College Prepares You to Get a Job.

But Who Prepares You for What Comes Next?

Your first job is only the beginning.

The early years of your career are filled with decisions no college course fully prepares you to make:

How do you speak confidently in meetings?
How do you build relationships with leaders?
How do you handle difficult managers or workplace conflict?
When should you negotiate, stay, leave, or ask for more?
How do you build a career without losing yourself along the way?

The First Five was created to close that gap.

Build Your Career With Intention

The First Five helps you develop the skills, confidence, relationships, and career strategy needed to make your first five years count.

You will learn how to:

  • Communicate with confidence and credibility

  • Build executive presence early in your career

  • Navigate workplace expectations and office dynamics

  • Develop mentors, sponsors, and professional relationships

  • Advocate for yourself, your ideas, and your compensation

  • Handle feedback, conflict, setbacks, and difficult conversations

  • Make thoughtful decisions about jobs, promotions, and career moves

  • Create a professional reputation that opens doors

What You Will Receive

As a member of the Founding Cohort, you will receive:

  • Interactive sessions held every other week

  • Practical career tools and real-world workplace guidance

  • The First Five career playbook

  • Access to experienced mentors and professional leaders

  • A supportive network of women entering the workforce alongside you

  • Opportunities to ask the questions you may not feel comfortable asking at work

  • Strategies you can use throughout your first five years—and beyond

Who Should Apply?

The First Five is designed for women graduating from college who are:

  • Preparing for internships, interviews, or their first full-time role

  • Ambitious but unsure how to navigate the professional world

  • Interested in leadership and long-term career growth

  • Looking for practical guidance beyond traditional career advice

  • Ready to build a strong professional network before graduation

You do not need to have your entire career figured out.

You only need to be ready to take the next step with intention.

For Universities and Student Organizations

The First Five complements the work of university career centers, women’s leadership programs, sororities, professional organizations, and student success teams.

Universities and organizations can help by sharing the program with qualified women or inviting The First Five to provide an introductory session for students.

Meet the Founder

Christy Burnham

Christy Burnham created The First Five after more than 20 years of experience in business intelligence, data, technology, consulting, and organizational leadership.

Throughout her career, she saw talented young women enter the workforce with strong degrees and enormous potential—but without access to the practical guidance, relationships, and workplace knowledge that often determine who moves forward.

The First Five was created to make that guidance accessible before young women have to learn every lesson the hard way.

Email: Christy.Burnham@thefirstfive.net

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christy-burnham/

Your First Five Years Can Shape Your Entire Career

You do not have to navigate them alone.

Join a community of ambitious women, experienced mentors, and leaders committed to helping you enter the workforce with confidence, clarity, and a plan.

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