Overcoming Post-Grad Life: 1 1/2 Years Later

Time flies when you’re having fun! It’s been 1 1/2 years since my previous article on lessons from a recent graduate. With everything that has happened in the 2 years since then, I wanted to write this article today to share 5 more insights and learning lessons from my first 2 years in the workforce. Even if we’re not in the same boat - whether you just graduated from university or have been in the workforce for 5+ years - my hope is that each individual who reads this can still resonate with my insights, reflect on their own experiences, and learn something they can apply for their own unique journeys.

1. Imposter syndrome happens to everyone, but you must know that you are there for a reason.

When I started my first full-time job, I didn’t even know what imposter syndrome was. However, even with prior experience, I couldn’t help but feel like I didn’t belong in the role I was in and worry that I wouldn’t be able to immediately add value to the organization. It took time for me to eventually settle into my role and when I did, not only did I realize that I wasn’t the only individual experiencing imposter syndrome but also that it was normal and quite prevalent in the professional world.

Over time, I learned from my peers and seniors that the most effective way to overcome imposter syndrome is to first acknowledge the situation, understand what’s fact and what’s not, then focus your time, energy, and efforts on execution. Overthinking kills, and focusing too much on negative self-talk and assumptions that are not based on fact could actually prevent you from prioritizing what’s important - achieving your goals.

For folks experiencing imposter syndrome right now, journaling and consulting with loved ones (or better yet, your mentors) has worked tremendously in helping to shift my focuses. I even wrote a post-it note with the phrase “think less, do more” as a daily reminder for myself at work! At the end of the day, remember that you were hired for your current role for a reason. Believe in yourself, work hard, and the results will come. You are valuable, you are qualified, and you most certainly deserve to be there.

2. You won’t know exactly what you want to do, and that’s okay. What’s most important is that you actively seek to understand yourself on a daily basis.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Results don’t happen overnight, and that’s reality. Recently, I realized that even folks in more senior positions than myself may not be able to perfectly define their dream careers. Everyone's journey is unique to their own and career changes are quite normal in modern society; I've met individuals who have been in a specific industry for years (even decades) before deciding to switch career paths and trying something new. It's fine to not to know exactly what you want to do professionally, as your goals and interests can shift over time, but what's imperative is that you strive on a daily basis to understand your preferences (especially what you don't like to do), and take baby steps in creating a future for yourself based on your findings.

What's helped guide me the past 2 years was creating a personal Career Trajectory Exploration Document (mine is currently 25 pages and counting!). The purpose of the document is to essentially have a single source of truth for your reflections, personal and professional interests, passions, and whatever you think would be relevant as you explore your passions and interests. I have an outline for my document, and one of the key components of the document includes important questions to ask myself when reflecting on my current state and desired future state (e.g. What do I wish I did more of? Where do I envision myself in 1-2 years? 2-3 years? How am I going to get there? What are actionable steps I can take right now so I can achieve my goals?). Additional sections include short-term and long-term goals, a journal for my everyday musings and reflections on how I feel about my current career path and where I would like to be, career advice I've received from various sources throughout my lifetime, folks I aspire to learn from, and action items I can take right now to get to where I want to be.

It will take time to reach your goals, and even goals can shift over the course of your lifetime (Rome wasn't built in a day, and it's still evolving today). You're most likely a different person than the one you were a year ago, and you most certainly will change and evolve a year from now.

As you find yourself coming across opportunities in your journey, patience, self-awareness, and laser-focus execution are what's going to get you to your ultimate goal.

3. Failures serve as the most valuable educational experiences.

My personal experiences, as well as those of individuals I have met over the years, can validate that failures are actually blessings in disguise. Throughout your career, you'll make mistakes from time to time. I definitely can tell you the ones I've made, especially at my first job (and I'm not afraid to admit it!). It wasn't a pleasant experience making mistakes, but those experiences strengthened my resolve to learn from them and keep persevering. There were definitely moments when I wasn't sure if I would be able to overcome my shortcomings, but I knew I had to stay strong and train myself to face hardship head-on in order to avoid making the same mistake twice and come out of the experience more resilient than before.

Failure is not an excuse to quit when times get tough; what will help you reach your goals is how you deal with these situations. It can be easy to keep thinking about what happened, dig yourself into a hole, or even run away from the situation. Candidly, that won't help you move on and grow as an individual. A wise person once told me, "I can teach you to fish, or you can learn to fish for yourself." The best thing you can do for yourself is to acknowledge that what's done is done and to take ownership in performing the necessary actions.

You can't change the past but you always (believe me when I say you do) have control over how you feel and what you decide to do moving forward.

No matter how tough the situation may seem to be, you are stronger and more capable than you think you are. Onwards and upwards!

4. Treat everyone you meet how you would want to be treated, and the rest will follow.

Now I understand this may sound relatively simple and straightforward. However, as someone who is in sales and conducts cold outreach on a daily basis, you may be surprised to hear about the wide range of experiences I've accumulated over the past few years! In my books, treating everyone - no matter the title, relationship, etc. - with equal respect is not only the absolute right thing to do but also could also open hidden doors, unexpected opportunities, and invaluable life lessons for you as a professional.

To provide an example, in sales and cold calling, there is this concept of the gatekeeper, in which there is an individual (their titles can range from an Executive Assistant to a front desk receptionist or secretary) who is responsible for controlling access to the Decision Makers (usually VPs or C-suite). In a cold call, your objective is to connect with the right person, obtain relevant information from them if they aren't, and schedule a meeting if they are. If one were to call a VP and connect with the front desk receptionist, they may not think their conversation with the receptionist holds much value. In reality, the gatekeeper could actually hold the keys and serve as the reason you get that meeting or not - they could either agree to help get you connected to the VP or they could provide information you can leverage to fuel your continued outreach to the VP. Either way, placing myself in their shoes, if I was a receptionist I most likely would be more willing to help someone out if I was treated with respect. Regardless if you get the meeting or not, simply asking someone "How have you been?" and thanking them for their time and help can make a huge difference. Everyone has 24 hours in a day, and other people's times are just as valuable as yours.

Fostering connections with individuals from all walks of life is one of the favorite parts of my job, and I wouldn't pass opportunities to meet and learn from other professionals. If you're already doing this, that's great to hear - I'm sure you already realize the opportunities and unique experiences that genuine connections can lead to. And if you're not already doing this, it certainly isn't too late to turn the tides and start anew - trust me, you won’t regret it.

5. Always be learning and don't forget to have fun along the way.

What's even the point of embarking on your career journey if you're not learning, growing, and having fun along the way? Going off the saying "It's not the destination; it's the journey", I wholeheartedly agree that the destination can be a mirage and that it's the journey that actually matters. As I mentioned earlier, goals shift over time and humans are constantly evolving. As a consistent goal-setter and self-development advocate, I used to be so focused on the future and what's next that I failed to immerse myself in the present time. One of the defining moments when I realized this was in the past year that I quit social media. After doing so, there wasn't a single moment I felt tempted to return, as I was so at peace with myself and focused on accomplishing my goals and enjoying life in the process that it would be a waste of time to needlessly worry and think about matters that wouldn’t help me achieve those goals.

Yes, it’s absolutely necessary to establish tangible short-term and long-term goals and to set your eyes on the future. Happiness can be achieved through a sense of purpose and direction - if you’re not learning, you’re not growing, and that applies to you no matter the stage of your career that you’re in. At the end of each day, especially before I leave work, I make it a point to reflect on what I’ve accomplished that day and ask myself, “What’s one lesson that I learned today?” There’s a whole wealth of information out there, and the world is your playground.

In the end, don't take yourself too seriously and forget to enjoy the simplicities of life (I always tell myself that when in doubt, it's best to go back to the basics). Work hard, play hard, and enjoy the ride.

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If you made it to the end of this article, I appreciate you for taking the time to read this post. I hope my experiences resonate with you and that you're able to take away at least one learning lesson from them. If you'd like to connect further, I'd love to connect on LinkedIn and hear your insights - please feel free to reach out.

Life is like an ocean. Waves will try to knock you down and push you back to where you started but once you fight through them, the entire ocean is yours.

Thanks for reading, and until next time!

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Miuccia Halim is a Senior Strategic Sales Development Representative at @Gong.io , a revenue intelligence SaaS startup. She specializes in a customer-facing role through partnering with sales executives to strategically prospect into target accounts and drive revenue pipeline growth. Ultimately, she seeks to inspire others from all walks of life to share their experiences and insights.

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