Here is something that’s rarely discussed: the real world post-grad. You’ve been so comfortable living the life of a student. You have every excuse to live at home, avoid paying bills, not have a real world job because you’re focusing on school. When people ask what you do, you say “I’m a student,” and that answer is as good as any. But, once you’ve graduated, you shift into a new lifestyle that you haven’t experienced in 15+ years… you’re no longer a student.
Welcome to life after college. Welcome to the plethora of opportunities and future experiences that aren’t available to you while you’re a student. It can be intimidating but yet exciting because you’ll never really know what to expect.
“When babies turn 2-years-old, they can be really difficult because they are figuring out how to be independent from their parents. When students are in their 20s they are kind of doing the same thing only bigger. They are trying to figure out how to be independent in the whole big world.”
Andrea Bard, professor of communication at SNHU
This transition involves changes in your daily living arrangements, routines, and overall shift of mindset from student to a professional. There’s no more studying or homework to be done and what happens after work? You feel this need to get something done but… you don’t have anything due. It’s a satisfying yet strange feeling.
A year before I graduated, I landed my dream job. At the time, I thought I had it all figured out. I was ready to shift from long study nights to a full-time profession. Little did I know, I was walking into a world full of surprises.
My Life After College
My life after college started early, my senior year at The University of Texas at El Paso, when I got the opportunity of a lifetime. I spent a summer in Chicago, lived in a paid-for apartment downtown and gained real-world experience as an Engineering intern all while getting paid. I was the only Hispanic woman in the company and jumped in with zero work experience. I will forever be thankful for this opportunity because it gave me a taste for life after college before life after college.
School does not teach you how to handle feeling insecure when working alongside brilliant individuals. It doesn’t teach you how to deal with confusion when sitting in meetings. Much less, as a minority. Only real-world experience does. This experience taught me to be confident, trust my knowledge and be honest about my confusion.
Returning to school after a summer of working as a professional, I became a student of time management, organization, productivity, goal-setting, personal growth and leadership. I started reading books on setting goals for myself and continued working up the ladder until I reached my 2nd internship, then my 3rd, then my 4th, then my 5th and finally… graduate with my class of Spring 2021.
Throughout my college career, I was motivated by achievement.
By the time I was walking across the stage to earn my degree, I had already tackled some of my biggest personal life goals, including moving away from my hometown to a big city, living in a high rise apartment with a city view, work for a major tech company, all while building and growing an online tech community where I can share my personal experience being a minority in the tech industry.
I’ve been out in the real world for 5 internships and 7 months as a full-time Engineer and I’m still learning to put myself out there in the workplace by trusting my knowledge and owning the lack thereof.
The Workplace
As a recent college graduate in the workplace, you will feel lost and a bit intimidated. Similar to an internship, only with the added pressure of knowing you’re a full-time employee now 🙂 As an intern, you’re allowed to sit in meetings, take notes, not say a word and take in what everyone is saying. As a full-time employee, you’re expected to sit in meetings, contribute, give feedback, review code (for us coders) and soon enough, lead these meetings.
For us overachievers, you’ll wonder if you’re doing enough. Although, you can’t do much as a new employee. You can only learn so much about a new team when joining. That is why the onboarding process at most tech companies is 6-8 months. You can not expect to contribute to a team as much as a person who has been there for years does. You can not expect to know as much as everyone else on the team does. As a recent college graduate, you are at the bottom of the professional food chain… but, that’s not a bad thing!
As a new fish in the pond, you have every right to feel insecure when working with people who are creating the metaverse. You have every right to be confused when joining a new team and learning about the team goals/deadlines/projects. You have every right to ask all kinds of questions! As an intern you’re expected to learn as much as possible. As a recent college graduate, you’re expected to onboard to the team at your own pace and begin to contribute as you go.
Confidence
Being a new hire should not intimidate you. You were hired. The job is yours. When you become aware that you know just enough to be where you are, you will start to carry yourself with confidence. Be confident about what you don’t know. Be confident about your knowledge. Be confident that you’re a new grad starting your first job.
Optimism
If you fill yourself with positivity and perspective, it’ll show in your work. Positive feedback is good. Constructive criticism is better. Taking on new projects is good. Switching teams is good. Any experience in your career is a positive experience to the professional you are becoming.
Self Awareness
Where do I need to improve? What am I good at? Have I asked for feedback recently? These are a few examples of questions you should be asking yourself along your onboarding journey. Recently, I made a list of how to become a better engineer. I’m aware of the areas I can improve on and I prioritize them to make sure I’m moving forward. Self awareness is asking yourself, how am I doing?
The Real World
The real world doesn’t allow you to re-take an interview if you fail it. It doesn’t allow you to head into office hours when you’re feeling confused or ask for extra credit if you miss a deadline. There’s no exams to determine your knowledge and performance. It’s just you, figuring it out as you go – picking yourself up after rejections, researching and asking questions, breaking things (for us coders) and taking in as much as possible to grasp complex ideas and continue flourishing.
Early career years are tough. Whether you graduate with a job lined up for yourself or you graduate with no idea what the next step is. We are all just trying to figure out where we fit in. This is the time to focus on the big picture of your life and not just the details. There is no manual for the real world. Everyone does what works for them. Change is constant. Change is good. Life after college is the journey of personal exploration and growth opportunities.
Beyond the everyday aspects of adjusting to life on your own, starting a career, figuring out how to manage your money and maintaining your relationships, life after college is about realizing you’re in the driver’s seat, and that you have full responsibility for your life from here on out.
Jenny Blake, author
The best parts about life after college are the endless opportunities, the inspiring and brilliant people you will meet, the ones you will look up to, the ones you will learn from, the skills you will strengthen, the promotions you will earn and the professional you’ll grow into. It’s a fascinating world that you can’t prepare for. You simply have to dive into it.
Take everything you learned in those 15+ years of academia, plus what you will continue learning every day and carry yourself with confidence. And once you’re a college graduate at a new job and have achieved that first career goal, don’t forget to begin working towards the next one.
Get in, we’re taking on the world! 🚘
