Insights What would you tell your younger self? Life advice that our colleagues wish they’d known.

29 May 2018

At Atkins, a member of the AtkinsRéalis group, we pride ourselves in helping all our colleagues to develop, grow and make the most of themselves and their careers. It’s not just about work though, we like to try to offer inspiration and advice for your personal life too.

We’re lucky to have loads of successful and inspirational people who work at our company. People who started off with a vision and eventually made their dreams come true. And along the way, amassed a wealth of wisdom that we wanted to capture in this blog.

We wondered how we could use all their amazing experience to help people decide what career they want to embark on, how to avoid silly mistakes and what they should be focusing on in their lives. So we asked our colleagues, “What advice would you give to your younger self?” based on all the lessons they’ve learned and all the obstacles they’ve faced.

The answers were broad ranging – covering not just work topics, but also personal advice on life in general. Read on to discover, in no particular order, eight of the best bits of advice that our colleagues would tell their teenage selves.

#1: “I could write a book about the stuff I wish someone had taught me when I was younger. I’d tell myself that I was ‘good enough’, to stop comparing myself to others and to stop being so self-critical. I’d advise the younger me to be myself – because everyone else is taken. I’m 37 now and I think I’m getting there...”
—Marie Barnard, managing surveyor

#2: "There’s space for all of us, life isn’t a competition. Be you, do it your way, don’t worry about what others are doing.”
—Karen Blanc, engineering manager

#3: “Enjoy your childhood to the max. You’ll never get to relive that freedom.”
—Fady Rizkallah, intelligent mobility graduate

#4: “Love your family and enjoy every moment with them.”
—Mathilde Roubille, product manager

#5: “Be present whenever you are in a conversation, and be kind to everyone, you never know their full story…”
—Clare Evans, project manager

#6: “Firstly, write your plans in pencil and keep your eyes open for unusual opportunities... they lead you down fantastic paths. Secondly, what my Nan told the younger me and I constantly live by is… everyone gets naked each day, which means regardless of rank or stripes fundamentally we are all the same.”
—Heather Clarke, principal engineer

#7: “I would tell the younger me to fight less with my sister over shoes, enjoy every moment spent with family, and of course climb more trees!”
—Naof Ellis, graduate architect

#8: “Don’t rush to grow up. You don’t want to be a young person trying to be old – and then an old person trying to be young. Enjoy the moment and remember life is a journey.”
—Simon Moon, chief executive officer

#9: “That feeling of not being enough or ‘there’? It’s anxiety. Learn how to harness it. For example, treat each fear-inducing social or business occasion as a personal game – find out as many facts about someone, and most importantly, listen to them.”
—Alicia De Haldevang, marketing & communications manager

#10: “Make sure you always try your best and be kind to other people, and stop doubting- push yourself to show that you can do it!”
—Elaine Campbell, senior engineer

Inspired? We hope so. Because we’re always on the lookout for people to join us at Atkins. Whether you’re starting out or more experienced, as long as you’ve got the talent, we’d be more than happy to find out how you can grow with us.

To find out more about who we’re looking for and how you can find out more, visit us at careers.atkinsglobal.com