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Securing a full-time role after graduation is the goal you’ve been striving to achieve your entire academic career. However, once your new role begins, the transition can feel overwhelming and be a shock to the system. Corporate work environments are different from campus cultures, and knowing how to navigate this change can be challenging. Here are some of the reasons this transition is difficult and tips on how to navigate it.
Schedule Flexibility
In college, each semester you got to select your courses and build a weekly schedule that you largely got a say in. Some mandatory classes were only available at select times, but you still had a lot of liberty in how you wanted your schedule to look. Now that you’re working full-time, that schedule flexibility is gone. Your schedule is now a strict 9 AM to 5 PM, or some variation close to this. It can be jarring at first to work the same schedule day after day, week after week, with no change in sight.
One way to ease this transition is to create a schedule within your schedule. This can look like 90-minute time blocks during your day to work on a specific task. Once those 90 minutes are up, allow yourself a short break, and then switch to your next task for 90 minutes. Doing this mimics a class schedule, with one topic being the focus for 90 minutes, and getting to switch to a new task or topic afterwards. This also makes the eight-hour workday feel less daunting when you think about it as four to five different time blocks. Depending on your specific workload, these time blocks may be shorter or longer, but dissecting your day into shorter periods where you focus on one thing at a time will help you make this adjustment to a full-time schedule.
Another way to handle this is by trying to find flexibility where you can. Talk with your manager and see if there are any options for an adjusted schedule, with the ability to come in earlier and leave earlier in the day. You can also see if working hybrid is an option for you. Even if the answer ends up being “no,” you won’t know your options unless you ask.
Project Structure
Projects in college came with a rubric that outlined all of the requirements for the assignment. This made the end goal and the steps needed to get there incredibly clear. Projects in your full-time role look different. While the end goal and deadline are clear, the steps needed to get there might not be.
If you find yourself in this situation with an open-ended or ambiguous task, create your own step-by-step action plan. For example, let’s say you need to complete two blogs in time for the company newsletter to go out. Outlining the steps to get there can look like 1) Brainstorm topic ideas and decide what direction to take the blogs. 2) Research the topics and create an outline with the key points you want to include. 3) Write the articles, optimize for SEO, and get the required approvals before incorporating it into the newsletter. Doing this takes a task and breaks it down into smaller steps that you can accomplish.
Community
When you start working at a company where you don’t know anyone, it’s easy to feel alone. Unlike college, where you were constantly amongst your peers in the dorms or classroom, sitting alone at your desk can feel isolating. Even when a task requires collaboration with your team, if you haven’t established rapport with them, you won’t feel close to them.
Building a community at work takes some effort, but doing so can lead to more job satisfaction. Start slowly by building a better professional relationship with your manager. Over time, you will become more comfortable working with them and feel like you have someone in your corner.
Seek out other opportunities to get to know your colleagues, whether that be through happy hours, company events, or coffee chats. While networking is important professionally, on a personal level, it’s also important to connect with the people you work with on a regular basis. You don’t need to divulge your deepest, darkest secrets, but being able to talk to your peers about yourself and your life will help establish a sense of community at work.
Transitioning from campus to corporate can be a bit of a culture shock. Use these tips to ease this transition and be successful in your first role post-grad.
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