Luke McKend, a BA alumnus and Country Director of Google SA, was the first guest speaker at the newly launched Careers Café of Stellenbosch University (SU) on Wednesday. The Careers Café was established by the Alumni Relations Office of the university to help current students prepare for the careers they want while providing alumni with the opportunity to connect with their alma mater in a different manner by offering their time and skills to help current students become work place ready.
The first in a series of cafés to be held in faculties across the university in future, the pilot café – dubbed the Humanities Careers Café – saw Alumni Relations and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences team up for a TedTalk-styled talk with close to 200 students in attendance at the event which was held over the lunch hour.
McKend completed a BA degree in English and Philosophy at SU in the 1990's and after working for a number of online businesses abroad, joined Google UK in 2007. Over the years he has worked with some of Google's largest clients developing their digital marketing strategies across a number of industries in the UK and is now responsible for building Google's business in South Africa.
During the talk, McKend shared snippets from his student years – from using the Internet for the first time in 1994 at SU and sneaking into the Engineering building at 03:00 in the morning to use the Internet, which would crash if more than four students were online and only contained information on the weather conditions at that time.
"When I left Stellenbosch, I had aspirations, which I think everyone has, that I would have a career, that I would climb the ladder. I would move from one thing sequentially to the next. I would become progressively more successful, progressively earn more money, and eventually live in the suburbs in a big house where I would have braais every Sunday. That was the dream," said McKend, adding that this did not happen.
"Anybody who thinks a career is a linear progression from job A to B to C to Z in this day and age, I think is absolutely mistaken."
He showed students how he had followed a different path in building his own career, holding down many different jobs – a total of 22 over the years – which included working as a security guard, doing market research from door-to-door, debt collecting, and working as operations manager of an online casino.
McKend encouraged students to move away from a linear career path and to rather see their career as "a collection of experiences from each of which you can learn something different and new, which you then aggregate and turn into something different in the next job that you do".
Mentioning some leading entrepreneurs and businesses such as Elon Musk, Uber and Airbnb, and how they have disrupted business as usual through their innovative services or products, he encouraged students to remain ahead of the pack.
"Each of these businesses are changing and disrupting things so quickly that they are doing it ahead of regulations, ahead of the legislator. What I have learned from that, is if you are innovative, but you're not innovating ahead of legislation, ahead of regulation or ahead of the rules, if people are not making rules after you have done what you have done, you are probably not moving fast enough in this world."
McKend also advised students to reach out and grab opportunities that came their way, but to do so at the right times and when it would benefit them in reaching the goal they have set for themselves.
Most important, he said, was to find a job that also gave you purpose. He shared how he had found a job with purpose at Google by sharing one incident in 2011 where Google had managed to assist the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu to continue an event scheduled to take place on Tutu's birthday, but which was under threat of being cancelled due to the South African government's refusal to grant the Dalai Lama a visa to enter South Africa. At the last minute, Google stepped in and created a video conferencing platform where the Dalai Lama and Tutu could not only speak to each other while in two different locations, but in which that conversation could be live streamed on YouTube across the globe in real time.
"Find something that turns your job into more than just paying the rent. If you can find a place where you can work that not only enables you to pay the rent but allows you to do things with purpose and passion, then you have really found something that is worth hanging on to. Now despite the fact that I have had 21 jobs, despite the fact that I have done many things, it is this combination that has enabled me to stay with my company for the last 10 years."
If you missed McKend's Top Five Tips for preparing for the career you want, they are listed below for your future use.
TIP 1
Your reputation is your most important asset
Always behave with integrity and remember you are what you actually do, not what you say you will do.
TIP 2
Don't be a clock watcher
Watching the clock is never a great strategy for getting ahead. If you're not taking a bit of strain, what you're doing is probably too easy.
TIP 3
Value the experiences along the way
Think of your career as a collection of great experiences rather than a succession of jobs.
TIP 4
Be a team player
As brilliant as you may be, almost all of your best work will happen in a team. Learn to work with people and value diversity in teams.
TIP 5
Don't be afraid to follow your dreams
If you want to be an entrepreneur, remember, all big businesses started small, the important thing is to just start.
Main photo: Luke McKend, Country Director of Google SA, speaks to students and shares some career advice during the first Careers Café, dubbed the Humanities Careers Café, and held at Stellenbosch University recently. (Anton Jordaan, SSFD)
