One potentially destructive message so many students receive as they slog their way through elementary, junior high, and high school, is that all you need is to go to college, then, presto! You’ll instantly qualify for a good-paying job, and you’ll be on easy street for the rest of your life. The trick, they say, is to get into a “good” college (usually meaning one even more expensive than what others already are), and that’s how they dangle the carrot in front of our faces to get good grades.
So, you work hard in class, get good grades, and get into a decent school. But to what end? Even if you graduate and get a marketable degree, you’ll be expected to have at least some experience (read: internships) to truly qualify for most entry-level white-collar jobs. Note that extra-emphasis is on “entry-level”. That’s right. Even with a college degree, you’ll still be starting out at the bottom rung of the ladder.
The thrust of this message that all your hard work to land this job is just the beginning. Once you land that entry-level job, now is the time to really shine, and to do that, you’ll have to work even harder than you have worked before. Hustle to get your work done ahead of time. Show your managers that you are coachable and able to embrace the lessons they teach you. Show that you are willing, indeed, eager, to learn new things. Is there some software they use for which you lack the schooling or experience? That’s fine. This situation arises more often than you would think. All the same, show that you are eager to learn as many programs as you can. In so doing, you will not only grow in your skills, but will gain experience in the process.
And, as we have mentioned time and again here at RGB, marketable skills combined with experience is “king”; the new “coin of the realm” in today’s business world.
Log on to Indeed or CareerBuilder sometime soon. Check out all the jobs in your chosen field that are currently available. Learn about the qualifications for the “good jobs” out there. More importantly, look at how many years of experience the employers require. For many of the attractive jobs out there, it’s usually 3-5 years at the very least.
Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers” (a good, engaging read: I recommend you get a copy) contends time and again that to master a subject, a craft, a trade, or some other occupation, you need to put in 10,000 hours of experience. Do the math: even if you’re constantly at it for eight hours a day, five days a week, for 50 weeks a year, that means a bare minimum of 5 years total, but in reality, it’ll require more than that for most of us to master their chosen occupation. Food for thought.
So, if you want that nice house in that nice neighborhood, it will take time. It will not happen overnight. There will be a struggle. But you’ll gain strength and resilience in the process; you’ll gain in skills and experience as well, and in time, through hard work, focus, discipline and saving, you’ll eventually arrive, first in terms of the “good job” you have always wanted, and then at the nice house you might have always wanted, too. Also, keep in mind that new challenges always arise as you progress through life, challenges in and outside of your career. But we should embrace these challenges, as they are opportunities to gain further strength, be they physical, mental, or career-based. Thus, such challenges should be the prime motivation for all of us to learn and grow together.