As kids we always wish to be grown-ups. As students we are constantly thinking about the day we will have no deadlines and exams to meet and can't wait for that dream job that will bring us all the money we have studied for. As cliché as it may sound, we always wish for what we don't have and once we get it we discover it doesn't make us that happy.
The same goes for jobs. When you first enter the workforce you are most likely very enthusiastic and eager to learn all the wonderful perks of having a job, such as your own desk and computer, independence and enough money for a gym subscription. You are particularly excited to adopt that chic allure that all men and women hurrying at lunch time have and discover the mysterious routines and language of the office space. And then the day comes when you actually get to have all of that and you realise it's not all it's cracked up to be.
Be it because you realise the job is not really what you had in mind or simply because the transition into work life is tougher than you expected, I don't think it's uncommon for graduates to find working life a bit depressing. I had to deal with plenty of changes myself and I am still working to perfect this process of adaption while figuring out my next steps. Based on my own experiences, I've compiled a list of a few things I have learned so far:
Don't be a drama queen
I'm saying this from my own experience because I sometimes (quite often, in fact) tend to take things too seriously. For example, at my previous internship I was asked to revise and finish a deck (a kind of corporate literature document that describes what a company is and does) that was supposed to be used in a proposal for a client. Corporate writing was something I have never had to deal with ever before but eventually I managed to do it by imagining I am an executive director who has done it a hundred times. All of a sudden the childish game of pretending has turned into a stress relief which switched my attention from the obstacle towards the goal. So don't be too harsh on yourself and try to laugh when you feel life strikes hard. It's important to let a bit of play in our lives, after all we do live in the age of gamification.
Kill the fear
I don't know about the rest of the world out there but I personally get really scared of the unknown. I've always been the one with the plan and whenever I was faced with a problem I haven't encountered before my first reaction was to panic. After being in such situations a few times, I get the hang of it and start to actually enjoy the rush of adrenalin. One example would be the time I had to move out of my house because my lifestyle has changed completely from my flatemates' who were still students. All of a sudden I found myself alone in one of the greatest cities of the world having to look for a place that I can call home. It was a scary experience but in the end it lead to an amazing house not far away from the place I used to live, which brought me all the peace I needed in order to deal with my new schedule. I managed to kill two birds with one shot: keeping my old friends close and building awesome relationships with new people as well.
Be flexible
This is something we should apply in all aspects of our lives. As human beings we like to think a lot (sometimes a bit too much) and start imagining all sorts of stories for ourselves, particularly ideal situations that we would like to be in. And, as this blog post argues, life keeps on disappointing us by giving us something totally different from what we wished for. It's up to us to let go of our expectations and accept the challenges ahead. When I started my first internship I was expecting a different type of task work because at the interview my mind was already creating scenarios with how I will fit my skills to the workload. As a result first day in the office really took me by surprise because there were so many different things I had to get learn from scratch in order to get to use the skills I learned in university. And then I realised that with flexibility you can easily use your knowledge across platforms and come up with a totally new set of skills: so when life gives you lemons start making lemonade.
Turn an obstacle into a lesson
We measure success and happiness by the number of feel good moments we have. I say the most successful experiences lie precisely in our failures – because they are the ones from which we learned most and forced us into improving ourselves. One of my frustrations during my first job was the fact that I was much slower at performing tasks that others did in half the time simply because I was not familiar with the programs they were using. But with just a bit of patience and perseverance I was able to pick up their tricks and, in some cases, come up with a better solution. Whenever I was going through a rough phase I felt like it's something I would never be able to overcome and yet here I am, stronger than ever and looking forward to life's next challenges.
Keep your eyes open for office politics
When the pressure of finding a job was finally off my shoulders, I decided to start investing some energy into observing what my colleagues do. I knew how important the relationship with your co-workers is, although people tend to forget that. When looking for a job we are mostly interested in compensation, work load, and location and we forget how important it is to get along with the people we will be sharing most of our time with. According to various environmental psychology research studies, the environment in which you work has a great impact on your levels of productivity. This is why moguls like Google and Apple are looking to provide their employees with the most amazing working space, hoping it will provide inspiration for the most innovative ideas. So take this into account when first starting a job, learn your office's dynamics in order to get accustomed, feel comfortable and collaborate with your co-workers.
Andreea Magdalina is a community manager and multimedia analyst. Find her on Tumblr here and Twitter as @trrpaipai.
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