Five Things I Learned About the Working World
1. Wearing ties is...frowned upon?
As many of you know, and many of you may not know, I went to a private, Catholic high school. Our dress code was shirt, tie, dress pants and shoes every day. The purpose of the dress code was not only supposed to keep us in a proper mindset to be ready to learn, but it was also implemented with the intention of preparing us for the "real world." So, after four years of it I became very accustomed to wearing a shirt and tie for professional matters. Heck, any time I had to be "fancy," a shirt and tie has since been a must. At every internship I've worked at, I have worn a shirt and tie. I have also been under the presumption that wearing a tie was the proper thing to do. False. This week, one of the first questions I got asked as I entered my new building and new job was, "Why are you wearing a tie?" Now, I'm sure not every workplace is like mine, but I figured as a bigger company they would follow whatever the ubiquitous fashion trend of professional businesses is. A few people told me to not wear a tie. I wore a polo shirt I found stashed in my dresser drawer today and it felt super weird. Welcome to the working world. Where did the "real world" go?
2. Meetings are a requirement you're bound to form a love/hate relationship with.
As an intern, I wasn't ever really required to go to meetings--not too often, anyways. I went to a few here and there just to get the experience, but many times I was told not to worry about going. From last Friday through this Friday, I've been to about ten plus meetings. Some of them have seemed so unnecessary. Others seem necessary but ill-conceived. And others you just find yourself zoning out. While meetings can be a drag they are a necessary component of work life (office work life, at least). It helps keep communication in tact and drive projects forward. The real beauty of meetings, though, comes from the fact that they help cruise your day along. Today, I had an hour meeting and suddenly the weekend didn't seem so far away. Meetings help make the workdays go faster, which isn't a bad thing in my book.
3. Managing your time is really important.
As an intern, I'd often thirst for more work. I would feel such hunger pains from lack of substance in terms of workload it'd drive me to the edge. Other times, I'd feel like I stayed at the buffet for too long. What you learn quickly is that work can often be feast or famine. In that vein, it's not a bad idea to learn quickly how to manage your time. Time management is important in ever aspect of life, but especially in the working world. You have to find the right balance. If you don't manage your time, you can be sacked with too many projects flying your way, which could lead you feeling overwhelmed. Conversely, you could leave yourself with nothing to do. For the second scenario, I know one may say that if you have nothing to do you should ask because doing so will get you good remarks and maybe help move you up the food chain faster. This may be true, but it could also backfire and cause too high of expectations that are going to bound you to failure. From my sense of things, it's best to keep a steady pace. Get things done in a timely manner, but don't overdo it. If you do, it could lead to some troubling times. Sometimes, you have what's in front of you and think long term.
4. Communication is key.
This point is a good follow up to the last, I think. Besides being an efficient and effective worker, do you want to know how to really impress people? Be a good communicator. This week I had to work on a lot of projects that involved routing back and forth between various people. I made sure to answer every email, send frequent (but not overly frequent) updates, and route quickly. I swear, it sometimes felt like I was re-inventing the wheel. I wasn't getting overly praised by any means, but I just got the sense that people were impressed at how effective I was at doing a job I had no training for and basically was rushed into. (This week, I subbed for a worker while I wait for my position to start). Seriously, though, just being keeping good communication in tact can really separate you from other co-workers in a good way. By sending the extra email if you think someone possibly forgot about a past project, email, question, etc. you can look like you're way on top of things. It makes for a better workflow and is vital for success in the workplace.
5. It's as volatile as you imagine.
If you have been immersed into a work environment at all, you'll get this point early on, but it's worth noting nonetheless. It's amazing how quiet and orderly a place can be at one moment then how loud and hectic it can be at the next. People need to chat, fool around, and have fun to keep their sanity. I'm happy that's still a thing in a work environment. I really do think without the minor spikes in humor, conversation, random donut breaks, etc people would go insane. I know if I don't distract myself once in awhile I would. Seriously, though, it's hard to get a read on what a "normal" workplace is. One minute you're hard pressed for deadlines the next you're celebrating a different project's completion. I already knew and understood the volatile nature of grownup work from past experiences (like how quickly people can be let go). What makes this a learning experience is the amount of people that left this week. It may not seem like a ton, but in the matter of the week we lost three people from our general group, which is somewhat astounding to me and shows how volatile it really is. Yesterday, one lady was showing me around the building, giving me suggestions on where to find things, and telling me about her passion for tennis. This morning I came in and found out she decided to quit. It just makes you realize how even calm waters aren't safe.
I'm not sure where this adventure will take me, but I can tell you it will be an adventure.
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