I have a buddy that is going to be giving some presentations to high-schoolers. Specifically he asked:

• What would you be looking for if they approached you about work?
• Perhaps you are in that age group right now. What do you want to know?
• Perhaps you are just a few years into the workforce. What do you wish someone had told you but never did?
• Perhaps you have children, relatives or friends in or soon to be in that age group. What are you worried they don't know about?
• I'm sure there are other perspectives and questions I'm not even thinking about. I'd like to hear what you have to say about it.

Here was my list:

• Don't be afraid to try! Don't let the perception that something is too difficult stop you from experimenting.
• Curiosity may have killed the cat, but an un-inquisitive person is mostly useless.
• Stolen from Einstein: You don't really understand something until you can explain it to your grandmother.
• It's never enough to be smart, you also have to work well with others.
• Before you can be really smart, you must learn how to learn.
• There will always be someone smarter than you are -- Become their buddy! Get to know great minds and learn all you can. Some knowledge can only be expressed this way.
• Communication, Communication, Communication! Projects rarely fail because of technical reasons and the difference between good programmers and outstanding programmers is how well they communicate.
• A good work ethic never goes unnoticed.
• Know when to ask for help and when to figure something out for yourself.