This is a post written by our colleague and previous author Richard shortly before he moved off of the Graduate Blog team. Please take a look at Richard's parting gifts!
The sad thing about being on a graduate programme is that they are for a finite period. We are only given a set amount of time on this journey before we inevitably have to choose a career path and make our own way in the world.
So it is with me. I shall shortly be leaving the Executive Management Programme to take up a new post and, sadly, this will mean that I am no longer eligible to manage this fine blog that so many of you have been reading. But I wanted to leave you with one last post, and as I tried to think of something of interest one topic rose to the top. The story of the Graduate Blog itself.
The story begins in March 2010. I was part way through my second placement and I had joined the London Alumni team a few months earlier. Whilst thinking of careers services that we could introduce ourselves to I remembered a company that ran seminars in the City of London for students wishing to enter finance and banking. After making contact with the director of the company I was told that “No we don’t offer seminars any more, very sorry. But would you be interested in our company running a blog for you?” The proposal was very expensive, the content was wrong and their concept was untested but it sowed a seed in my mind.
A day later my ever active subconscious asked the question “If HSBC is one of the biggest banks in the world surely we could create a blog?” Thus began one year of meetings, conference calls and proposals.
I started small, talking to members of the graduate management team it became clear that this was something that would be supported. However content produced by a group of graduates without a lengthy oversight process would take some convincing. Very gradually I became aware of a small sub culture of the bank, young media savvy managers who were eager to support social media and who had a great deal of expertise that they were willing to share. For the next 8 months I met with these individuals slowly becoming an expert in my own right until one day Laura and I took the plunge and filmed a video pilot.
As you can imagine the result was awful, the light was wrong, the dialogue was sloppy and we looked extremely awkward but it was enough to show the senior managers what could be achieved. The Head of Human Resources became our sponsor, proposals were filed and three weeks before my move to Canada we had our budget. Two months later we had our blog and videos and the results are on view for all to benefit from.
One little website and six videos had taken me one year of hard work to realise! Some would probably not have tried in the first place but the sweetness of success is a reward like no other. So, dear readers, I leave you with my final piece of advice: good things come to those who wait, patience is a virtue, those who dare win….all of these epic quotes apply. But above all: do your research, know your facts, speak with confidence, bide your time and ye shall be rewarded.
For the final time I wish you all the very best of luck with your careers and I look forward to working with you in the future!