First Year Of Full-Time: Adjusting Tips & More
Now, looking back at my first year at my first full-time position, I see it as an incredible journey. It took some effort to adjust to the new phase of my life—new routine, new environment, new expectations. Having worked as an intern during my undergrad, I had an idea of what to expect; my internship experience helped in easing the transition. However, certain things were difficult, including changes in time management, social skills, professional skills, and expectations from both the employer and myself
One of the hardest changes has been to realize that I’m no longer a student or an intern, but a professional. What I do, how others perceive me and how I present myself is much different and more mature now. As a professional, I have certain rights, obligations and expectations to meet. I believe that recognizing this is the first step toward adjusting to work life.
The work environment can be very challenging and different from school life. Time management is very important; meeting and working around deadlines can be tricky. As well, depending on the type of job, you could be working within a team or individually. This can be hard to adjust to, so discussing the matter with your supervisor is a good idea.
Also, a lot of employers and supervisors have high expectations for their new hires. However, realizing that the grad is fresh out of school and has limited practical, real-life experience may help in establishing realistic goals and expectations for both parties. Depending on the position and the employer, some technical or professional training may be provided. In most cases, however, training is on-the-go. This may put a lot of pressure on you to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible. If your supervisor offers training references, manuals or courses, you should take advantage of them.
Communication skills are very important as well. Writing professional correspondence and reports, and giving presentations are common requirements in the workplace. It may be hard at the beginning to adjust to the appropriate level of language and terminology used in the workplace, but practice definitely helps. You might consider having a trusted coworker or even your manager or supervisor look over your writing and provide feedback at first.
What helped me during my first year was having a work buddy, someone in a similar job who had been with the organization for a while. At my first job, my work buddy was assigned to me immediately. My buddy helped me greatly in answering all my questions, concerns and anything that I was not able to direct to my supervisor. However, not all employers offer this system. An alternative is to ask your manager or supervisor to assign a go-to coworker, someone who can guide you and generally help make your adjustment easier and faster.
Also, being hired with a group helped a lot. Because we all attended a similar orientation program, there were others going through the same experiences as I was. It made things seem not so foreign and gave me someone to share with and be friends with. This definitely helped at the beginning when everything and everyone was new and there was so much to learn and do.
Finally, it’s good to start the year by having a defined set of goals and expectations. This will help you map out a path and establish a career plan to work towards. It will also enable you to identify the skills required to meet your targets at the end of the year.
by Zahraa Al-Ali