Early Careers Development: Start Month One

Self-awareness

Employers rank self-awareness as their biggest gap in graduates, and it is growing fast: 54% this year against 35% three years ago.

Named strengths, not vague feedback
The blind spots they cannot see
Language they can use themselves

Seen properly

There is no performance record yet, so behavior is the only accurate evidence, and everyone is read on the same basis.

Potential, not where they studied
Fair to apprentice and non-graduate routes
Rated 27 out of 30 by the British Psychological Society

Early warning

You see who is drifting while there is still time to act, rather than reading it in a resignation letter.

Spot a mismatch in month one
Act before the exit interview
Up to 5% lower voluntary turnover

Wave Connect Develop

They can look up their own strengths and development areas any time, in the platform or inside the AI assistant your team already uses, long after the program ends.

See where the insight lives

Onboarding Report

Their real strengths, the things they will find hard in this kind of work, and a development plan template they fill in themselves in the first weeks.

See what it measures

Development Report

The two or three things worth their effort first, with editable actions they and their manager agree and come back to.

Talk it through with them

Work Roles

How they work alongside the team they have just joined, so a manager can pair them well and pick the right buddy or mentor.

See the team they joined

Frequently asked questions

If it is not here, ask us. You will get an answer from a person.

Talk to us Explore Support

What is early careers development?

Early careers development is how you decide what each graduate or apprentice should work on, rather than putting the whole intake through the same program. It uses a behavioral assessment completed soon after they join, because at that point there is no performance history to base a plan on.

When should new joiners be assessed?

In their first few weeks, before a manager has formed a fixed view of them. That timing is what makes the first conversation specific rather than general, and it gives you a starting point to develop from rather than a judgment to defend.

Can we use the assessment they took when we hired them?

They complete a short assessment again. An assessment is run for a purpose, and hiring and development are different purposes, so the read you develop from is the one taken for development. It takes minutes, and it is the step that makes everything afterwards personal to them.

What does an early careers development plan cover?

It covers what the person is naturally strong at, what they will find harder in this kind of work, and the two or three things worth their effort first. It is written for the person and their manager, not for a specialist, so both can act on it without a debrief in between.

Do line managers need to be qualified to use it?

No. Managers get a plain-language view written for someone running a one to one. If you would rather run structured feedback sessions in house, we accredit your own people to do that through our training.

Does this work for apprentices as well as graduates?

Yes. The same approach covers graduates, apprentices and any early careers intake, because it reads how someone works rather than what they have already achieved. That is also why it reads fairly for people joining without a degree or a relevant work history.

Tell us about your early careers intake

Tell us the size of your intake and we will show you how this works for it.

Early careers development from month one

Why graduates stay with the right development