Making the transition from campus to corporate: Set yourself up for success

Starting your career and transitioning from the campus to the corporate world brings with it a lot of excitement about forthcoming experiences but also a fear of what lies ahead, as there are going to be new challenges to face before you start climbing up in the ladder of success.

• Making a Profound First Impression: The first and the most important step is to make a powerful first impression and present yourself as a determined, disciplined, and dynamic professional. This is based upon your faith in your abilities and staying focussed on the success and achievements that you have till now. The world of work is welcoming you and you can win over this new challenge in your life with confidence.
• The  Reality of the new World of Work: The start of a new career provides a new range of opportunities to display your strengths of accountability, professionalism, and credibility. It is also the time to understand what exactly your expectations about this particular job profile are, the remuneration and other responsibilities. This is the appropriate moment to consider your own personal goals and ambitions and align them with the current opportunities. Having an optimistic “Can Do” attitude will help you more than anything else to ensure that your workplace becomes your friend and ally for the years to come.
• Take some time out before joining your new assignment. The new organizational culture will be very different from what it was in your institute / college. Initially you need to make efforts to get to know the people you are working with, the ones in your team and the ones in other teams as well. Some may be very likeable, and some may not be. Remember to be careful in your interactions in the initial days. Build cordial and empathic relationship with seniors and team members. Initially be a good team player and a good follower.
• Plan your day so that you reach on time and familiarize yourself with the route to work. A little bit of planning will ensure a stress free and productive day. Follow the work rules and be punctual for meetings, discussions, presentations, and other activities. And always stick to the given deadlines. Complete the assignments before time so that you have time to make any changes if required. Start to become a pro at managing your time.
• Listen, observe, and pay attention to details and stay away from internal politics and gossip. It is better to observe what is happenings before commenting or contributing  to it.
• Develop the ability to stay focused and emotionally stable, this shows your professionalism. You are expected to be at your best all the time in the corporate environment. Follow professional ethics and live by your values. Use simple magic words like ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ in your conversation respectfully.

And above all, always have a curious mind and be an adaptive learner to absorb all that you get in the first few days…it will ensure a quicker climb up the ladder of success!

About the Author

Dr Shuchi Sharma

As a leadership development and transformational coach, educator and author, Dr Shuchi Sharma collaborates with leaders, executives, and students to help them accelerate their growth purposefully, towards their life goals and to leverage their strengths to achieve high performance. As a certified coach, she enables successful personal and professional transitions. Her leadership experience in the corporate sector and academia has been primarily in organizational transformation, performance management and in building & engaging teams for better business results.