Going from university straight into the professional working world can come as quite a shock. Trading in three/four years’ worth of exams, essays, lectures, tutorials, parties and late nights for a 9 to 5 job, is something of a drastic lifestyle change. So, as students make the transition, TheKnowledgeAcademy.com have produced five helpful tips to guide and settle them into their next life stage.

Establishing a routine and professionalism
The flexibility your university timetable encompassed probably meant you had a lot of free time between lectures and tutorials each week. This translated to you having the freedom of time to do things as and when you wanted. Jumping away from this and into a structured 40 hour a week job, can require a lot of adjustment. One of the first things to do is ensure you are getting enough sleep – ideally 7 to 8 hours per night – to ensure you are alert and engaged as possible. On top of this, look after your diet and nutrition. You can’t indulge on a combination of snacks, fizzy drinks and takeaways anymore. Instead, have an energetic breakfast, a light lunch and healthy dinner to stay fuelled throughout the day.

In the corporate realm, the importance of timing should not be under appreciated. If you lacked punctuality in university, then leave earlier to get to work on time and ensure you have a planner to record the details (time/location etc) of any meetings/presentations. Likewise, use the planner to keep a track of any deadlines and note any new tasks as they come your way. Lastly, adhere to the professional attire your company wishes you to wear – don’t sneak in funky shirts or casual trainers into the equation.

Differentiating university friends from work colleagues
Forming friendships with those in your workplace will naturally occur. Although, as in all situations, there will be certain people you get along with more than others. Whilst these friendships will aid your job satisfaction and happiness, it’s always important to consider the context in which these relations are formed and built upon.

In a professional environment, it’s a race in which everyone wants to finish first. This means colleagues you consider friends may not always give you due credit or look out for you during turbulent times. With this in mind, don’t rely on anyone else or expect a favour in return for doing something good for them. Instead, be helpful where possible and consistently work hard to produce the best quality work/results at your own merit.

Realising the learning never stops
You might have thought the learning stopped after sitting your last university exam but in reality, it only continues when going into a job role. There is off course knowledge, skills, theories, models, case studies and frameworks which will be applicable from your degree but there will also be a whole host of new information that you will need to pick up on to be competent. Consequently, you will need to do additional research and reading within as well as outside of working hours to get up to speed.

One thing that should not be understated is the importance of keeping up with any developments which are relevant to your industry. This awareness will provide you with great insights to consider when producing projects/reports and the industries potential future direction.

Approaching difficult situations differently
Being put in difficult positions and situations will undoubtedly happen. For instance, you may find yourself working on a team project where everyone is not pulling their weight. At university, the solution to this would be to tell your lecturer, who in turn would give them a lower mark. In the workplace you would need to be considerate of the bigger picture – as it could negatively affect moral and jeopardise any future projects/reports/tasks which could involve collaborating with the culprit(s) in question.

Moreover, you may be unhappy with your intensive workload or angry at the lack of direction from senior figures, but you’ll eventually learn to control your emotions. Instead, you will learn to work with the negatives and impose your own original ideas as well as perspectives for positive change. Eventually, you will also discover the entire scope of the office politics that exists and realise its best to stay away from it all.

Conclusion
Initially, as you make the switch from university to a 9 to 5 job, if may seem difficult. But over time, as you make small changes to your lifestyle, you will smoothly transition into and adapt to the demands of the working world.

Link to ‘The Knowledge Academy’ – https://www.theknowledgeacademy.com/