Imagine a scenario where you have just started your job and are so excited. The first day at your first job and so full of energy. Fully dressed up in formal clothes and already dreaming about a successful corporate career. There’s just one catch; you’re clearly the least experienced person in a room full of professionals. Simply put- you’re a fresher who’s going to face a hard time settling into the chaos. While the experience is not the most comforting and enjoyable, the fact is that this will also be a time where you will be facing a lot of challenges as an employee with minimal or no work experience.
But what will those challenges be, and how to tackle them?
I’m going to discuss these with you all today. Here’s my handbook on seven challenges you’re most likely to encounter as a fresher and how to tackle them smartly.
- Not being able to turn your JOB MODE ON.
Well, this may sound as cliche as it is. Not being able to adapt to the job mode is not a hidden challenge. Youngsters feel a hard time settling down in the environment of waking up daily and going to work. There are several things that are missed by freshers when they don’t accept the sudden change. They don’t focus on their jobs and avoid taking initiative; they avoid being efficient and refuse to accept the procedures and protocols. There is of course no denying the fact that freshers tend to remain in their la-la land even after completion of their college.
In such cases where you feel resistance to your work schedule, try dividing your work into smaller blocks and fix achievable targets and deadlines for yourself. It is okay to work slowly and have a buffer as you surely want to avoid the needless anxiety in your initial days at work.
- Tricky office Jargons
As soon as your first day kicks off, you’ll start noticing your teammates and managers using their own lingo, which will be far from your understanding. These kinds of acronyms are usually hard to understand and can intimidate the freshers. In such scenarios, freshers should begin talking to their peers in order to start adapting their thinking process. This way, they’ll not feel lost when the duftar jargon is brought up in front of them.
- Probation period
Many Indian companies are more likely to have a probationary period for freshers across the organization, duration of which depends upon the Job description of the employee. Usually, it ranges from 3 months to 6 months. In this case, during the probationary period, the employee is expected to work to the best of their capabilities and sometimes, as fresher, employees find it difficult to step out of their comfort zone and work to their full potential.
Here, you, as a fresher, need to understand that you are not alone in this. All employees have to go through this process, and you just need to try and make yourself stand out from the crowd.
Definitely make a proactive decision to avoid those chatty colleagues of yours.
- The first Quarter
The first quarter of your first job can be quite intimidating. You are more likely to work under the supervision of your reporting manager, and she/he will guide you and define the KRAs (key responsibility areas) for you to take on later. Now, most employees tend to work solely to fulfil their KRAs and forget to contribute to the company’s goals. What most fail to understand is that this is a time where the employees need to work to their maximum potential, bring in new ideas, and align their vision with the company. The first impression of any employee is extended up to the first quarter of their tenure in the organization. Thus, knowing what you want to do and how it is contributing to your growth and the company’s growth will really make up for your excellent first impression. This will also reflect your enthusiasm towards your job as a fresher.
- The Bland Office Desk
When you enter a company, you might get stuck at your desk for hours as the pressure and workload keeps building up. A bonus tip (coming from a global HR) is to always take breaks while you work- leave your desk and chat up with your colleagues or maybe step out for a stroll. If not these, try decorating your desk. It helps in many ways. Firstly, you’ll not feel anxious seeing the workload, and secondly, your mood will always be joyous.
- Lacking in presentation skills
Not being able to present your work is indeed the biggest nightmare for any fresher in an organization. All professionals are expected to give presentations as a part of their job. For some, fear of people can be a really big deal, and for others, the lack of confidence. In any case, the performance of employees suffers. Here, what can be worked upon is the soft skills. While not being shy, freshers should learn to present themselves with confidence with a little help from colleagues or peers.
LearNowX is one such platform that helps you in polishing your presentation skills and key business skills to help ace your corporate career.
Their all-inclusive courses are designed especially to help people with low confidence and weak communication skills. Explore all the courses here.
- Skill enhancement because you “need more time.”
When you join a company as a fresher, you need to get used to phrases like “fasten up” and “get up to speed”. You need to get better with your time management. Well, everyone knows that one gets better and becomes more efficient at a task the 50th time you do it. So, to avoid getting into the perpetual state of scrambling, it’s better to keep clicking in and out and keeping yourself updated with the latest trends and skills. You can try asking your manager to help you with skill enhancement, or you can even upgrade your skills at LearNowX with the easy skill enhancement courses.
