My name is Dan and I always try to be ‘NotThatGuy’, whilst working for 3 fairly big, global corporations, I have come across a whole spectrum of characters and individuals. Many of the individuals were high performing, some less so, many are forgettable but some have become lifelong friends, and the rest…well the rest we will call “The Graduates”. That special breed of individual laced with a mix of self-importance, self-confidence, un-wavering tenacity and skin as thick as rhinoceros hide.

I want to tell you about some of the experiences I’ve had on my six year route from a fresh faced, naïve graduate in a Formula 1 team (including the ridiculous assessment centre), to managing a large team of people at a well-known luxury and utility sports car manufacturer. The reason I want to tell you about my journey is not to brag or boast, and it’s unlikely to give you the complete solution to a successful career progression. However, it might just give you the added insight that I had to pick up by myself on the way.  Being a graduate on a sought after graduate scheme has allowed me to infiltrate this hitherto un-observed breed and report back on their peculiar rituals and methods.

Basically I’ve been completely unimpressed and uninspired by the calibre of graduates accepted on schemes in these large corporations, not because of their skill or technical expertise, that isn’t in question, but in terms of behaviours and actions which quite frankly give everyone who has ever been on one of these schemes a bad name. And if you become one of the chosen few accepted on a graduate scheme in the future, you will undoubtedly be tarnished with the same brush.

Neatly weaved into this collection of slightly stupid, but nonetheless true stories are a handful of valuable lessons which will help you avoid the pitfalls of being a graduate in the workplace. I’ll talk honestly about mistakes I’ve made along the way, observations I’ve made that have helped and above all…how not to be the typical graduate. The type of graduate that large percentages of the working population are either full of contempt for or just completely dislike. The aim of this book is to arm you with some basic tools and techniques that will give you the edge in a market that is increasingly competitive…or it’s just a collection of vaguely humorous stories that will live forever on an unseen website, that choice is entirely yours.