Life after college
According to a new college survey, many graduates are facing difficulties after they left school. Of course getting a job is a priority but even graduates who have job also having difficulty because life after college is not simple as expected. For over 16 years, these students went to school and did well but now they must do something completely different and many are not prepared for it. The start of any career is exciting but also confusing because many do not know what to expect.
Graduates will realize that working life is different than university life. Graduates will be working with a much wider range of people in the workplace. Some are college educated but many are not. At university students work in teams with other students who are roughly the same age with similar interests. But at work, this is not the case: graduates will find people of all ages, some younger as they do not go to college and many are much older, including some who are ready to retire. These people often have had a much wider range of experiences and expectations. The company that you are working for is a small reflection of the society itself with diverse motivations and attitudes. The most difficult challenge is to work out how to get along with this wide range of people on a daily basis.
People go to work with different attitudes. If your co-workers have been working at the company for many years and now are focused on supporting their family, their view of the projects, extra working hours and schedules may be not the same with newly graduates who want to work hard at their first job. If your co-workers are new graduates like you, they will have different attitudes as competition is common among new hires. If your co-workers have been working for few years but do not have the current knowledge and skills, they may see you as a threat to their positions. Even you want to prove that you are capable to do the work for the team you are joining, you need to be sensitive. You must learn to observe and listen to see how you can contribute to the team.
In most companies, daily work is more routine with less variety than school works. You must learn to be patient as you want to be part of a team. A graduate student once complained to me: "I did not know that I have to write code most of the times, then test others people's works. I cannot go out to a Coffee shop with friends during work time. Now I missed school where we often skip classes and spent hours in a coffee shop or playing videogames.” Of course, at school you are responsible only to yourself. You can skip class whenever you want or come late. Although there are quizzes but there is always "easy" professor who will accept your excuse and allow for a “make up”. But at work, everything is strictly controlled; you have certain working hours that determine when you go to work and when you can leave, five days a week. If you skip works or being late, you may not be able to keep your job because there is “no excuse” for such behavior.
At school, you may be the top student because you read more and learn more. You are respected by your classmates as you always have the highest scores in exams. Perhaps you even are well known in your school for your other talents. However, at work you know nothing about the company, or about the way the project operates. Your theoretical knowledge may not even be applicable to the job. No one knows you or respects you yet and you feel uncomfortable. Learning to work with different people is an endless task, you will learn a lot as you work but it also helps build your characters as you manage your works accordingly. This is where a good career plan is helpful as it will identify all the necessary steps that you must do to move upwards. You will need to identify problems and suggest some solutions to your managers. You will learn to improve things even when it is not your direct responsibility and prove that you are capable to do more.
For 16 years in school, you move up from one class to another according to your grades. Unless you are lazy or very bad student who fail to advance to another level most students do move up with minimum effort. But at work, promotion is never automatic. You will learn quickly that technical skills are your foundation. The stronger your skills, the better you will be able to keep your job but it is the soft-skills that elevate you to the next position. After a few years, you are familiar with all the technical works then it is time to volunteer for some extra works. You should learn how to talk to your manager and explain what you would like to do or suggest some new ideas. You will learn what your managers want or expect you to do. You will learn quickly that you must understand your assignments and schedule to set priorities. You learn to get the job done on time, if that means extra works, extra time, you must do it to build a reputation that you are a hard worker. You will learn that doing a good job is not enough but you must pay attention to things that is going on around you. You must let managers know the good job you are doing by spending more time with both your co-workers and your managers even after works.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
