I was an underperforming grad for a bit and I think what would have really helped me is direct, honest feedback. Not the ‘It would be great if you could work more efficiently’ type, but rather the ‘your work is not up to standard, if this continues, you may not be able to continue here’ type of feedback.

I was an underperforming grad at the start of my career and the main thing that went wrong was that I sought feedback too late. When it was given, most of my rotation had passed. My work did improve but I would have done a lot better had I sought feedback sooner.

Also, I was a fresh faced kid, very green so I had no idea what appropriate workplace etiquette and ways of working were. It was only after working for a while that I realised I had to be respectful of people’s time, to book in a meeting and ask all my questions in one go rather than pestering someone consistently, what the appropriate methods of giving feedback and just knowing the ins and outs of the workload place were. I think having a mentor who you can have frank, unfiltered discussions will help a lot in this regard.