So, you have graduated or you are about to. Congratulations! But now there are often a few surprises. Some things you don’t expect to happen and they are not always good.
Now, things vary, of course. You may get a break and begin working your dream job straight away. Or you may find “some job” which will provide a nice stepping stone. Or… you may find yourself wondering just what to do now. Especially when the real world breaks the weak structure of most educational systems which don’t prepare you for the current job market.
Here are five things no one tells you to expect after you graduate:
You are not qualified
The sad truth is, if you haven’t really worked in the field you want to develop a career in, you are not qualified enough for it. If you have focused on your studies during school and college, you now have a great knowledge base, but most of it is not really useable in real world job conditions. Companies know this and that’s why more and more of them put experience as a main requirement.
Sadly,
You are not experienced enough
Sure, you’ve done a few internships, but so what? They are merely a way for you to see if this is the sector you want to continue to work in. You still haven’t been in a real world work related situation which you need to solve. Granted, some companies actually do have a really good internship program. Either way, during the internships you will find out that
You need to learn more
A lot more. Sadly, school is not out. You will have to quickly learn a ton of new stuff in order to get up-to-date with the latest trends and happenings in your field. As you do this, you will realize you will have to constantly continue to learn and improve to stay on top of the wave. You will have to develop a hunger for this, otherwise you may be in the wrong career path. And, as you learn the actual things that will help you in your job, you will realize that
Your degree most likely is not really needed
Yep. All those years and you are now working something completely different. Or… it is in the same field but you have learned a ton of new stuff which should have been included in the classes, but wasn’t. And, if you are in the IT industry especially, you will meet many people who are coming from different educations and quite a few that are self-taught. Even so, your time in school was not wasted. You’ve made new contacts, you’ve had some great experiences and valuable life lessons. And you have developed skills which you don’t realize, but will help you in your journey.
You are in the same boat as millions of other people
It all may seem pretty daunting and challenging at first. You will quickly see that other people also feel the same way. This is a universal problem for many educational systems. Hence, why most of them are undergoing major transformations.
So, now that you have realized all of this, what to do? First, keep calm. It’s not the end of the world. Actually, it is the beginning of a great journey with a lot of new opportunities for you. Sit back, take some time to think and set your priorities and desires. Then go after them.
Don’t waste too much time though. According to iCIMS, in Q4 2015, just in the Northeast portion of the US, there were on average 26 applicants for every job filled. Remember, that you are indeed in the same boat as millions of other people. So be quick. Set your priorities, improve your skills and go, go, go! And, if you need even better IT skills, the CourseDot IT training marketplace is here to help.
Image credit: Flickr (CC) / Collin Howley