How This Associate Went from First Day to Manager in Less Than a Year and a Half

How do you know you’ve found the right job? Just ask Alex Bossetta who began working at GLG last year.  Although most associates come straight from undergraduate degrees, Alex recently completed her master’s degree at The George Washington University and now works in GLG’s Austin office.

“After my first few months at GLG, my friends and family noticed how happy I was—how things were going super well,” she says. “They told me: ‘It’s like they gave you a hiking guide map to get to the top of the mountain.”

There wasn’t much structure at Alex’s last job, which meant she never knew how she was performing. She left all of that in the past when she joined the Senior Associate Program at GLG, the world’s leading professional learning platform. Associates there work closely with the company’s clients, who are professionals at top businesses. Alex came into the program ready to work, performed well, and was promoted to a manager position in less than 24 months, with no shortage of support along the way.

At each stage of the program, associates are thoroughly trained in the skills they need to be successful in their jobs. It typically takes 18 to 24 months to progress through the Senior Associate Program, a timeline that depends on performance. Alex was promoted more quickly than many of her peers in the program (12 months!), which her team attributes to her curiosity and dedication to finding new ways to help GLG’s clients succeed.

Here’s what Alex learned along the way—and how you can join GLG and go from first day to manager in 24 months or less.

Fast-Track to Management

There are two phases to the GLG Senior Associate Program, each designed to build a specific set of skills and prepare associates to reach the next level of their career:

1. Junior Associate: This is where Alex (and all new associates) start out at GLG. The goal for employees in this role is to grow GLG’s Council Membership and understand the internal workings of the company. It’s also a chance to show your manager that you’re a team player and committed to working hard every day.
2. Senior Associate: In this role, associates begin to shift their focus to client service. They also continue to work with and add to GLG’s 500,000 council members and are  expected to know the ins and outs of what those subject-matter experts have to offer. Alex works specifically with private equity and venture capital clients. It’s her job to connect her clients with those experts to solve difficult problems.

Once an associate has mastered these skills, they’re promoted to a manager position. Managers are responsible for client account and people management, in addition to the same basic responsibilities as Senior Associates. Before graduating to this role, associates must demonstrate that they know how to lead a team by motivating colleagues and supporting their professional development.

A Lifetime of Lessons

“The main thing I’ve gained throughout the program is confidence in who I am personally and as a professional,” Alex says. In her first year at GLG, she’s learned some amazing lessons like:

• Teamwork is Crucial: “[I learned] how to transition from being a high-performing overachiever to realizing you can’t do it without the people next to you,” she says. “You’re really in it together.”
• Take Creative Risks: “GLG is really a place where you can trip and fall and you’ll have people right there to pick you up,” she says.
• You Don’t Need to Know Your Niche: “Before graduation, my college career center was pushing me toward a single path,” says Alex. But that path didn’t feel right to her. At GLG, that’s pretty common—even welcomed. “It’s a place where people can learn to be a great all-around professional and then find their niche,” she says.

Ready to take your career from 0 to 60? GLG is hiring now, so head over to WayUp and apply!