7 Things College Did Not Teach Me

You Don’t Know Anything, But You are Prepared

In the first month or so of your first job, you need to accept that you really do not know what you are doing. There are a lot of jobs that college cannot teach you about, but that doesn’t mean college doesn’t prepare you for it. I was an Economics and Environmental Science major in college and now I run my company’s Digital Marketing campaigns. College never taught me how to do this job, but college did teach me how to learn.

Time-Management

In every interview I have ever had I said I was great at time management. At the time, I thought that was true, so technically, I was not lying. Throughout college, I rarely found myself working consistently for over 2 hours at a time without taking a break. In the “real world” you truly don’t have that type of luxury while at work. Deadlines come around much quicker at work than they do in college. 

Meeting Etiquette

In college, you rarely experience anything close to a formal company meeting. College classes essentially consist of going to class, occasionally missing the reading (maybe more than occasionally), listening to a lecture, and then going back to your dorm. This resembles nothing close to a real meeting scenario. In the “real world,” if you do not prepare for your meeting, you don’t have the ability to make up for it or learn about the topic during the meeting. If you don’t prepare you are wasting everybody’s time and serve no value to your co-workers or company.

Planning Meals

This may seem like such a small thing to a lot of people, but it was something I never anticipated having to put real thought into. In college, meals are rarely something students have to think about because of dining halls. Since I graduated, I have found that simply planning what I am going to eat for the upcoming week has taken more than just a single thought.

Taxes

I find it incredible that I went to high school for 4 years and then college for another 4 and I still don’t really know how to do taxes by myself. Maybe this is because we have the most complicated tax system in the entire world, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog. They’re due in a month... I am just going to find an accountant.

Company Culture is Vital

Working in a positive work environment is something that I never valued enough when searching for jobs my senior year of college. I have held many jobs over my short working career, and I find that I have been most productive and contribute more to company success when I am surrounded by those that display a positive work attitude.

Your Job Doesn’t Have to Feel Like a Job

Many students think graduating from college is the beginning of the end of fun because that is when “work” begins. That does not have to be true if you truly are doing what you want to do. I love coming to this job every single day because every single day is never like the previous in my role. ISlide is a truly dynamic company that is constantly innovating and changing, which creates its own set of unique interesting projects.

*Jordan (Bowdoin College ’17) joined ISlide in September 2017 as a part of the Inaugural ISlide Rotational Program. He now is a full-time Digital Marketing Associate.