Graduate Development Programs

After College: Making the Transition to Work

The nature of work and study have much in common to begin with, but the differences become evident very quickly as you settle into your graduate program.

The differences stem from the purpose of each:

- Work requires you to learn a skill and add value by repeatedly applying the newly acquired skill.
- Studying requires you to learn something new, prove you have learnt it and then move onto something new.

The repetitive and structured nature of work does take some understanding and requires acceptance because it exists in every job you will ever take on. Even if you are a project based professional such as a consultant, architect, engineer etc where no two assignments are exactly the same, the process you engage to address the assignment will soon enough resemble a repetitive pattern.

Structure is the basis of every commercial discipline and it is incorporated into every productive process, especially if it is done well. In fact many successful companies work to establish their own “best-practice” frameworks, whilst allowing enough flexibility for situational differences.

For example, working in a finance function will require weekly, monthly quarterly, bi-annual and annual processes to be followed to fulfil the reporting requirements of the business.

On the other hand, a consultant may work on an assignment ranging from 6 weeks to more than a year, so it may take longer for a repetitive pattern to emerge. For project based professionals, it will usually take 2-3 assignments, the average length of which is likely to be around 3-6 months.

The first few months of starting your graduate position will resemble the steep learning curve that you encounter when beginning a new course or subject at university. However, your career will demand more of you physically, emotionally and will come to dominate your life. It is how we spend most of our waking hours, so it makes sense to thoroughly prepare for it.

In most instances you will be taking plenty of direction before you can undertake a piece of work or even a section of a larger piece. In these months, your biggest challenge is to remember everybody’s name, wake up on time each day and fight the ravenous hunger you will no doubt experience by 10.30 in the morning.

Slowly the pendulum will move away from guiding you and there will be an increased emphasis on expecting you to deliver outcomes. This transition will look something like this:

-    1st Month: Honeymoon. Expectations are low on delivery, though you may be thrown into the deep at some companies.
-    2nd Month: Balance between guidance and expectations
-    3rd Month: The training wheels come off and you are expected to be able to work unsupervised for the most part.

In the next post, we will be defining your objectives in the initial stages of your career in order for you to set a platform for career progression.

Be sure you don’t miss out! Remember to subscribe by clicking here