Embarking on Your IT Journey: A Graduation Speech for Future Tech Leaders
Graduation Speech – Dual Education 2024
Embracing the IT Journey
A Message to Our Graduates
President, director, family, and friends of the graduates, and above all,
Dear graduates,
I consider it a great honor to be invited to speak to you today. After your three-year study, you have finally obtained your diplomas, along with a certificate in the field of “Fachinformatiker” from the Slovak-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also valid in Germany.
You have spent time at our offices, and I have seen some of you. I hope you enjoyed your time with us. At the very least, you now know what it’s like to go to work every day, rain or shine, tired or not—though that last part is more for the parents.
I assume you have recognized that our offices are not only places to work but also to connect, have fun, and build relationships with your colleagues. This is also part of the journey, and that is why we have table tennis and futsal at our premises. Work must also have a fun component—not always, but once in a while, it’s necessary, otherwise, it gets too boring. And for the parents, friends, and significant others, you can always visit and check us out—we have a coffee shop and canteen accessible to everyone. This is just in case you don’t stay in contact with your family and friends.
Joining the Deutsche Telekom Family
Most of you will now join Deutsche Telekom as full-time employees. Congratulations—be proud of IT! We have more than 100 open positions currently, but we are only hiring a few from the market—you are among them. We place the utmost focus on the professional development of our employees. We have provided an increasing amount of training over the last few years and encourage internal mobility and changing positions within the company. We want to give our own people a chance first!
You will now become a part of the Deutsche Telekom Group. You will join delivery teams of over 4,000 people, which makes us the biggest IT company in all of Slovakia. As you already know, we offer a wide spectrum of Managed Infrastructure Services, Application Operations, Software Development, and Network Operations to major global accounts and within the DTAG group, primarily out of Kosice. But we also have offices in Bratislava and colleagues working remotely from all over the country.
Not to mention the job opportunities in other Telekom countries or the option to work up to 28 days from another country.
There are many more good things to say about Telekom, but let me stop bragging about the company and come back to you.
The Importance of Your Achievements
Reaching this point is a significant achievement in itself, and I commend you for it. The personal competencies that got you here—passion, commitment, tenacity, and open minds to learn—will be important throughout your lives. Nurture them. They will be even more important than what you have learned.
Advice for the Journey Ahead
Today marks an important day in your lives. Yet, it is the beginning of a journey. Hence, I want to share some advice with you:
About Hard Work:
During the internship, students work under the guidance of an experienced mentor in at least three different teams. Thanks to this, they get to know the diversity of work in the company.
Some of you may have liked it, some of you perhaps not so much. But what was it really about?
We wanted to address the fact that you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.
When you’re out there only from 8 to 5, primarily focused on the “life” part of the work-life balance theorem, someone out there is working hard. Someone is getting smarter, and someone is winning. Just remember that. If you want to be successful, you also need to accept there is absolutely no way around hard, hard work. Just remember, you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.
About “It Can’t Be Done”:
I have also heard so many times that “we can’t do this” and “you can’t do that” and “it’s never been done before.” My advice is: Don’t listen to the naysayers! You are young, you are ambitious—just try it!
Start to love it when someone says that no one has ever done something before because when you do it, that means you are the first one who has done it.
Don’t Be Afraid to Fail!
Anything I’ve ever attempted, I was always determined to succeed. But you can’t always win, and sometimes you need to change your plan. You can’t be paralyzed by the fear of failure, or you will never push yourself. You keep pushing because you believe in yourself and your vision, and you know that it is the right thing to do, and success will come. So don’t be afraid to fail.
Concluding Thoughts
So, dear graduates, remember these rules: work hard, ignore the naysayers, and don’t be afraid to fail. I am sure you will be very successful in all your attempts, whether in business or your personal life.
I hope you will still have some time to relax before you start working as network specialists, system specialists, and application specialists. At least enjoy the summer.
Congratulations! I am wishing you all the best for your journey. Stay safe, stay healthy, and see you soon.