A couple of days ago, I came across a post on social media that asked;

"What lessons did your first job teach you?".

The question got me to reflect on my first professional experience, and I decided to share two lessons I learned along the way.

By sharing them in this article, I didn’t just want to answer the question that was asked on social media but also provide some valuable insights I wished I had before I took up my first job. As always, I hope you find them useful on your journey.

Lesson 1: Your success will have little or nothing to do with your education or intelligence

"Education can only get you through the door. Striving in the room would require a lot more than that". - Anonymous.

My first professional job was in a large global organization. Fresh out of graduate school, I joined the organization without any corporate experience but had the advantage of a curious mind and a lot of theoretical concepts of how the world works or rather “should work”.

Fortunately, the job presented me with the transition I needed between academic and actual-world practice. As I soon learned, aside from theoretical or technical knowledge, in order to succeed in such an environment, I needed to also figure out how to build productive working relationships, team alignment and manage the expectations of different stakeholders with varied interests.

To paraphrase Alexandra Levit, your technical knowledge of a profession or your creative ideas will be fruitless if you and the stakeholders you are working with are heading in different directions.

Lesson 2: Do not underestimate the importance of having a manager or colleagues who are able to mentor, guide and support you

"You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself". - Galileo

The first weeks and months are crucial in any new job or organization. During this period, your manager(s) and colleagues will not only have a lasting effect on how you perceive work and yourself, but they can largely determine if you will succeed or fail.

Young and hungry to deliver results, I also recall stepping into one of my first professional roles expecting to gain experience while being guided by my managers and colleagues along the way. But unfortunately, not all of us will be lucky with all our expectations. As I learned from that job, success requires more than just hard skills or delivering results, and the ability to manage relationships with key stakeholders was equally important.

In many organizations, it is important to strive toward team alignment while trying to deliver expected results. And even when other stakeholders might not always agree with you or your approach, they still need to be heard and feel that their views are taken seriously.

Realizing that navigating an early career can be challenging, I can look back today and able to share some of the things I wish I had learned earlier. Do you also have lessons you learned in your first jobs? Happy to get your perspective too!

2 lessons I Learned from My First Jobs