10 top tips for early-career professionals (or anyone who wants to get ahead)

When it comes to your career, what wouldn’t you give to go back to the start and tell your younger self what you should do differently? If only you’d said yes to those opportunities that you later regretted turning down or spoken up in meetings with ideas you were too shy to mention.

The audience at the APM 2025 Women in Project Management Conference were treated to a session called ‘What I Wish I’d Known as a New Project Professional’. Here are some of the top lessons the panel shared.

1. Tailored communication is critical

Anne Morris, a Project Manager at BAE Systems, said communication is a critical skill, because you’re going to be pulling together and integrating a lot of people for a project. It’s important therefore to understand how you communicate to key people. One person might want all the facts, figures and data – and they want it short and sharp. For another, it might be about how things are impacting the people involved – the ‘hearts and minds’ and the journey you’re going on. Don’t use the same approach for those two people, and tailor your approach to suit their preferences, not your own.

2. Give yourself time

Allow yourself some planning time before you start a project, said Morris. Don’t be afraid to have a decent plan for the next few months, a guide for the few months after that, and then ideas for beyond that. Break the project down into manageable chunks and bring the people around you into it. Make sure everyone can see “the next lamppost in the fog”, so you can all go into the future in the same general direction.

3. Create a culture of transparency

Celia Jenkins, Project Manager at AECOM, drew lessons from the first project she worked on, which was a corporate real estate project in Luxembourg during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
“So much was out of our control at that time, and just being honest about that was really appreciated,” she said.

Be open when things are impacting your project that are beyond your control – and with anything that is within your control, be transparent about how you are dealing with them. Understand what your stakeholders need, what they want and how they work, particularly if you have a complex project.

4. Learn to be adaptable

Jenkins had to learn to be adaptable as her carefully crafted plans were forced to change because of the pandemic.

“I learnt to not be too precious about it,” she said. Have a robust stakeholder management and communication plan, and keep that a live document throughout the project and continuously refer back to it.

5. Learn from the leaders you respect

Surround yourself with different project leaders and be proactive around that, said Jenkins. See how different people manage projects, and align yourself with the people you respect. Find strong role models and learn how they manage teams, projects and stakeholders.

“Get that exposure so you can see how you want to shape your own strategy and to figure out who you are and how you work,” she advised. It’s also worth doing a DISC personality assessment to find out how you work, what your values are and how you can keep growing.

6. Speak up

Trust yourself and your instincts, advised Jenkins, because when you’re starting out and you’re feeling nervous and not confident, you can hold back from speaking up.

“There were so many instances when I was in a meeting and I wanted to ask a question or challenge something, but that person was more senior or male and I didn’t say anything and afterwards I was so frustrated with myself. Don’t have any regrets,” she said.

7. Manage your limits

When it comes to time management, know your limits, Jenkins urged. When you’re new, you say yes to everything, but where you do need additional support or extra time, be honest about that and people will respect you.

8. Find champions

You can’t always get opportunities on your own as a young person, so finding champions and sponsors really matters, said Florence Hanlon-Bone, Associate Director at MACE. Look for them from the outset and people will always be willing to help. It’s important to develop allies and your circle of contacts. Think about your people leadership style and work on your personal brand. Learn from others about how you want to lead.

9. Advice for introverts on how to connect

When you’re an introvert hoping to network and build connections, taking that step of going to talk to someone is very scary, said Penelope D’Souza, Project Manager at the Regulator of Social Housing. 

“It’s always a challenge,” she said. While you can be afraid to talk and never progress, she knew she wouldn’t be happy with that, so her advice to other introverts wanting to make connections is to think about who your allies are, be quite specific about your ask, and reach out to the person one-to-one.

10. Action-plan your fears

Face your fears by action-planning them, advised D’Souza. 

“All project managers like a good plan,” she said. You have to push through your fear by building your confidence by exposing yourself to that fear. And remember – lived experience is as important as academic qualifications. Trust in yourself. 

Listen to APM Podcast’s episode on boosting your self-confidence on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube

 

You may also be interested in:

• What is project communication?
• Discover mentors through the APM Community platform
• Learn about time management through the PAM learning platform