It’s mid May, and newly minted college graduates soon will start showing up in workplaces all across the land. They’re young, eager and heady with the sense that they’ve finally arrived at the starting point of a career that promises to fulfill their dreams. Alas, by about Halloween, their spirits will be crushed.
Why? I suppose it’s because the transition from college to the workplace is about like going from the womb to the delivery room. Suddenly you’re in a cold and noisy place and some strange authority figure slaps you.
This time of year we see all manner of books, articles and speeches by career coaches who try to ease the rough transition for newbies in the workplace. A lot of them offer up helpful but banal advice. You know, turn off your cell phone in meetings; don’t chew gum and refer to co-workers as “you guys”; dress as if Macy’s is a little more familiar to you than Antarctica. (I know, I know. Young Angelenos hate that part. But trust me: Men need more than two ties in their lives.)
One piece of advice that I like is from a career consultant named Mary Crane, whose first pointer took me years to figure out: Hard work is a great start, but it’s not enough.
That is, many young employees enter the workforce assuming it’s a meritocracy, kind of like college. They figure if they do great work and work hard, they’ll get an “A” and get patted on the head. Doesn’t work that way. Good work allows you to keep your job, usually, but doesn’t always get you promoted or even recognized.
Anyone who’s been in the workforce more than a couple years has seen this personal drama play out repeatedly. An earnest young worker who does a thorough job and completes the work on time and under budget often gets passed up by the schmoozer, the one who seems to skate by on personality and who golfs with the boss. At least, that’s the way it appears to the put-upon hard worker.
The boss probably sees it differently. The boss sees the schmoozer as one who’s made an effort to reach out and actually ask what the company wants and needs. If the schmoozer works to meet those needs, the boss looks upon the schmoozer as one who’s in touch with the core of the company and who’s pushing it in its new strategic direction. The boss may look upon the hard worker as competent but out of synch.
Crane put it this way: “The importance of ‘face time’ with supervisors and co-workers cannot be overestimated. Managers and supervisors are more likely to reward the employees they know and like.”
I’ll put it more bluntly and perhaps more cynically: The schmoozer will get ahead because the schmoozer does what the boss wants.
A couple other bits of counsel, from Crane and others:
– Lose the relaxed atmosphere of college. You’re probably used to answering the phone “yo” but it doesn’t sound quite professional in, say, a typical accounting firm.
– Build a network, and not just the wireless kind. Get in touch with peers inside and outside the office. Join a professional organization or join the office bowling team, if that’s the big thing.
– Cut the chatter about college life. It reminds everybody that you’re young and makes your co-workers feel old.
One more from me: Please unplug the iPods, you guys.
Charles Crumpley is editor of the Business Journal. He can be reached at
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