You're transitioning from school to work. What's the best way to make a smooth move?

Transitioning from school to work can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are a few steps to help you make a smooth move into the working world: Accept Change: Understand that everything will change. Early mornings, commuting, and socializing may shift. Embrace these changes as opportunities for growth. Adaptability: You’ve dealt with change before. Just like when you started university, you’ll adapt quickly. Trust your adaptability. Seek a Mentor: Connect with a professional mentor. They’ll guide you through your new role, company, and culture. Learn Continuously: Your learning doesn’t stop after school. Embrace ongoing education and skill development.

Find the habits that worked well for you in school, and apply them to your work life. For example, when I was in school, I liked having a to-do list that tracked the tasks I needed to complete at any given time and the 5 most important things I needed to accomplish that week. I carried this with me into work, and it created a sense of security and familiarity while I was trying to settle in.

School and work can be quite different, and adjusting to the latter may be difficult at the start and take some time. Thus, be realistic with yourself by setting some realistic goals! At the beginning, focus more on understanding the expectations of your role, manager, and team and gradually build up your skill set to match that of your team and company. As you gain more experience and slowly start to adapt to work life, set new goals for yourself and try to deliver more impact at work.

I think a lot of fresh graduates put blinders on and limit themselves by only looking at roles "within their field". They put pressure on themselves without realizing it takes a college grad an average of 3-6 months to find a job after graduation. Don't get discouraged and set realistic deadlines for yourself with milestones or daily/weekly goals along the way to keep you on track. Examples include trying to add 1 project to your portfolio a month, applying to 2-3 solid roles that you're interested in a day (with complete applications that include a cover letter or email to the job poster), or completing N hours of an industry-specific course per week. Keep yourself focused and productive without overwhelming yourself.

By the time you've finished school, you should have a fairly strong network to work with already. Reach out to peers and mentors from previous internships. Ask about availabilities you've found that they have listed as active, referencing your prior affiliation (never hurts to jog someone's memory) or explore the networks of hiring managers for other roles at different organizations to connect with new people. The easiest way to start a conversation is by asking a question. And just carry on from there as you did when you were in school. You never know where a conversation can go.

Something I found particularly challenging in the first 2-3 months of working full time was the culture and schedule shift. It'll be good to keep in mind that if you were a highly engaged student with a lot of extracurriculars, you're probably used to a lot of variety in your day to day and switching gears a lot between orgs and classes. Work will require you to focus on one thing for 8-9 straight hours, which can feel pretty taxing at first. This is completely normal and doesn't mean you're not cut out for the role or industry at all. Don't be discouraged. Just roll with it for a little while and you'll adapt in no time.

Transitioning from school to work can be challenging for many individuals . It is important to be aware of one’s strengths and weaknesses and to plan for continuous self development, whereby strengths continue to develop and gaps get bridged to overcome weaknesses. Feedback is essential to remain aware of learning needs which can be sourced from peers and superiors. Engaging in professional development programs known as PDPs is a best practice applied by some reputable organizations where new employees get exposed to various departments and experiences to learn new skills and to contribute to multiple functions before they have settled down in their own organizations. PDPs often take from one to three years.

Know the market and the industry you aim to work in. A lot of new graduates ask for salaries which are either too low or way too high. It will help you know your worth and sell yourself better in interviews.