Advice for a Recent College Graduate

With college graduation upon us and many students starting their 40+ year careers, I reached out to my colleagues at Teradata to offer words of advice to someone entering the workforce and also reached out to a set of my former students at Bryant University to offer their perspective on their biggest concern as they enter the workforce. My Teradata colleagues have between 10 and 35 years of work experience and the students are seniors, just graduated or have a year of work experience.?All responses have been anonymized.?

Student Perspective

Student 1- Student Loans.?I am very fixated on my budget/cash flow and creating a plan to pay off loans. I know I will be able to pay it off, but I am constantly thinking about how I am going to do it

Student 2- I’d say my single biggest concern is patience. Now that I have a job and a source of income unlike ever before, I’m finding myself thinking about how do I get to the top and about things I want to own right away. While I have a lot of goals, I’ve had to take a step back and tell myself that everything isn’t going to happen at once and it’s going to take time, hard work, and dedication to eventually achieve all the things I want in post-grad life. Patience is 100% a virtue in this transition process. My single biggest question is how quickly will I be able to add value to my new team given that I’m a novice? There’s always some nerves when starting a new venture, and I’m hoping that by concentrating on one day at-a-time, I’ll be able to excel in my new role and accomplish all my personal goals over time.

Student 3- Money- I think it's just more the unknown - what you can realistically live on and the process of budgeting in general - certainly was a big concern for me

Student 4- The biggest concern for me was/is whether or not I chose the right job to enable me to be happy and successful. Broadly, it’s the unknown I’m concerned about it. Throughout my life I had a good idea of what to expect for what was ahead and now that I’m graduated that is not so clear anymore.

Student 5- I think the biggest thing I would be challenged with is finding the balance between having a job I enjoy that pays well, and fits my standards morally.

Student 6- I am concerned with how my student debt may impact my ability to take career risks. I am fortunate to not have a ton of debt but I will still have some loans.?Hope you and your family are safe and healthy.

Student 7- My goal is to graduate with a job lined up. Having that secured, my next biggest concern would be being on my own in the real world, taking care of my own finances, bills, etc. Another concern of mine is that I have been an athlete my whole life and have been afforded the luxury of work/life balance. I fear once my volleyball career is over, I will feel lost because it has been my life for so long - hoping to find something in addition to my work and establish a healthy work/life balance while being on my own!

Student 8- For me, my concern is to be able to do well at the company and make a good impression at the company. I know for my peers, a big concern is to find a job after graduating in a very competitive market.

Student 9- I would say the biggest concern is the fundamental shift in consumer trends and the way that people behave due to the virus. The second part of the concern is if the shifts will be short, medium or long term.

Student 10- Obviously the circumstances are tough given the challenges 2020 has brought us. I'm not too worried personally with my job security status at a large firm, however I am slightly concerned about how COVID-19 is curtailing growth, and how it might affect future internal upward mobility.

Student 11- I would have to say that my biggest concern is getting a job that I will enjoy going to.

Student 12- My advice for a new graduate would be “Focus on building small healthy habits each day at a time. It is so easy to get drowned in the noise especially when starting a 9-5 but try to learn one new thing everyday and watch by the end of the year how that compounds. Rely on your best friends and family for advice as they know you best. If you are not being treated or feel undervalued at a company, put the confidence in yourself to leave and seek something better because at the end of the day you are your biggest fan”.

Employee Perspective

Employee 1- Life passes by to fast – don’t sweat the little stuff, slow down and take the time to smell the flowers.?

Employee 2- Continue to learn and gain experience at every opportunity you are afforded.?Experience is going to be a big part of your professional and social life. Be patient but be willing to continue to learn. The more experience you have, the more wealth that you can provide a company and the more value you receive for your experience.

Employee 3- Proactively plan your?own career so that you will know what steps to take based on your defined timeline not the company or someone else’s idea of where you should be or how much you should be making.

Employee 4- Here’s an article I sent to my kids, one just starting college and the other a sophomore. My advice would be to find your superpowers. Everybody has gifts, and sometimes it’s hard to recognize what they are because it seems so natural to you. Or, maybe putting it more directly, find out who you are and what you uniquely bring to the world. Embrace it.

Employee 5- Find a job that is a good fit for you and your personality and matches your value system.?You will find work to be much more enjoyable.??

Employee 6- I saw this quote just today and it sums up what I was thinking.?I love this lesson and the message.?The sum of all of our experiences (good and bad) make us the person we are today.?"Now the commencement speakers will typically also wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you. I will not do that, and I'll tell you why. From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice...I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either...Whether I wish these things or not, they're going to happen. And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes."- --John Roberts, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice

Employee 7- It’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep.

Employee 8- Embrace change, do not resist it.?Change is part of life so welcome what comes your way.?How you handle it, will define you…..

Employee 9- Consider if yourself in the workplace was a product or service.?Are you reliable??Do you get the job done??Are you pleasant to be around??Would you buy yourself??Slow down.?You don’t have to run everything from Day 1.?You have the rest of your life to work, and its OK to start out on the lower rungs.?Learn and grow, then those opportunities will come.

Employee 10- Congratulations on your accomplishments.??From here on out you are entitled to nothing, but a fair shake…..

·??????You must earn your paycheck

·??????You must earn your respect

·??????You must earn your place on the team

·??????You must earn your promotions

Work hard, be dedicated, be yourself and balance work and life….

Employee 11- Fail often and early, stay out of debt and work really, really hard.?…but don’t forget to have fun.

Employee 12- My advice is that graduates leverage and maintain the flexibility that they have as much as possible. Avoid buying items of luxury with your fist job (expensive car or apartment, etc.). It is so easy to get credit now and then have to work just to maintain high payments. While you do not have a family yet, this is a great time to try and explore the working world to satisfy your intellectual curiosity.?If you have student loans, be even more stringent. Luxuries will come; be patient.

Employee 13- Get experience sooner than later – even if $$ and role is not exactly what you think you ultimately want.

Internships during education or between undergraduate and graduate programs is a good idea and can help establish a relationship with a company that you might want to work for.?Many companies offer work/school related internships for special projects or as a way to gain exposure to their company for regional universities seeking to place upcoming graduates. In my case my company ended up helping me fund my graduate school by letting me work remote for them while getting my masters and had a job waiting for me when I graduated and because I had my masters was able to negotiate a higher pay scale.

Getting a Masters degree sooner than later is a good idea, it can propel your career and pay-scale significantly.?If you start working for a company and then try to go to school while working its more difficult to have work/life balance and often companies do not reward advanced degrees with pay increases or promotions right away, if at all.

My last piece of advice is to establish your career/referral network early on through work, social, and external friend/family channels.?You never know when you will need it if you lose your job or want to start your own company, need to make a life stage move to a new location, etc.

Employee 14-

·??????Doubt your doubts. You can accomplish more than you think with discipline and focus.

·??????Set Big Hairy Audacious Goals (aka BHAGs) early in life and then go for it.

·??????Stay obsessively curious about everything. Not just your chosen field.

Employee 15- don’t think you have to have it all figured out.?Work hard at whatever you do and just know that your career path my change.?What you start out doing may not be where you find your happiness and calling.?So keep an open mind, network and try new things relative to your job/career.

Employee 16- Go back to school and get a Masters degree in the field she is really interested in. Don’t settle with the 4 year degree when you still won’t be doing what you want to do for a living. You’re too young to not continue to pursue your dreams

Employee 17- Some of my favorite advice.

• Personal Finance: “Live like a college student as long as you can.”
• Mark Cuban. Personal friendship and professional network: “Have multiple communities of interest.” Ted Leonsis
• ?Favorite quote: Stockdale Paradox “You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

Employee 18- Retirement Savings – It doesn’t matter how much you make or even how much you can save when you first start out, just start contributing to your retirement fund right away. This starts a great habit, which will make saving feel easier over time. Increase it every year until you can maximize it comfortably, but push yourself to do this as soon as you can. Reframe your thinking so you consider the remaining amount to be what is available for your living expenses, and live within those means! You won’t miss the savings that way. Also, find a trustworthy financial advisor to help you manage your savings and money goals. Don’t do it on your own. If you follow this advice, you can reach millionaire status in your 40s, and you will indeed be golden for the second half of your life while still being able to enjoy the first half. #goodmoneyhabits #compoundinterest #dowhatyoulove.

Employee 19- “Make time for yourself outside of work. It’s easy to get caught up in the rat race. Take the vacations, hang out with your friends and family, and most importantly find time for yourself (self-improvement).”

Hope this helps! This is a great thing you’re doing!