- [Speaker] Good evening.
Good evening chancellor, deputy vice chancellor education,
members of the senate, faculty, Mr. Barry Maguire,
graduands, parents, partners and friends of the university.
It is a great pleasure to join the graduands
at such a significant moment in your lives.
The philosopher Carl Jung said,
"the privilege of a lifetime is to become
who you truly are."
Intense study is an important path on that journey.
You now see a tangible benefit for all your hard work
and sacrifices over the years.
And I'm sure all your supporters, your family,
your friends and faculty share your joy in graduating.
University life is full of ups and downs
and tonight is a peak.
I sat where you sat when I finished my law degree in 2006.
I completed that part-time over ten years
while working and raising a family.
My family, a husband and sons,
all of whom have studied at UWA,
were very relieved to have more of my time.
It's also been nearly 40 years since I finished
my first degree at UWA.
An honor's degree in arts, politics.
It led to a great career in the public service
and universities.
Before I took on the role of CEO of The Law Society
of Western Australia for nine years and subsequently
joined the international head hunting firm, Jared Daniels.
In the public service, my fields were broadly
workforce planning, women's participation in the workforce
and developing management skills across government.
In the Law Society, I worked on a lots of fronts.
I worked on law reform, access to justice
and the protection of the profession.
But I particularly worked to improve the profession
as a work place for you and encouraged more diverse
participation in the law.
As a head hunter for over a decade,
I am deeply engaged in analysis and judgements
about what talent looks like and how people build
successful careers.
And throughout my career, I have always sat on boards
that focus on higher education and professional training.
In short, I am really interested in the world of work.
And I think I like the world of work
because it is a domain that daily tests
our understanding of ourselves.
We understand our intellect and our imagination,
our resilience and our physical strength,
our ability to get on with others, our patience,
our judgment, our courage and integrity,
our work ethic and our discipline.
I thought it'd be useful as a head hunter
to talk to graduands tonight about what it takes
to build a great career.
And this isn't only because I spent many decades
thinking about work but also I speak to a lot
of employers, a lot of referees and a lot
of human resource directors about what success looks like
and who they judge to be talented.
Now no doubt you're thinking I'll talk about
CV building and how to capture that interesting job.
Those things are important but there is so much more
to forging a successful career.
So let me give you my big tips for a successful career
and there are two.
Having a sense of purpose and building a solid reputation.
A sense of purpose is having a rough plan
about your career and what you are driving to do
rather than letting it happen to you.
So I suggest you drive your career.
In my case, when I left UWA,
I had some goals I imagined early on.
I wanted to do interesting work.
I wanted to be in roles where I could shape the world.
I wanted to do some academic work.
I wanted to be a manager and finally, a CEO.
I wanted to sit on boards and I wanted to have an
international career.
And really importantly, I wanted to make great friends
and long life friends at work.
So that was my sense of purpose.
Reputation is many things.
It is a short hand for a collection of habits
that you will exercise every day.
The first is your expertise.
Having your degree signals that you now have
a domain of knowledge.
Nurture it, add to it, adapt it as it changes
and take a life long view of your learning.
Being an expert is a solid foundation to your career.
Next, exercise judgment.
Think before you act.
I'll give you an example of my recent experience
of graduates.
In their enthusiasm, they often seem hell bent
on getting through tasks quickly.
I blame this on an abundance of exams
and psychometric testing for internships and graduate roles.
But what you really need to be is very focused,
very patient and accurate in your work.
As you move along in your career,
there are plenty of opportunities to exercise judgment.
You will be providing professional opinions,
you will be taking career risks, you'll be moving
out of your comfort zone.
You'll know when to leave a toxic workplace
or invest in post graduate educational, even start
your own firm.
What I say to you is don't rely on intuition,
don't rely on the vibe or any of the other
unconscious biases that undermine your better self.
Develop some very good judgment tools
and observe people who exercise good judgment.
The third aspect of a reputation is your integrity,
which is also a foundation of judgment.
Know the formal rules, know your professional conduct rules,
know the rules of running a business,
know your internal office rules, know the better morays
of your industry.
As you develop in your career, have sufficient
financial and governance literacy to act
with commercial integrity.
Work for good employers.
Always take the high road when faced with ethical dilemmas.
The next dimension of reputation is your personal style.
You can very much decide who you want to be at work.
And I suggest to you that you be the best version
of yourself because you now work in a highly
collaborative and ultra transparent world
of work where your reputation is quickly known.
As you develop your career, find opportunities
to lead people and deliberately work on your
management and influencing styles.
Next, be a big thinker.
Don't only solve the tasks and problems in front of you.
Learn to understand the world in which your profession,
your industry, your company and your firm operates.
Take a global view, be curious.
Consider an international career.
And even if you don't leave Perth,
don't become provincial in your thinking.
And at some stage, actually study strategy.
Your work ethic is really important to your reputation.
I'm sure many of your parents and supporters
will tell you that there's some simple rules to work ethic.
And they are turn up, do what you promised to do,
manage your time and don't let people down.
However, work ethic can also be very punishing
and it's a delicate balance to find resilience
and protect yourself from burn out.
So in summary, building a career and being successful
in the world of work is exhilarating.
I hope you will find as I have, that UWA is a place
to turn to in this journey.
I first came to campus as a high school student
looking for peace and quiet in the Reed Library.
In the many decades since, I remain tethered to UWA
because it provides a community of ideas
that always replenishes and always restores your mind.
This community is ubiquitous, not only is it at Crawley,
but it's also online and it's through it's global network.
In the meantime, while on your journey,
my best wishes for your brilliant careers.
Thank you.
(crowd claps)