Reasons Why Your Full-Time Job Is Just Like Being at University

Obviously, your free time is your own, but if you want to rise rapidly in your chosen career then it’s important that your brain doesn’t clock off at 5pm. Maybe you watch an inspiring TED talk, follow some influencers on Twitter (Tech Bullion has useful examples of finance-related influencers), or read an interesting article in an industry journal that sparks an idea. Or maybe you check out the competition and see what rival companies are up to, so you can feed back to your manager.

Whatever you do, it’s not really any different to the work you do outside of the lecture theatre at university. In both cases, you’re doing it because you’re passionate about a subject and want to get better at it.

At university, you’d let off steam by joining a society or sports team, depending on what suited your interests. As well as helping you meet new people, these hobbies gave you a sense of balance, and it’s exactly the same in your future day job.

Many workplaces have staff groups, from soccer teams to book clubs or running clubs, so you can hang out with colleagues in an informal environment whilst perfecting your skills. There are recognised employee benefits to joining clubs – for example, your wellbeing will be boosted.

If you can’t inspire your colleagues to get moving, you can meet like-minded other people in the area and get together for a group gym session or photography class.

Hate to tell you this, but once you escape the exam system, you probably won’t be free of tests for life. Most careers these days include assessments of some sort, whether that means regular appraisals, giving a low-key presentation to senior staff, or – gulp – public speaking.

It can be daunting at first, but you won’t be the only one feeling nervous. Most people hate public speaking, which explains why there are loads of adult education courses to help them improve. Even non-profit organisations, such as Toastmasters, have sprung up around the world. See how they helped workers in Ulster here. 

So, if you can’t avoid being assessed, how can you make the best of it? Ask for help, just as you would in university, and consider setting up a study group. Big work-related exams might involve study leave arrangements, much like reading weeks in uni, because your employer will take your exams just as seriously as you.

If things do go wrong on the day, you’ll usually be allowed at least one retake, but you should still put in maximum effort on your first attempt.

Polly writes for Inspiring Interns, a graduate recruitment agency helping people find their perfect internship and giving them the latest graduate careers advice. Check their graduate jobs listings for up-to-date roles. 

Images: Dirty sink (Shira Gal: Flickr), TED talk (Wikimedia Commons)