How much harder is it being in the working world than college?

[Anonymous]

College is much easier because you have control over success by studying more if you want. The corporate world sucks because you have to play politics that would make the cliques in HS pale in comparison. Unless you are someone who likes playing the game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College is much easier because you have control over success by studying more if you want. The corporate world sucks because you have to play politics that would make the cliques in HS pale in comparison. Unless you are someone who likes playing the game.

That is a lie.

[Anonymous]

My son graduated in January '22 and he is working remotely as a highly paid SWE for a financial institution. He has been living in Argentina since Feb '22 and having a great time there. According to him, working is so much easier than college.

[Anonymous]

I struggled in college. I've found work much easier and I'm far more successful at work than I was in school.

[Anonymous]

For me, the first few years after college were "intellectually" much easier than college. However, "mentally" they were WAY harder. Dealing with the day-in/day-out grind of fulltime office work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I struggled in college. I've found work much easier and I'm far more successful at work than I was in school.

This.

College was too unstructured and I had too much time. Right when I became used to a schedule or class, it changed.

I do better with the monetary reward of working.

[Anonymous]

The work is easier or will become easier after 6 months. It is however incredibly boring, repetitive and stressful at the same time.

People will be stupider than in college and you will be surrounded by mostly low "C" kind of people.

The daily routine of getting up, self care, commute, laundry, cooking etc can be an adjustment

You will not be with people your age, people who are single, people who are fun and interesting - and that will be the biggest downer.

You will have less free time.

Working world is boring and soul sucking. But, it is a lot easier than college.

What should you do to make the best of everything?
- Have a routine of self care and stick to it.
- Exercise, eat well and sleep well. Say no to vaping, drugs, alcohol.
- Learn to pace yourself at work. Learn useful skills and get up to date with certifications and career progression. Observe and learn.
- Have a schedule for the routine work of adulting - laundry, cleaning, shopping, car servicing, cooking, making your lunch etc.
- Connect with your friends, and also meet people your age through meetups. This will keep your sanity intact. Organize parties, introduce your friends to each other. You will otherwise get depressed to go from college and dorm to the dead and gray world of the working adults.
- Explore new hobbies and activities like it is a job
- Save money and live below your means.
- Pay attention to your appearance - teeth, hair, skin, vision, weight, stamina, clothes etc.
- Lean in to family help. If you are living with parents etc. make use of this opportunity to save money.
- Carpool.
- Be open to interactions.
- Keep in touch with all your mentors and keep them appraised of what is happening with you and your career. Every single one of them who have ever given you a recommendation or had a connection with them. Send cards for Holidays and New Year.
- Get educated in Personal Finance. Maximize your savings. Invest in mutual funds. Learn how to become rich. Educate, educate, educate yourself.
- Think about having other income streams. How about starting a youtube or tiktok channel?

[Anonymous]

The biggest difference is that your feedback loop is totally different. There are no more tests and grades. Feedback may come informally, infrequently, or not at all since some managers just suck at saying anything more than “keep doing what you’re doing”. Work with your supervisor to make sure you understand what your objectives are and how you will be evaluated. Check in monthly or every 6 weeks and make sure you are on track. You may need to initiate performance discussions.

The other big change I see some new grads struggle with is the need to figure things out on their own. A key differentiator for me between entry level and the first promotion level is an employee’s ability to apply their experience and knowledge to a novel scenario. I don’t have a job aid or process for every possible situation. I need them to exercise judgement - and also to have the profession judgement when they should wing it and when they should ask for help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My experience: at first, it's exhausting and isolating to be away from the college situation where you have a built-in cohort of friends, and doing all the adulting you need to do outside of work—managing your own household—is more tiring than work per se.

My niece (23) has done it right by moving in with three roommates who were on a team with her in college, and finds that having four of them to cook and eat together and loop in new friends from their four very different new jobs makes live better for all of them, especially after they were separated from friends for a chunk of college by the pandemic.

Unless you go into teaching. Teaching is waaaaay harder than anything in college. Worth it, but omg.

+ 1

Rooming with ex-collegemates is a good strategy for sharing the workload of running a household, having security, and having a built in social circle that keeps expanding. Of course, it works only if everyone gets along and there is no other drama happening.

[Anonymous]

Your first job is just a stepping stone in your career. Once you are comfortable with the work, carve out time to get more training (maybe on your own) and studying so that you can start looking for another job or internal promotion.

[Anonymous]

Easier work, harder dealing with other people.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on how ambitious you are and what career path you want. If you want to rise to a leadership position, you need to seek out slightly more experienced peers on that path and learn from them. You need to find ways to stand out and to get in front of leadership. Similar to high school or college, opportunities compound. If you are picked for a special project and you do a good job, you get picked for the next one. If you are pegged as a top performer you will be mentored and sponsored, which helps you be a top performer.

I’m a senior exec at a consulting firm and so have people who report to me who are older and more experienced than I am - but they either never sought out different roles or just didn’t know how to get those roles. There are people I work with in their 30s and 40s who are not managers and probably never will be. I recently promoted a woman who wanted to be promoted for 10 years! But she literally never told anyone and no one asked her until her manager left and I stepped in. She thought if she just worked hard and did a good job, she’d be promoted eventually. She was also shocked when I explained she would need to take on additional responsibilities along with the promotion. I am not sure why no one ever counseled her or worked with her, but she is not an anomaly. In the first 5-8 years of your career you will establish a reputation and the opportunities and promotions will flow from that.

Find a few trusted people in your org - a peer, a level above you and someone your boss’s level - and develop a relationship so you can learn from them the best way to navigate your org. What’s normal in some companies may be pushy and annoying at another.

[Anonymous]

I thought the working world was a lot easier than college, especially as an entry level employee. I'm a manager now, so there are more responsibilities, but I still think it's better than school. I always hated having tests and papers looming over my head. With work there's more ability to turn it off at the end of the day.

[Anonymous]

Work has never been as hard as school was, and I was a really good student.

[Anonymous]

I found it much easier. I have a ton of really severe learning disabilities and school made me suicidal. Working felt much better. At work nobody cares HOW you get anything done, just what the final result is.