All new grads need to learn professional bragging!

“Its not bragging if you can back it up” Muhammid Ali

Table of Contents

• Communicate Your Contributions (Without Bragging)

• Build Strategic Relationships

• Take Initiative and Own Something

• Case Study

Communicate Your Contributions (Without Bragging)

• Share progress updates in team meetings or via brief summaries to your manager (“Just a quick update: I streamlined the on-boarding checklist with X and Y’s input — it should save us about an hour per new hire.”).

• Frame it around team impact — that keeps it humble but still visible.

• Keep a “wins journal” to track what you’ve achieved so you can bring it up naturally in 1:1s or performance reviews.

Why it matters: Visibility often comes from how clearly others understand your value, not just how much you work.

Build Strategic Relationships

• Cultivate relationships beyond your immediate team — talk to people in related departments or join cross-functional projects.

• Seek a mentor or sponsor who can advocate for you when you’re not in the room.

• Offer to share your leanings — for example, give a 5-minute knowledge share on something you’ve improved or learned.

Why it matters: Being known across different parts of the organisation increases both your reputation and your perceived leadership potential.

Take Initiative and Own Something

• Identify a small but meaningful problem to solve or process to improve, and take the lead on it.

• It could be automating a repetitive task, creating a quick resource, or proposing a better workflow.

• Follow through and share results — show that you don’t just work hard, you drive impact.

Why it matters: Initiative shows leadership, creativity, and ownership — qualities that get noticed fast.

Case Study

When Maya joined a marketing firm as a graduate assistant, she worked hard supporting senior colleagues but wasn’t being noticed. She began sharing short weekly updates highlighting how her research improved campaign efficiency, always crediting her team. She also built relationships across departments by volunteering to help with client presentations, which connected her with a senior manager who became her mentor.

Finally, she took the initiative to create a digital tracker that reduced reporting time by 30%. Within six months, her visibility grew, and she was promoted to marketing coordinator for demonstrating ownership, collaboration, and clear impact.

Moral of the story: Maya took control of her own career, she realised that if she did not take the time to showcase her skills and talents, it would be a long time before someone else did.