Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's for Inspiring their Entrepreneur Spirit

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's for Inspiring their Entrepreneur Spirit

My son Chris graduated from college and started his first “real” full-time job last month, working in human resources. It made me think about my first job out of college: editorial assistant in the custom publishing division of a Detroit-area advertising agency. I learned a lot in school, but my first job and bosses taught me even more.

Since experience can be a great teacher, I reached out to CEOs and business leaders to find out what they wish they had known when they started their first jobs.

TAKE MORE CHANCES

He wishes he had been more able to take risks and make mistakes when Kanuj Malhotra, president of digital student solutions for Barnes & Noble Education, started his career.

"Fast failures are always better than drawn-out mediocrity when developing a product," he says. I have learned the value of accepting the lessons you learn from failure during my professional journey; they encourage you to re-evaluate your product and develop in areas you may have previously ignored. These experiences make you a better leader, manager, and creator of goods and a stronger asset to your business.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF

Dani Reiss, CEO of Canada Goose, thought you had to be an extrovert to be a great leader.

"I felt a lot of pressure to be the kind of motivational speaker you see a lot in the business industry when I first started speaking opportunities or even just addressing my own company, and that wasn't me," he says. "When I spoke in my style, it wasn't until a friend told me I was a compelling speaker that I understood that I would only be efficient if I spoke authentically."

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

NETWORKING IS PART OF YOUR JOB

Take it, says Laszlo Bock, co-founder and CEO of Humu, a software company for human resources, if you have a chance to meet more senior people.

"Treat it like a job to build those relationships, particularly if you hate politics (like me and are essentially introverted (like me)," he says. This would be evident to individuals with many backgrounds and difficult to do for others. I never asked teachers outside of class for guidance in school. I never felt comfortable schmoozing with the partners in consultation. But there are those who are less competent than you who can participate in and benefit from those relationships.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

HAVE PATIENCE

Ron Rudzin, president and CEO of the home furnishings company Saatva, says, don't let outside forces drive you to prioritize pace.

"You move fast and get so excited about growth when you're young that it can throw you off course he says. For vanity, don't do it. You have to be smart and not think right away about being the biggest on the block. Get your ducks in a row, have patience.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

GAIN GLOBAL EXPERIENCE

Karen Fichuk, CEO of the Randstad North America staffing and workforce solutions provider, wishes she had earlier in her career searched out global experience. In a branch office of a Fortune 500 cosmetics company, her first job was as a staff accountant.

"It was mostly made up of women in clerical roles, many of whom worked their entire career in the same branch, department, and some in the same exact job," she remembers. "After three years, I actually left because I didn't think there was enough progress at the branch location."

Fichuk wishes that she had explored more possibilities inside the company. "There were other paths for career development and cross-border experience working for such a large organization, but I limited myself, defining my opportunities by my physical location," she says.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

LOOK FOR WAYS TO ACCELERATE YOUR CAREER

Victor Cho, CEO of the Evite online invitation site, worked early in his career at Microsoft. Thinking of three levers to speed up your career was one of the best pieces of advice he got.

"Be a rocket ship of your own," he says. First and foremost, deliver with relentless excellence, do your job superbly, and resolve for the market. Generally, businesses are meritocracies, and high performance would be compensated and remembered. People normally concentrate here, but that's not enough.

The next level, says Cho, is working for a boss who is a rocket ship. "When you build a trustworthy relationship with someone who accelerates quickly, they're going to take you with them and you're going to be able to draw on their progress."

Lastly, work on a product or organization that is a rocket ship. "New opportunities will be created, and chances will be given to employees who have proven themselves."

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

BE FLEXIBLE

One of her duties was testing hardware when Beth Gerstein, co-founder and CEO of the ethically sourced jeweller Brilliant Earth, began her first job as a satellite communication engineer. "I haven't been interested in this," she remembers. "I have spoken to a consultant who has advised me to stand up and be vocal about my preferences."

She discovered that it was necessary for her job and a great opportunity after telling her manager she did not want to test hardware. "I quickly learned the critical value of my team role and realized that my job was integral to our satellite launch," says Gerstein. It was helpful to me early on to be welcoming and versatile, and now as an entrepreneur and CEO, I understand how important it is for new workers to come in with an open mind, do whatever it takes, and prove themselves.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

WORK DOESN’T GET EASIER

Tom Gozney, co-founder and CEO of Roccbox and Gozney Ovens, says he was stuck in a sprint for most of his career, working long hours in anticipation of a queue around the corner.

"It is easy to white-knuckle multiple obligations and works long hours thinking that the answer will be the next contract you land or the next hire you make," he says. The fact is the sprint never stops, it just changes the ground.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

EVEN JOBS YOU DON’T LOVE ARE VALUABLE

Bill Nash, CarMax's president and CEO, took a position at a public accounting firm after graduates from college. He states he knew it wasn't the best fit on the second day.

"I couldn't see myself behind a desk spending the rest of my life," he says. I wish I had known at the time that you can learn anything even in a work you do not enjoy. If I could go back, I would tell myself by listening and watching your world, to concentrate on knowing what you can.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

DON’T LET PERFECTION GET IN THE WAY

The first work of Wix.com co-founder and CEO Avishai Abrahami was as a hacker team member, packing games on floppy disks.

"My job was to write the compression and graphic interface," he says. "I have learned how computers work internally, how graphics and advanced algorithms are created."

Abrahami says he wishes he had learned not to let the way of getting the job done to stand in the way of preparation and perfection. There's no one easy way to solve a problem you just have to leap in sometimes, he says.

"My experience has taught me two important lessons: always make sure you're surrounded by people with incredible talent, and that passion isn't about money, but that's exactly what creativity generates," he says.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

BE A GOOD LISTENER

Ian Siegel, CEO of the ZipRecruiter job marketplace, says he wishes he had understood the importance of listening when he began his first job.

"The best technique to become someone others want to work with is good listening," he says. There is a basic hack that I call the law of two seconds. Wait two complete seconds before you respond to whatever your conversation partner says in important conversations.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

EXPERIENCES ADD UP

At the start of her career, Eugena Delman, CEO of clothing company Ava James NYC, says she wishes she had been more careful.

I wish someone had told me to learn from any job you get in your career as much as you can because you never know where it leads," she says." I never thought I would start my own company, much less a fashion e-comm company, but looking back on every job I had, I put another tool in my skills and knowledge toolkit that ultimately helped me launch my own startup.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

COMMUNICATE YOUR PASSION

Bill Peña, CEO of Simply Business US a small business digital insurance marketplace, began his career at a learning firm as an online creative designer.

"I wish I had known that it was just as imperative to communicate my passion as to demonstrate technical abilities," he says. Even in high-pressure environments, my younger self posed as cool and composed, because I was confident in my ability to perform. But to my friends, it seemed like I didn't care about the job because I didn't express my feelings or talk about it to them.

Peña discovered that it is just as necessary to interact with his colleagues to deliver the actual work.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's

DON’T WORRY ABOUT COMPETITION

Jason Fried, co-founder and CEO of the Basecamp project management platform, wants not to think too much about things outside his control.

"Competition will do what it is going to do," he says. "The market will do what it will do. The economy will be doing what it is going to do. And what do you want to do? There's a lot of obsession with stuff well out of your reach and there's not enough concentration on the stuff you can control.

Best Advice for College Graduates by CEO's