The transition from student life to work life can be critical and overwhelming, and the experience is very distinct for every individual. Every graduate has some expectations from his/her job; the reality however, can be significantly different from those expectations.
During our childhoods, all we wanted to do was grow up, get a job and get all the freedom there is and do whatever our heart desires. But is it really as liberating as we dreamt of? Well, not quite exactly.
After university when you start a job, you start getting paid and get other benefits for your work; soon you start to realize how caged you actually are. You feel obliged to stay in one place and since most of the people in your life are busy as well, there aren’t many places to vent.
Desk jobs can be pretty exhausting with 8 hour workdays, and after a while, you start to comprehend the significance of sunlight in your life.
While jobs are supposed to be 9-5, overtime is not unusual. In fact, it has almost become part of the culture that if you are not doing overtime then you are probably not doing your work right. Even though organizations are trying to fight this, but it is still eminent in some companies. You get used to this pressure and eventually, learn how to get your work done within the allotted time to avoid overtime.
You eventually realize that the monotonous routine is making your life dull.
And that’s not even the worst part: you still have to deal with traffic once you leave your office. It’s like the cherry on top of a sizable sundae of responsibilities.
When we are students, our universities give us a platform for practicing our freedom of speech and making our own choices. We meet people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. We can talk about our views of the world without having any serious repercussions. However, the scenario might differ when you start working for someone else. Even though the office environment is more progressive than before, the fear of repercussions will always be there. At both multinational and local companies, efforts are being made to respect diverse perspectives and encourage employees to voice their opinions.
By now you have understood that the term ‘work life balance’ is mostly an oxymoron. The absence of your friends in your life really gets to you. While social media makes it easier to keep in touch with friends, it’s definitely not the same as hanging out with them every now and then.
You watch stories of your friends in Facebook/Instagram and start realizing that you don’t really know what’s going on in their lives.
You don’t get to spend so much time with your family either. After a long day at your office and miserable few hours of traffic, you will probably get an hour with your family when you get home. That sounds really unfair right? But think about the people who have to work in different cities. They don’t even get to see their loved ones every week. It seems like it’s a bit too much to ask for from a person at first. But the sacrifices that we make actually makes us more mature and we start to grow as a person.
There are really bad days at work and days when you don’t know what you are doing with your life. You will ask yourself, “Is my life always going to be like this?” “Will I have stories to tell apart from my work?”
But it’s not all that bad. One of the big upsides of having a job is the financial independence that comes with it. You know you don’t have to depend on anyone for your bills. You make your own choices and you can help others if you want to. If you work hard enough (and also smart enough), you can get recognition from your supervisor and/or rest of the team. One of the great things about good work environments is that they support learning mindsets.
And of course, work life teaches you the all too important skill of time management, especially when it comes to making the most out of the time you get with your family and friends.