A survival guide to navigate through your first job

Life in college is straightforward and carefree, you study, get marks, make friends, and live in the comfort and security of finding a job and earning money after college.

There are certain dreams and aspirations that students have regarding what life working at a job would be like. They draw inspiration from movies, from their observations of their parents and things they have heard, or their internship experiences.

They imagine a future in which they would work hard, rise through the corporate hierarchy, learn by working on critical projects, manage office politics and make a difference in the world. For some it would just mean having enough money for their family and themselves to live a happy life.

While they do have a theoretical understanding, the first few years can be challenging as the reality is very different. Here are some things you should know before starting your first job to mentally prepare you for the challenges ahead:

Learning and growth are your responsibility

While in college, your teachers and parents might want you to succeed and may be invested in it, at work no one really cares about your growth and progress. If you want to learn, grow, and succeed in your career, you need find a way to do it yourself. You can ask your manager to get assigned to critical projects, understand the entire business model of how the company operates, spend time talking and understanding how things work with colleagues in other department and your manager, read the news and correlate it with your company, read documents properly and analyse data. These are just some of the ways you can manage your own learning. You can also find out the unique techniques your colleagues may have developed to handle a problem. Apart from this you could also take courses on the side to support your journey. The bottom line is that instead of being provided with a pre-set curriculum, you will now have to take responsibility for your own learning.

Understand your manager and the culture of the organisation

Every organisation has a unique working style that is changed and formed over the years. As a newcomer, you need to understand the various processes in place and how work gets done in an organisation. Who has the decision-making power? Does each decision have multiple sign offs from various stakeholders? Are people appreciated for coming up with innovative ideas? Do team members collaborate or is there a competitive environment? These are some of the questions you would want an answer to. The more you observe and talk to people the better.

Make yourself indispensable and make your absence felt

After acquiring the required skillset for the job, you can create a dependence of your manager on you. Make sure to make your absence felt occasionally so that he/ she is aware about the quality and quantity of work you do.

Hard work can only get you so far/ Impression management

While working hard can be great, getting the work acknowledged and getting people to recognise is you probably even more important. It is important that people recognize the work that you do and the ideas that you have. So, make sure to share your ideas in meetings and share mails with important people mentioned. This is an essential part of corporate life and the sooner you realise it, the better your chances of getting the next promotion.

Networking is the most important thing

Always ensure that no matter what you don’t spoil relations with anyone and never indulge in office gossip. You never know who might cause you harm or not be helpful when you need it. What is even more important is to try and build relationships with people from diverse backgrounds in your organisation. Creating mutually beneficial relationships will go a long way in easing the work that you do and gathering crucial insights that will help you in your job.

Time management

Time management is sometimes a struggle initially, especially when you might be overwhelmed by different tasks. This can be managed by carrying a diary and making a note of all the tasks that need to be done. Keep adding tasks as new things come up. You can prioritise by first doing things that are urgent and more important and take lesser time. It is also important to note that multitasking is a myth, and the mind can concentrate on only one task at a time.

Trust yourself and don’t trust anyone at work

While it may seem like everyone is indulging in office gossip, it is never safe to do so unless it is a close friend, and you are certain that he/ she is reliable. Further, make sure to not reveal too much information about your personal life and certain aspects of your professional life such as periods in which you may be relatively free. You never know what information may be used against you.