It’s Sunday, June 29, 2025, and in this week’s roundup, learn in 5 minutes or less:

Are you passionate about journalism and mentoring?

FT Schools is seeking university students to support our global network of Student Advocates.

As a University Mentor, you'll guide 60 sixth formers, help shape FT’s school outreach, and champion student voices, all while developing your leadership skills.

This paid, part-time role (12 hours/month, remote) lasts for 6 months.

We’re looking for motivated undergraduates or graduates who are proactive, organized, and interested in current affairs.

Apply here by July 11, 2025, with a CV and cover letter (tell them, you heard about this from the Careerguard 😉 )

If your employer laid you off tomorrow, would you have a plan in place?

Picture this: your company is downsizing.

Your badge is disabled by noon.

You’ve got rent, responsibilities, and no backup plan.

What now?

This isn’t fear-mongering; it’s the reality that many professionals have faced over the last 18 months as industries are evolving faster than ever.

The old model of work hard, stay loyal, move up, no longer guarantees security.

To thrive in today’s world of work, you must think like a founder.

That means treating your career like a business, not just a job.

You are the product, the brand, the sales team, and the strategy department.

The sooner you adopt this mindset, the more control you gain over your path, earnings, and growth.

Founders track user growth, revenue, and burn rate. You need your own dashboard:

Your KPIs aren’t just job titles and salaries; they’re indicators of leverage, optionality, and relevance.

Start tracking them quarterly, and if your numbers are flat or declining, don’t panic.

Founders pivot all the time, and so can you.

A paycheck is great.

But assets that keep paying you even when you’re not clocked in are better.

Career equity includes things like:

These don’t grow overnight, but when you treat them like long-term assets, you can weather any storm and, more importantly, even walk away from jobs that no longer serve your future.

Founders never stop testing, tweaking, and learning.

You should be doing the same, especially in a world where entire job functions are being redefined by AI.

Be curious.

Upskill regularly.

Take on side projects that stretch you.

Test new ways to add value.

Your career isn’t a ladder, it’s a lab.

Don’t wait for your employer to set the vision.

Set your own.

Define your ideal role, ideal schedule, and ideal impact, and then reverse engineer the path to get there.

You don’t need to quit your job to think like a founder.

You just need to stop outsourcing your career strategy to HR departments, managers, or performance reviews.

You are your own startup.

You are the product.

And the market is watching.

Founders think ahead. So should you.

Are you passionate about engineering? Project management?

Every year, we offer a graduate scheme in project management and engineering. Our graduate opportunities are rotational programmes, allowing you to learn about our vast business from experts whilst carrying out real work on real projects.

Our Graduates receive a competitive pay rate of £29,000, a welcome payment of £1,000, and can receive salary increases of up to £2,000 after each six-month placement. Graduates change placements every six months in order to gain a broad experience of the business. Placements are generally well-established, and Managers ensure that our Graduates have meaningful work throughout their journey.

Register your interest here and complete the form in its entirety…(tell them, you heard about this from the Careerguard 😉 )

One paycheck. One employer. One source of income.

That’s not security, that’s a vulnerability.

Founders diversify revenue streams to stabilize growth, and you should too.

Whether you’re salaried, hourly, or contract-based, the smartest financial move you can make is creating income optionality. That is, the ability to earn money from multiple sources.

That might look like launching a micro-service online, monetizing a niche skill via freelancing, or building a content engine around what you already know.

You don’t need to make six figures from a side hustle overnight.

But earning $300–$500 per month on the side gives you confidence, flexibility, and leverage when negotiating or navigating layoffs.

Remember, you are not just a worker, you’re an asset creator.

The goal isn’t to quit your job (unless you want to).

The goal is to design a financial foundation that supports risk-taking, reinvention, and independence.

The hallmarks of any successful founder.

High performers often confuse hustle with health.

But even the most visionary startup founders understand the importance of rest, recovery, and rhythm.

If you're treating your career like a startup, you also need to manage your physical and mental energy like a limited resource.

This week, rethink how you manage recovery.

Are you sleeping deeply?

Scheduling non-negotiable breaks?

Or setting time boundaries with work and side projects?

Productivity without recovery leads to burnout, and burnout stalls growth, personally and professionally.

Think of wellness as your personal runway: without it, your next takeoff will fail.

Start small.

Insert 20-minute blocks of “active recovery” into your week.

Whether that’s a walk, meditation, stretching, or unplugged time.

Your mind needs space to think, strategize, and recalibrate.

Well-rested professionals make better decisions.

That’s not soft, it’s smart.

Founders don’t chase every opportunity; they prioritize what drives results.

Apply the same mindset to your daily work.

Ask:

What’s my biggest lever right now?

What small win would unlock bigger momentum this week?

This “return-on-effort” mindset helps you stop mistaking busyness for progress.

Try this simple framework: every Monday, list the top 3 outcomes that would make the week a success.

Don’t focus on tasks, focus on results.

Then, time-block space to execute those outcomes before you get buried in meetings or emails.

You’re the CEO of your own time.

Protect it like a business would protect its budget.

And don’t forget to review your personal “P&L” every Friday:

What produced value?

What drained you?

What will you cut, optimize, or delegate next week?

When you think like a founder, every week becomes a sprint toward strategic growth, not survival.

Founders don’t just pitch, they storytell.

They explain vision, value, and direction in a way that inspires buy-in.

Early career professionals who master this same skill, business storytelling, stand out quickly.

Whether you're presenting to leadership, sending project updates, or interviewing, your ability to frame your narrative is a high-value differentiator.

Start practicing by structuring updates using a simple framework:

Problem → Action → Result.

This keeps your communication tight, outcome-focused, and memorable.

Don’t just say, “I helped on a team project.” Say, “We had a missed deadline risk. I streamlined the process, and we shipped two days early.”

That’s the kind of storytelling that sticks with decision-makers.

This skill isn’t just for presentations, it’s also for daily communications.

This habit will shape how people remember you, and in the workplace, perception drives opportunity.

Your technical skills will get you hired.

Your storytelling skills will get you promoted.