average around £1,400 so I would save 833, and survive off the rest. I was also living at home which helped a bit.
After a year, my placement company got in touch about an IT Advisor position and I jumped at the opportunity. Coming back to my placement company was amazing, I already had great relationships with everyone, plus recruitment had instilled an insane work ethic in me. The goal was to become a business analyst, and although this wasn’t a business analyst position, it was a step in the right direction. I tried to deal with everything thrown at me, built up a reputation for getting the job done, I found internal mentors that were where I wanted to be and did all I could to learn from them.
After two years, I decided that it was time to leave the company. I got a position at London Business School as a Test Coordinator, at the time, I didn’t know much about testing, but I was prepared to learn. The first few weeks I suffered from imposter syndrome, I felt like I didn’t deserve to be there. I dealt with this by doing the following, I read every Test Report available at work. I started studying after work from 6 to 9. After a couple of months, I was confident in my abilities. I naturally have a competitive nature; my mind-set was simple; I will become the best.
After a year, a position was advertised for a Business Analyst. This was what I had been working towards since graduating and I was determined to get this role. Going for the position made me realise how important your reputation and relationships are. I had a reputation for working hard, and I had a good relationship with my manager and director so they didn’t block me. After two interviews, I finally got the position. I just repeated the cycle studying from 6 –9, found mentors, and gave my absolute best to everything I was working on.
A year into the role I was contacted about a position at Ofcom, and the package at the time seemed out of this world. I went for the interview, again two stages and got an offer. One decision I regularly think about, was my decision to leave London Business School, which I sometimes feel was premature. But I saw the salary increase and grabbed it with both hands, I was now a Senior Associate Business Analyst. I still remember my first day at Ofcom, I felt like I had made it ha-ha! My time at the business was rough but I’m happy about it now because adversity builds character.
Prior to Ofcom I had always felt like the golden boy but this wasn’t the case at when I arrived. In hindsight, I realise the mistake I made. Before joining the business I was the type of person who was always prepared to study hard and form relationships. But at Ofcom, I didn’t manage to create those same relationships. I had a lot of things going on at the time, I was doing my MSC part time, I was mentoring and I was dealing with personal issues my aunt had passed from cancer, and my uncle was murdered on a holiday to Ghana, I went into a shell that I’ve never quite recovered from, networking was the last thing on my mind. My probation was extended, this was a big knock to my confidence, I felt like a failure, I’d never been in this position before, I wanted to just quit, but knew I couldn’t leave with my head down like that. I was fortunate enough to go on a team away day which proved to be the game changer because I finally got an opportunity to know the team better. I opened up to my manager and the relationship got better.
I was doing relatively well at Ofcom, but I needed more. I was feeling the pressure of being the eldest, I had to step up. So, I left the company to sort some things out trusting that I’d find something when needed.
As time went on I decided to contract as a Business Analyst. I set up a limited company and started looking for work, I was literally applying for 50 roles everyday. After a week I went for an interview and was offered the position straight away. This was a big step; I was betting on myself with no safety net and so far things have worked out alright. We thank God!
The 5 values: That helped me on my journey
1. Have a vision of where you want to get to. I always said I would be a business analyst. I wish I set the target of becoming the Managing Partner at Goldman Sachs.
2. Align yourself with friends on the same journey, I was surrounded by friends who wanted the same thing and we always pushed each other.
3. Find mentors and listen to them.Having mentors is a cheat code we can all use! Do it.
4. Understand that knockbacks are part of the process.
5. Reputation is everything. It’s hard (not impossible) to change people’s perception of you once they have one,o always put your best step forward.