The Learning Curve

In my professional life I have started more than fifteen jobs. From classrooms to law offices, a bank teller's window to association management and just about every kind of job in between, I have had plenty of first days. In all of them there has been a "learning curve". I had a job a few years back where the boss said that he didn't want to pay me more money until I was through the "learning curve". I was answering telephones! I find it so ironic that companies require so much of people these days to even get an interview. If you're lucky enough to get the job, when you finally arrive, they act as if you are clueless about anything and rarely rely on the expertise you bring. Instead, you're on a "learning curve". We go through years of schooling, taking the time and expense of getting advanced degrees, only to be relegated on any first day by most employers as the newbie who doesn't know anything about anything. In all fairness to most employers, they are probably right. You don't know anything about them. There is no course you can take that will prepare you for the personalities you're going to meet, or the company culture you're about to enter. All of the theses you write and exams you take, will not ready you for the bully boss, or the employee that doesn't show up. Every job you'll ever take will require some getting use to. There is a learning curve to everything new.

The irony in so much of what constitutes "work" is that regardless of how ready we make ourselves and no matter how impressive our resume, you still have to learn the new job. I recently took a role in a company that despite my years of working in similar situations has put me in a learning position. I am learning the software, the personalities, the scheduling process, the nuances of the owner who likes things a certain way. These are things that no amount of schooling or years of experience could have prepared me. It doesn't matter. In the end, you just have to learn the job. In my new job, no one cares that I pulled off over 100 events in my last role, or kept all the plates spinning as I managed two associations, or that I taught students to spell, write, and prepare them to enter the next grade. No one cares. They care that I learn the new job. They care that I learn it a certain way. They care that I show up. They could care less about the experience I have or what I bring to the table from my last role. It doesn't matter, and I would go out on a limb to say that most people encountering new jobs, are in the same boat.

At the end of the day, all the glossy resumes and the smoke and mirrors we think are important for getting a job, are really meaningless. I don't care what anyone says. All of the rejection letters you may receive from jobs you applied for don't mean you don't have what it takes. You do. Because with every job there is a learning curve and you're going to have to learn it their way regardless. If you got a rejection it was probably because of money or they want to ensure that you won't know more than they do. It's not because you can't do the job. Unless you're a brain surgeon, or flying a plane, most jobs have to be learned.

I've been at this career thing a long time and the reality is I have rarely found a genius along the way. Everyone I have worked with has had to figure out how to get the job done that's in front of them. If you're lucky enough to be part of a company that provides training, all the better. Many don't have that luxury and just learn as they go. I wish experience and expertise mattered more when you finally get the job, but you're going to be treated like a newbie regardless, so buckle up and hang on through the curves!