Embarking on the journey from college to the professional world is both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. From honing essential skills to learning how to go with the flow, this is go-to guide for indispensable advice before stepping into the dynamic realm of full-time work post-college, ensuring you kickstart your career with confidence and success.

The learning curve never ends.

In college, you mainly learn the soft skills and general knowledge required of your field. Because of that, there’s a learning curve with acquiring the hard skills of the role, like catching on to systems and software, as well as adapting to company norms and lingo, and if you’re a Mac user like me, learning how to operate a Windows computer.

“Be water, my friend.” – Bruce Lee

Don’t get attached to your work friends or your current position. The company and people will ultimately do what’s best for them, and as they should. Change is bound to happen, so just learn to flow like water and be open to the inevitable.

The 9-5 Mentality

Another adjustment that comes with working a full-time job is building up your mental capacity to be ‘on’ and perform at a high capacity for hours at a time without many breaks. Just already be prepared to be exhausted for the first few months you start working.

Setting Yourself Apart Early

Since it takes time to learn the hard skills, coming into the role with a few solid soft skills that are specific to a work environment, like knowing how to read a room and staying organized, will signal that you know your stuff even if you are still in training.

GET YOUR PEN AND PAPER READY!!!

A habit that will set you up for success is writing as much as you can down. It’s easier than you think for tasks and important information to fall through the cracks, and you want to bring your A-game. Because of that, a planner and notebook are must-haves.

Channel Your Inner Tony Robbins

At this point, you’re already expected to be comfortable with giving out presentations and speaking up in meetings. Take all of the low-stake public speaking opportunities you can beforehand – even giving the blessing at Thanksgiving could help you make strides in this area.

Taking Radical Responsibility

Work is very different from school in many ways, but one of the most stark contrasts is how our efforts are evaluated. While in school we’re given a grade on how accurate our comprehension stands against what was taught, in work it’s more of a grey area because you sometimes can’t quickly tell when you made a mistake. Whether you realize you messed up or not, you still have to take ownership of your actions. Be sure to ask as many clarifying questions as needed before starting and completing a task as needed if you’re unsure of how to proceed.

The Work Wardrobe

This is less of a piece of advice and more of an observation that the dots have finally connected after years of wondering. Oftentimes, it’s easier to tailor your work clothes to your everyday life than trying to make your everyday clothes fit into your job, and that’s why adults always seem to look so put together when you see them out in public.

Lastly, getting impostor syndrome is inevitable, but don’t forget that you got the job for a reason, and are more capable than you think yourself to be!! You got this.

💘 Hanna