Working in an organization can teach you several things. As you get accustomed to a new organization or firm, you get to learn the office culture and also get to learn about the office politics. A person new to an office first tries to identify who are the influential members in the office. He makes contacts based on his judgment. The scenario is quite different when you are starting to work. You are a fresh lad, just out of school or college, and you are too excited to prove your skills and abilities. Your mindset is quite different from the people around you and it is your first job that fine-tunes your mind and tames you to suit the corporate environment. Check out the different facts you learn from the first job.
The First Job – Lessons Everyone Should Learn:
1. Qualification is just the beginning:
A lad who is just out of his schooling thinks that now he is free and does not need to learn anymore. He has the qualification and certifications required for the particular job type so he walks in confidently dreaming of getting work done and enjoying the whole feeling.
The reality is quite different. It is when you start working in an organization for the first time that you realize the complex work life and the challenges you need to handle. You cannot boast of the qualification and getaway when you are asked to complete a task and you are unable to do it.
The first job becomes the eye-opener and the lad soon realizes that the degrees and qualifications just open the gate to a whole new world.
2. Office is yet another school:
You leave a school or college with the joy of getting rid of regulations and restrictions completely. You do not have to wear any more uniforms and you do not have any rules to follow.
Once you join an organization, you realize that there is a dress code you need to abide by. You have restrictions on the number of breaks you can take. You need to be on time everyday to office otherwise it may affect your salary directly.
The organization you join is another school that teaches you a whole new trade. Just like the open day in school, you have regular reviewing in huge organizations and you can never really escape the scrutiny.
3. Learning never stops:
Human beings are born to learn at every stage of their life and the first job is a significant landmark in the learning process. The first job teaches you the trade but that is just a part of the whole thing. It also teaches you work ethics.
You learn in your first organization how you must deal with people. There are separate guidelines when you have to deal with seniors and when you have to deal with clients.
The first job also helps you understand the significance of the job you are doing and helps you explore the various alternatives present in your career.
4. Boss can sometimes be wrong:
In school and in college, you have only learnt to obey your seniors and follow the guidelines as it is. Your teachers or your seniors can never be wrong. The scenario in offices is quite different. Here you need to understand the basic fact that bosses are also as human as you and they may also make mistakes in judgment just like you.
If you think your boss is making a wrong decision, it becomes your duty to explain the right course of action in a manner that does not annoy him. If you are able to convince the seniors what is right without upsetting them, you may not find it difficult to ascend the career ladder.
5. Impression matters a lot:
Even in schools and colleges, you may have known the importance of a good impression in getting things straight. When you are a student, teachers are not allowed to be biased and there will be a limit to partiality and bias.
The scenario can be quite different in organizations where you work. If bosses are impressed by someone, they have the complete liberty to reveal this liking by promoting the favourite candidate.
The risk is more in organizations where your boss is the owner and founder. Impressions matter a lot at every stage of your career and you need to learn the art of making a good impression at the very beginning.
6. Contacts count later:
Till you enter a corporate environment, people are just relations for you. It is once you enter the world of business that you start looking at each person as a probable client or a possible career opportunity. As you get in touch with more and more people, you realize that contacts matter a lot in job life.
A good employee referral can help you get a job in a huge organization and at a higher position. You learn to maintain contact and start speaking cautiously as you never know when you are going to need someone. The people who progress in their careers are individuals who know to maintain good professional contacts.
7. First salary negotiations decide your future:
Many people realize this fact very late and can barely do anything about it. Your first job salary is taken as a standard when you switch jobs and the hike provided is a hike on this basic salary.
If you fail to negotiate with your employers in the first job for a decent salary, you lose a great opportunity and tend to earn lower than the industry standard. In an interview, you must be able to reveal a decent salary expectation when asked ho much salary do you expect.
Many people fall bait to the trap put by recruiters and agree on a meager salary hoping to be promoted later. This prevents them from progressing in their career later.
8. Attitude:
In school and college, students usually have a laid back life and a casual approach. You really don’t have to worry in school or college as it is just the matter of a couple of grades. It does not hamper your living in any way.
It is when you first start working with an organization that you start being serious about the tasks you handle. Your existence in the organization depends on the quality of the work you do. If you underperform, the organization will fire you. This underlying fear makes you have a more serious attitude towards life once you join an organization.
9. Details matter:
You need to have an eye for detail when you are working for a firm or an organization. Your workplace may take even your minor mistakes too seriously. You do not have the option to blame the mistakes on the people around you.
Firms don’t usually give a second chance and you need to be very careful when you handle a task. Your first job will teach you to take the minor details seriously. You can never let an mail or a communication escape your eye.
You are now shouldering responsibility and you can never give excuses. It is your job that teaches you to be extra cautious.
10. Money is not everything:
Most of us yearn to start working because wish to earn money that we may spend on our daily pleasures. Money is a major deciding factor even when you are choosing a career.
Once you enter the corporate world, things start changing gradually. You start spending a major chunk of your life at the office and you soon realize that there is much more to a job than just money.
Only people who enjoy their tasks can actually survive in their organization. Love for the work you do counts a lot when you have to select a job. Another thing that counts equally is the work environment. A person can flourish in his career only when there is a healthy and happy work environment.
11. Lack of choice:
You must have had subjects in school that you really hated. You may have skipped the lectures for these subjects and just scraped through the examinations. In schools, it was fine even if you scraped through.
The corporate world expects excellence at every stage. You cannot avoid tasks that you despise as you really have no choice in a work environment.
You need to handle all the tasks assigned to you and make sure they are executed without any errors. The lack of choice and the burden it brings are things you experience from the time you join your first job.
Conclusion:
School and college years are always fun as you get time with your friends and loved ones. You have to deal with conservative parents and restrictions in school but they are really flexible and they are imposed on you for your safety.
The corporate world is very different. The rules of the corporate world are made based on profit. The moment the firm realizes you are not an asset to the firm, the organization does not waste any time to reveal the same to you.
You spend a maximum of your time in office and if you fail to adjust to the office environment, you fail greatly in your career. The ball game of a money-oriented business community can only be understood when you join your first job.
