Career advice to next gen talent

I have a daughter in college who had her first summer internship this year. Thankfully, it was a great experience for her. Listening to my daughter’s recent experiences and answering her questions was the perfect way to prepare for a Q&A session I did this summer with the 500 college students in Schwab’s 2023 internship group.

Your early 20s can be a challenging time and being thrust from the relative safety of college into the unknown professional world can be daunting. Often, when you are young and you meet someone advanced in their career, you only see where they stand at that present time—and that can feel pretty unrelatable.

Today I’m fortunate to be the President of Charles Schwab, but when I was in my early 20s, I was just as focused on the unknown of “what’s next?” as today’s college students. What they don’t see is that it wasn’t always an easy or direct path to get here. I’ve had tough lessons along the way, made sacrifices, put in the work, and pushed myself out of my comfort zone to grow as a leader.

It’s not lost on me that my path isn’t the same path that everyone wants to take. At the same time, there are things I’ve learned from my own experiences and the great mentors I’ve been lucky to have over the years. They are lessons that I’ve shared with my own kids and with the Schwab interns I met with this past summer. Here’s some of the advice I’d share with the next generation of talent.

I know this might not seem groundbreaking, but it works. Having a structure that supports my intentions has made all the difference. For me, it’s starting each day early, around 4 a.m. Getting a head start allows me time to prepare, do work, and think things through before the day fills up with meetings.

You don’t advance by competing with others. Early in my career, I thought winning meant I needed to do better than the person sitting next to me. And it worked for a little bit of time, but it’s not ultimately what will take you far in your career. Winning as a team is what matters most for the success of the company and for you as an individual.

It can be easy to let money drive your career decisions, especially when you are young or are starting a family and need money. Money is an important consideration, and depending on your level of financial security, I know it can heavily influence your thinking about what to do next in your career. If prioritizing salary is what’s right for you, go for it. At the same time, sometimes investing in the right opportunity or experience that will help you grow is a good idea, even if it means you make less over the near-term. I’ve always felt you want to build your career so you are making yourself more valuable, and that doesn’t always mean optimizing for finances in each and every opportunity. Take a moment to consider if a job offers you new challenges or the sort of exposure money can’t buy.

No matter what your career goals are—whether you want to be a senior executive of a financial firm, or an individual contributor with deep subject matter expertise—you must make time along the way to invest in yourself and develop the skills you need to continue growing.

For me, that meant earning my Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designations. I was also fortunate to be able to take two years off to go back to school and earn my MBA.

Whatever you choose to do, know that further investment in yourself will help you in the long run.

One of the best pieces of advice I received early on was to be more vocal. I remember early in my career I would sit in meetings, and I would be really uncomfortable with speaking up. My boss at the time recognized that I was a naturally shy person and committed to helping me find ways to become more courageous—and she had some creative ideas. One thing she did was tell me she was going to cold call on me during the first half of meetings if I hadn’t spoken up yet. You can imagine how nervous this made me. I started making it a point to say something in the first few minutes of a meeting, just to avoid being called on. And it made me realize something—once you get engaged in a meeting and don’t let the ice build-up, it becomes a lot easier to join in on the conversation. It was a really important development for me.

Another thing she had me do was enroll in an acting class. Spoiler alert: my talent for the big screen was not discovered. But I do think that experience helped me gain the confidence over time to share my opinion in front of a group, no matter how intimidating that felt.

Early in my career, I focused on doing whatever I could to help the team. I wanted to be someone that leaders wanted on their team because I was going to get the job done and contribute. Being a good team member and focusing on how you can help is an attribute leaders will always seek out.

I'm not a natural networker, and I’m always impressed when I see young professionals proactively connecting with others. I’ve discovered my own ways to make connections and strengthen relationships, and I’ve found that the little things go a long way.

For example, if you have an interaction with someone, take a few minutes and shoot them a thank you note and just say, “Hey, thanks for taking me to lunch,” or, “It was great to bump into you earlier—and really helpful to discuss XYZ. Here’s a little bit more about me and I’d love another chance to spend time with you.”

Once you build the connection, find ways to occasionally add value to that person’s day. Maybe it’s sending an article you think they’d be interested in based on your past conversations. Nurturing your connections doesn’t have to be complicated; it’s about finding thoughtful ways to show you care about the time and conversations you’ve had together.

None of us start our careers knowing how to do everything—we all have our challenges to overcome and areas where we're not as strong.

I have benefited from mentors investing in my development. Early in my career, my mentor at McKinsey & Company helped me overcome my shyness. At Schwab, I have benefited from working closely with our Co-Chairman and CEO, Walt. I admire his generosity, knowledge of our business, strategic foresight, willingness to make bold decisions, and—importantly—his ability to balance being CEO and a father/husband/community member. These are all qualities I would like to emulate in my role.

Outside of mentor relationships, it is important to seek feedback. My advice? Feel empowered to ask your peers and managers for feedback. And if it’s all positive, follow-up and ask what one thing you could do differently next time to be even better. There are always opportunities to improve.

Take the time to discover what you want and what’s best for you and go down that path with intention. I chose a path with a heavy emphasis on work, but I make sure to set boundaries, so I still get quality time with my family. The tradeoffs for me to have the career of my dreams are ones that I’m happy with, largely because I knew early on the sort of career I wanted to pursue.

You might choose a path with a greater emphasis on work-life balance. Or you might choose a path where you know you’re going to lean heavier one way or the other. There's no judgement about which path you choose; the key is discovering what works for you and committing to it.