Campus to Corporate: Learn, Adapt, Change, and Survive

The transition from college to corporate is a big adjustment for many graduates. Expectations and responsibilities in the workplace are very different from those of college. While in college you pay to get education, in the corporate, you are paid for your deliverables.There are unspoken nuances and social norms that many graduates are completely unaware of and so adjusting to a professional environment can be extremely challenging and traumatic for a few. A person who had experienced this change shared his thoughts:College life is fun where one can take quite a few things for granted such as freedom to choose the subjects, liberty to dress the way one likes, select the kind of friends one wants. But one will face a different environment and culture in the corporate. If a person is unprepared for corporate life, it will put him in a bad situation to start his/her career.Here I provide some interesting information and suggestions which may be of help to the students aspiring to do well in their professional life. Tolerance and patience are two essential characteristics of a corporate employee, as teamwork is an important feature for the smooth running of any project. One of my former colleagues was a confident girl. However, even during our training period, she exhibited intolerance and often found herself arguing with trainers and some senior colleagues who were also part of the training program over trifle matters like choosing a seat or computer in the training room, break timings, assessment patterns, and several other little things which made others feel irritated. As a result, she could not maintain good relation with her fellow colleagues.One should note here that good relation with colleagues and trainers helps you to learn more and also maintain a good work culture. A predefined set of parameters and policies that need to be followed sequentially exist in Information Technology-enabled Services (ITeS) firms while executing any job or troubleshooting any issue related to hardware or software. This is known as organizational culture which should not be broken by anybody. This requires a set of discipline that gives you working freedom but at the same time expects you to avoid any argument. Discussion in polite terms is welcome but in a positive way. Negative energy is discouraged. So a corporate employee should know how to keep up this and avoid insubordination.Corporate gives you the freedom to try things out of the box. New ideas are welcome, but one should be careful not to overstep the authority or hierarchy. A person may be young or newly appointed, but once a supervisor is appointed, it is good to accept his instructions and not be argumentative as it consumes time and increases work pressure. What is good for the organization is more important than one's own comforts. A good supervisor is a good teacher as one can learn a lot from him/her. Even if one wants to say no to a suggestion, one must be careful of one's body language. Paralanguage is an essential feature of the corporate. Eye-rolling, sighing, clicking your tongue, giggling conspiratorially with another coworker-these often show a willing disrespect. It is important that new employees understand the work culture of the organization and what does and does not constitute disrespect.The next important factor is the mail etiquette. The sooner we become good at drafting mails to managers, customers, and clients, the better our chances of earning reward points. At college level, sending mails is an informal thing and one can use all sorts of abbreviations. …