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This chapter is part of a book that examines the generic abilities that have become so important in determining what makes both a good employee and a successful learner. It is argued that the process of acquiring these abilities is a lifelong process. In this chapter, the author focuses on generic attributes as experienced by a group of new graduates in their first couple of years of work. The graduates were from a medium-sized Australian university and had studied commerce, law, arts, information technology, computer science, and engineering. A 'reflection on critical incidents' approach was used to enable novice professionals to identify a number of clusters of generic capacities in relation to success in the workplace. These capacities were seen by the graduates as important for a number of reasons including helping to underpin and clarify daily work routines, conducting technical/technological aspects of their work, and enabling them to deal confidently with unexpected or challenging situations.