Developing your business career strategy

Surinder Hundal has more than 25 years’ experience in the international telecoms industry as a leader and innovator in business communications and marketing. She has led departments for BT and Nokia, and is currently the Director of Strategy and Communications at the International Business Leaders Forum.

Smart Opportunities had the opportunity to ask her for her advice on developing a career strategy and in gettting into corporate communications.

Developing your career strategy

To anyone developing a strategy for their career, Surinder has the following advice:

1. Be true to yourself. Always keep our professional and your personal personalities close to each other.
2. Stick to what you do best. Build your personal brand, and become known for what you do well. Your core assets will always remain the same throughout your career as your skills develop. But through it all, stay true to them and to your brand.
3. Work with the best people. You always want to work with the best people, so go where you know you can work with them, or hire them. And don’t be afraid to hire people with more experience than you.
4. Know your business well. Always do your research thoroughly. And before choosing a new organisation to work for, make sure that you are comfortable with their ethics, their reputation and their leadership.
5. Make a virtue of your professionalism. And don’t ever make use of the gender, race or age card. Be professional above all else.
6. Do something you feel passionate about – otherwise you will just become cynical and complacent.
7. Embrace diversity of experience – not in terms of race or gender, but in terms of perspectives and opinions.
8. Avoid playing organisational politics. Be aware of the political landscape, but don’t make it your daily worry.
9. Learn continuously. Learn something new every day!
10. And finally, don’t fear failure. You never know what failure you can turn into an opportunity.

Getting into corporate communications

For graduates looking to get into corporate communications she has some sage advice: “Decide what you want to do and why you want to do it. Be very honest about your reasons. For any role, close your eyes and imagine yourself in it in three years’ time. If you don’t see yourself happy then don’t take the job. And remember, it’s as much about the job as it is about the boss.”

Surinder also advises graduates to have the basic technical skills – such as writing and presentation skills – and to hone and customise them for your sector.

Also find a good mentor, and be willing to volunteer and shadow people to gain experience and let you show them what you’re capable of. 

Surinder affirms that, particularly in the early days in telecoms, top level management was dominated by men. But she never saw this as a problem for herself. “All of my mentors in my companies have been men.” And they were all more than willing to answer questions and share their knowledge when asked. She is also grateful to a number of high-profile women in various industries who have taken the time to provide her with invaluable insights over the years.

She admits that she sees young women in particular not standing up for themselves in business, afraid of being labelled aggressive, rather than assertive. 

Excellence in business communications

Surinder’s principles for excellence in business communications are simple: clarity, integrity and quality.

Clarity: don’t put in any barriers to understanding.

Integrity: don’t put any spin on it.

Quality: deliver your communication in a way that is technically sound, creative and smart.

And always, always think about how you want the person receiving your information to act on it. 

Find out more about Surinder's own career >

Interview by Helen Keevy