Basically, how should a college student prepare for the “real world”?
Don’t think in terms of “spring break” and “winter break” and summer. There is simply working year round at a single job, with holidays of a day or two apiece, and planning vacations for a week or two here and there.
If you don’t already, start living well below your means and putting away a good fraction of your take home pay in savings. Untouchable retirement savings AND liquid savings. Drive your car for as long as possible. Try not to blow money on unimportant things (nights on the town, high end clothing/accessories/toys).
Go to bed early and get up early.
Try to excise “like” and “um” and other types of teenage language from your speech. For the most part, your audience will not be your peers but people older (even generations older) than you.
Establish credit responsibly by using a card but also paying it off - completely - every month. And pay your bills on time.
Learn that nobody owes you anything; moreover, older employees often assume your generation grew up more spoiled than their generation and you will have to work harder for their respect. Arrive early and work late.
I don’t think there’s any specific preparation that can be done, particularly if starting that preparation in college. If the child is raised in a loving environment with reasonable limits and is raised to be emotionally intelligent and resilient, those experiences and qualities will serve him/her well in “the real world.”
In addition to all the wonderful suggestions by @prospect1 ,
Start now to build a professional wardrobe. Nope, people in the real world don’t wear their PJs to work, and building that wardrobe is expensive. At the very least, you’ll need a few “interview outfits.” Find out what that means in your profession and part of the country, and think about investing now-- or ask Santa for help.
Learn that people value promptness. Learn to be on time.
Know that your parents have worked for decades for all they have, and that you’re not likely to start out in the place where they are now. The home, the car, all those things that you’ve become used to are things that your parents worked long and hard to provide.
Likewise, you won’t be the guy in the corner office. That guy has worked for decades and contributed well to the organization.
Learn how and when to put your cell phone away! There are so many situations, both social and professional, where it’s absolutely inappropriate.
Know that company policies exist for a reason. Someone, somewhere, made that policy necessary.
Oops, forgot:
Learn that adults pay their own way. You reach a point when mommy and daddy are no longer responsible for taking care of your wants or needs. Even if you’re still living at home, start to pay your own insurance, maintain your own car, buy a load or two of groceries for the family, mow the lawn, throw in a load of laundry-- not just your own, but the towels and sheets and other assorted family stuff. Give your parents a bit of money each month as rent, and if they don’t accept it, take them out to dinner at least once a month.
Learn that your parents and grandparents won’t be around forever, and give them the gift of your time. Nope, not a quick email or text, but time spent together in the same room.
In addition to the excellent advice above: manners can be important in the workplace, especially when you first start working. Being courteous to everyone (especially those “lower on the totem pole” than you), saying thanks, not eating with your mouth full at the staff luncheon - all the things your parent told you can be really helpful when you’re starting off at a new workplace.
A sense of humor is great, too, but don’t worry if you’re not stand-up-comedian material. A little self-deprecation and a positive outlook go a long way.
Every workplace has its own culture, in addition to those corporate policies that bjkmom mentioned. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out just what that culture is and how you fit in. In the meantime, almost every workplace culture hates Talks-Too-Loud Guy, Pretends-to-Work-Really-Hard-But-Really-Goofs-Off Guy, Comes-in-Late-and-Leaves-Early Girl, and Leaves-the-Microwave-Dirty Doofus. And don’t be Sexual-Harassment-Guy-or-Girl - that’s also illegal.
When in doubt, use common sense, observe others, and/or ask someone.
Oh, and don’t be that person who always gets sick on a Monday or a Friday. We all know what you’re doing.
If it makes sense at your college, living off-campus for a year or two as an upperclassman can be helpful. It gives you experiences (apartment hunting, remembering to pay the rent every month, dealing with the landlord when repairs are needed, etc.), that are directly applicable to what you’ll do after college.
Whenever you have a part-time or summer job or internship, watch how the permanent employees conduct themselves. You may discover, for example, that promptness is extremely important in many work environments, that sexy clothes are frowned upon, and that most jobs have dull, routine components along with the interesting stuff. If the managers seem to have a high opinion of some employees and a low opinion of others, try to figure out why.
Remember that although the Internet is a wonderful resource, the adults in your lives can also be helpful when new situations come up. For example, when you get your first job and have to choose among several health insurance plans, your parents may be able to give you valuable insights about the pros and cons of various choices.
You might also try keeping track of all the money you spend for a month or two (this is especially valuable if you are living off-campus, where you have a lot more choices about spending). You may see interesting patterns. If you need to be frugal when you get your first job (and many people do), you’ll have some insights into ways to do things less expensively. (Hint: Go out of your way to avoid buying clothes that need dry cleaning. And if the office has free coffee, wait for your first caffeine hit until you get there.)
Finally, if there are things your parents are still doing for you, ask whether you can start doing some of them yourself or at least participate in the process. If they’re still scheduling your doctor and dentist appointments for the times when you come home for school breaks, ask whether it would be OK for you to start doing this yourself. If they’re planning a family vacation, see whether you can work with them on making the travel arrangements so that the process won’t be totally unfamiliar the first time you have to do it on your own. If they’re maintaining your car, ask them about what needs to be done and then volunteer to take responsibility for it yourself. These things may seem trivial, but they’re not. The more adult-type responsibilities you’re familiar with, the easier the transition to post-college life will be.
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despite what adults will tell you not every mistake has a horrible consequence. Think about the minor mistakes your teachers or school made ( oh we said we’d tell your move in information by August 1 but we didn’t oh well… Oh I entered the wrong grade in the grade book oh well) and distinguish them from major mistakes with big consequences. ( we lied about our admitted student stats…heads roll) know you’ll have some wiggle room. But not too much. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Sweat the big stuff. Work on knowing the difference.
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just because some adult tells you " early to bed early to rise" is the way to go note that many jobs require split shifts. And Working late in the day and coming in later may be the norm in your office. Pay attention to the culture you are in.
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treat your credit card like a debit card ( don’t use a debit card, they don’t have nearly the protections of a credit card.) watch you CC balances on line DAILY and pay them off in full WEEKLY . If you can’t stop spending for all but true necessities.
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the actual work at many jobs may be hard. Embrace the stuff that’s easy to do: being on time, being helpful, being enthusiastic, being responsive. A great attitude will cover a multitude of sins…but not all. Work hard to produce good work too.
Make a budget and live below your means as much as you can. There’s nothing wrong with being a young professional and still living like a college student/glorified grad student for a few more yrs – you don’t need the fanciest apartment you can afford in your city, the best car, or the biggest TV. A few yrs of doing that will put you on track to financial security which will only help you later – if the worst happens and the economy turns again, you’ll have a decent cushion and fixed costs that aren’t so unreasonable; if you get offered a dream job but that dream job pays 15k less than your current job – you won’t immediately have to turn it down if you’re not living to the last dime of your paycheck.
Even being out of school for more than a few yrs now – I try to live within 2/3 or 3/4 of my net pay, though you can read certain blogs where people are doing things like living in 1/3 of their pay – though they’re CRAZY frugal.
You NEVER show up for work under the influence, whether you aren’t over last night’s partying or you took strong cold medicine.
Everyone can tell the difference in your appearance, actions, clarity of thought.
You are not that good at acting sober.
Don’t get tipsy/drunk at work events.
Reflects poorly on you and diminishes your reputation.
Watch the snark, verbal and electronic.
What you may think was funny at that moment can be used against you later.
The “Real World” is often a helicopter no-fly zone.
Thank goodness for wireless communications.
Realize that you grew up with dfferent expectations than your parents.
Many boomers were considered to be adults at 18 by themselves and society. While you may have legitimate expectations of your parents helping you out with housing, school and other life details for 5-10 years after high school graduation, their lack of offering to do may not indicate a lack of caring, but unawareness of your need for continued help.
When someone explains something to you at work, take notes. It is very annoying to have to go over something again with someone when they have already been through it once.
^^^^^This.
Take a temporary job in the mail room, data entry, reception or whatever is lowest on the ladder of a blah company. Feel the indignities or low status, the inanities of petty company policies, the immaturity of internal politics. Use this as motivation get a higher position at a excellent company with great people.
Know that the corporate world is not the only real world. And SAVE—pay yourself first.
The “real world” is different for each person.
So prepare yourself for your “real world”.
Whatever it is, you better know what YOU want. You want to save, save, you want to travel, travel, you want to get married, get married…whatever it is…nobody can tell you what do you want for yourself.
Do what you have to do, when you have to do it, & do it to the best of your ability.
- Work hard, don't expect to be promoted or applauded for doing your job. Sometimes it takes YEARS to be promoted. It's not enough to be smart. Nor is it enough to be liked. People will stop liking you in the office the more you take, take, take (call in late, excuses, etc).
- Communications: no snark, no phones, be careful who you FB/Snapchat/whatever...
- Dress appropriately. Yes, you think us old broads look boring and unfashionable. Unless you work in fashion, be careful of trends/too short/too tight/too bare (legs), bra straps etc.
- Be nice to everyone. The secretary/mail guy can make your life better or worse. A lot.
- Express appreciation for those who help you along the way, take you to lunch, let you work their network, teach you something. A hand written note is nice.
- Realize you aren't an expert just because you learned something in class.
- Take the crappy tasks on. Everyone will be grateful. Often I say "I'll start us off this month, and then we can rotate....."
I just had an law student/extern leave and my review of her said she was smart, hard working, dependable and easy to get along with…which is top praise and hits all the marks.
My parents were completely hands-off so here’s how it worked for me. My school would send my financial aid packet over the summer (I personally filled out all the forms) showing my contribution and my parent’s expected contribution. My parents would write one check for the year, and everything else was on me. I’d go find a summer job, and later internships. I’d also find on-campus jobs. The money earned first had to be saved to meet my expected contribution for school, then the rest I could use for clothes, books, and at the bottom of the list was recreation and extras. I managed my own checking and savings accounts, scheduled my own travel to and from school, etc. Basically I was acting as an independent adult from the time I got that first admission letter.
Transitioning to the work force after graduation was actually a lot easier than attending school after that sort of preparation.