Over the past few weeks, college students across the country underwent what is arguably their first rite of passage as adults — striding across a stage to collect a diploma at their graduation ceremonies.

Rows of graduates settled into folding chairs amid a hum of anticipation. Family members craned their necks searching for familiar faces in a sea of caps and gowns. As their names were called, students embarked on a future that felt equal parts exhilarating and uncertain.

The centerpiece of each ceremony was the time-honored commencement address. Accomplished speakers offered advice borne of trial and error, hard-won successes and, most of all, the invaluable lessons of experience. Rarely is their advice about having all the answers. More often, it encourages us to move forward before the path ahead comes fully into view.

With that tradition in mind, we invited leaders across Capital Group to share their thoughts on what matters most for those just starting out. Some reflections are practical, others more personal. Whether you’re beginning your career or simply pausing to consider how far you’ve come, we hope these insights inspire you. And, perhaps just as important, we hope they remind you of the value of the wisdom we pass on.

Embrace serendipity and the unexpected.

Jody Jonsson

Vice Chair, Capital Group

Be flexible, versatile and curious. AI will make traditional job definitions obsolete, so don’t lock into a fixed notion of your role or your skills. You will need to learn and relearn — and maybe unlearn — many times in your career.  If you’re willing to embrace change, learn at a fast pace and go where opportunities are, you will be valuable to any employer.

A friend of mine once told me, “You can’t make a 10-year plan. You can’t even make a two-year plan.” They said this to me when I whined about how my husband wanted to move cities even though we had bought our “forever house” 18 months earlier. The point was: your circumstances and needs change in ways that you can’t possibly anticipate, and you shouldn’t stay beholden to decisions that truncate your future opportunities. Stay flexible. It would be silly to turn down a great opportunity simply because of a fixed object. 

On that note, be open to serendipity and the unexpected. Certainly pursue goals, but if you lock yourself into thinking “I should be at point X by year Y,” you may overlook great opportunities.

For me, moving from San Francisco to Geneva, and later to London, was not anyone’s idea of logical long-term career planning at the time. But it gave me a tremendous education in our company’s international operations that I never would have had if I’d stayed in the U.S., which is invaluable in my role now. The move was also amazing for my family in countless ways. It wasn’t in my plan coming out of business school, but it’s been the experience that most formed me as one of the top leaders in a global company. 

Choose growth over comfort.

Kevin Saks

President, Capital Group Private Client Services

This is a timely topic for me because I have two recent college graduates who are embarking on their own journeys. Watching them navigate the transition from school to adulthood has reminded me of something important: very few people have their entire future mapped out in their early twenties.

A lucky few know from an early age that they want to be a doctor, teacher or engineer. But for most of us, our careers are shaped less by a master plan and more by a series of experiences, opportunities and relationships that reveal new possibilities along the way.

When my children ask for advice, I keep coming back to a few simple ideas. Be an avid and continuous learner. Work hard. Bring a positive attitude to whatever you do. Keep an open mind. Think about the question behind the question. Those qualities may sound ordinary, but they have a way of opening extraordinary doors over time. 

Looking for advice midcareer, a mentor told me that my next job would likely be a role that didn’t even exist yet. Today, that feels obvious. AI, in particular, is changing how we live and work at an incredible pace. The skills that will matter most are often not technical ones alone, but the ability to adapt, learn and grow as the world changes around you. 

I would encourage every new graduate to invest in relationships. The people you meet throughout your life will challenge you, teach you, support you and open doors you never knew existed, especially in our fast-changing world. 

Finally, don’t be afraid to push yourself in areas that are uncomfortable. I recently came across a quote from the psychologist Abraham Maslow that resonated with me: “You will either step forward into growth, or you will step back into safety.” I can’t recommend the former more strongly.

Keep learning, keep connecting and keep moving forward. Good things have a way of happening when you do.

Stay curious, no matter your role, and have some fun.

Kristen Hill

National Director, Capital Group Private Client Services

If I could offer one piece of advice to someone just starting their career, it would be this: learn from everyone.

I cannot overstate the importance of intellectual curiosity, no matter how senior you become. Early in my career, I interned at a nonprofit and had the opportunity to work with the CFO. He was incredibly smart and, to be honest, a little intimidating. Still, he always welcomed my questions and gave me insight into projects that were well beyond the scope of my internship. Watching how he approached problems helped me understand not only what I enjoyed, but also what I didn’t. Twenty-seven years later, I still call him for advice.

I came away with another important lesson long before I entered the corporate world: the power of suggestion. As a teenager, I worked in sales at a local clothing store. I loved interacting with customers and figuring out how to create a better experience for them. If someone purchased a dress, I might suggest a sweater for cooler evenings. I was amazed by how often the customer bought the sweater!

Another piece of advice is to save early. While working at the store, my father encouraged me to open a Roth IRA and invest half of my summer earnings. I didn’t appreciate it then, but decades later, that account has grown far beyond what I imagined.

One final thought: have fun. People enjoy working with colleagues who bring energy and a genuine interest in what they’re doing. Every job has challenging days, but try not to dwell on the negative. Careers are long. Be positive, confident in who you are and try to enjoy yourself.

Think of your career as an exercise in skills acquisition.

Noriko Chen

Equity Portfolio Manager, Capital Group

Congratulations, graduates! We know how much effort it takes to do well and graduate from college now. Please take a moment to feel good about yourselves, be confident in your abilities and reflect on the village that supported you throughout this process.

The next phase of your lives also requires a fair amount of support from an expanded village. Who you have as a manager or advisor will matter as much as, and potentially more than, the institution where you will be. Make sure you develop a good relationship with your managers and other colleagues so they can help you navigate through this next phase of your career. 

Very few career paths are straightforward, easy and without mistakes. As long as you continue to learn, develop and grow, a winding path can be just as or more impactful than a straight one.

Think of your career as an exercise in skills acquisition. You can learn how to study and research and become a subject expert, how to think and solve problems, how to work together and how to collaborate in groups. You can grow from mistakes and tough events.

Financial literacy and creating wealth for yourself are important skills. Investing early puts you at a clear advantage due to the power of compounding. It doesn’t matter if you can’t invest a lot now, but save and invest from an early stage — your 60-year-old self will thank you for it.

And when you can, pay it forward. You may have benefitted from great advice or mentorship from people around you. You can do the same and become part of the support village for someone younger. Everyone has learned experiences that are worth sharing with others.

Don’t be afraid to pitch yourself for the job you want.

John Emerson

Vice Chairman, Capital Group International, Inc.

Some of the most important qualities one can have in today’s rapidly changing world are resilience, flexibility and a willingness to look for opportunities wherever you can find them. 

On that note, if you think a job is right for you, don’t hesitate to pitch yourself, even if you fear you don’t have the background or experience. So much of what exists today, particularly in emerging industries, is about judgment, interpersonal skills, being a quick study and having an instinctive willingness to figure out a situation and work hard.

One aspect of my career has been seizing opportunities that I had no direct experience for: I ran a presidential campaign in California when I’d never run any campaign before. I worked in the White House on matters that I had no knowledge of before diving into them. I joined Capital Group to help build what evolved into Capital Group Private Client Services without any background in finance or business. In all those roles, I was more of a skills hire than a subject matter expert. So think about your skills and don’t be afraid to pitch yourself based on those skills.

Stay focused on doing your best in your current role. People tend to want to move on to the next thing. But the best way to move up in your career is to make sure you’re doing a bang-up job where you currently are. Use your free time to learn about and develop other skills.  

I cannot overstate the importance of maintaining ties with the friends, contacts and relationships that you’re building. In my twenties, I had a yellow legal pad where I would write down people’s contact information, since we didn’t have email or cell phones. If I saw an article I thought somebody might be interested in, I’d mail them a copy with a note saying, “thought you might be interested in this.” And maybe I’d send the same article to 20 people. Today’s technology makes that kind of thing so much easier — there is literally no excuse for not staying in touch and deepening your relationships. Don’t use social media to scroll — use it to keep in touch with people. You never know where there may be a circumstance where you reconnect in a way that’s helpful or interesting and fun for both of you.