Whether you’ve been juggling business and study at the same time, or you are in the final year of your education before you go into that big wide world, there is that overriding sense of enthusiasm at play.
We can feel that we’ll accomplish anything and everything, but anybody that’s gone back to education later in life, although they have experienced some aspects of work, may find themselves unwittingly compromising themselves for the sake of their career, but also feeling that they need to push themselves beyond their capabilities at the very beginning.
While starting in the world of work can be exciting, it can also be daunting, so here are a few things to remember about yourself as you embark on this journey.
Understand Your Boundaries
The fact is that we should remember that there are boundaries that we should set for ourselves and never cross them. We also need to understand what our personal boundaries are, because if we overstep them, this is when detrimental things like burnout and illness can occur.
Be absolutely sure of your capabilities, emotionally and psychologically, earlier on, but also think about what types of careers and organisations actually foster that almighty term they call “work-life balance.” This is why finding flexible working roles can be an absolute lifesaver.
If you’re starting a job as soon as you finish education, you should look at establishing a healthy work-life balance and remember that there are rules in place to ensure that you are working at your best, which is why a little bit of HR knowledge can certainly go a long way!
Embracing a Learning Mindset
Starting a new job is a steep learning curve, and we need to be very aware of this. Approach each day with curiosity and openness, but also remember that those first couple of months can be an absolute shock to the system in so many different ways, particularly if you’re not used to working between the hours of nine and five.
When you start to feel like you are working beyond your capabilities, if you have an understanding line manager, it’s always worth communicating this to them. There are, of course, also various tools that you could benefit from implementing for the sake of your well-being. Adequate sleep is one of the more obvious things, but think about calming activities that can reduce the anxiety associated with starting a new job, particularly if you are thinking about your job outside of your working hours.
It’s also vital to remember that building relationships is key. It’s not just about the job itself; participating as a team member will help you integrate yourself into the world of work far smoother, and also it can pave the way for more beneficial partnerships within that organisation. We can sometimes feel like we are working by ourselves, and this can be a hangover from education because of the amount of solo work we’ve needed to do, which is why learning how to be a good team player is not just going to benefit other people, but it will benefit you too in the long run.
