Get familiar with the ``real'' world of work

HOW MANY times have you spoken to someone on a new job and heard, ``It's not at all what I expected''? The reality could be either positive or negative compared to the expectation, but more often than not, it implies a disappointment. In general, we have rather romanticised notions of the professional life.

These notions come from representations in movies or books and occasionally from people who speak in very glowing terms about their jobs. Lawyers always seem to be arguing life-and-death cases. Policemen are always on the trail of the most wanted criminals. Doctors are always rushing around emergency rooms saving lives.

Journalists are always chasing the scoop. Managers are always in crucial meetings that result in business breakthroughs. Scientists are always on the edge of path-breaking discoveries and inventions. And computer professionals are always creating exciting software that will take the world by storm-and earning big bucks in the process.

We choose our career paths based on these images, we slog through the course work with those dreams in mind. Then we find ourselves in dreary offices or cubicles pushing papers and making phone calls, sitting through meetings that seem a waste of time, punching button after button on the keyboard hoping that the next day will bring the big break we are waiting for.

Few of us have the good fortune to have an inside glimpse of the industry or field we plan to work in. Our decisions must be based on what we hear and see.

So it is not unusual to find that what we expect and what we finally experience are two different things. However, if we plan it right, we can (in most cases) avoid too much of a gap between expectation and experience.

Our disappointments usually stem from three basic factors:

* We have little or no information about what the job really entails and have not made any attempt to find out before joining.

* We have been misled during the interview and appointment process.

* We have no idea about the details that make up work life in general.

Our education system, by and large, focuses on skills and knowledge in isolation, spending little or no time on how these will be applied in real work situations.

Even professional courses offer little insight into the details of work life, except in cases where an independent internship or practicum is required. And what exactly are these ``details'' we need to be prepared for?

Most jobs require some degree of what we call ``multi-tasking''. Even in the most focussed of careers, one would need to be a combination of manager, secretary and communicator-among other things.

Firstly, most jobs require a lot of paperwork. Even if you are a microbiologist working at a premier research institute, about 40 per cent of your time (at least) will be spent on writing and reading memos, drafting proposals and maintaining records. As you move up the ladder, the time you will spend on actual research will be severely affected by administrative and supervisory work. You will have to attend plenty of meetings, participate in many decision making sessions, and do many such things which you might think have ``nothing to do'' with what you were trained for.

Secondly, most jobs involve a lot of time and task management. Rarely will you be in a position to come to work and take your day as it comes, with no planning or priority setting whatsoever. You must be able to effectively manage your time and resources whether you are told to or not.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, all jobs involve interacting with people. Talking on the telephone, meeting face to face individually and in groups, writing e-mail and notes to colleagues, all call for some degree of skill in dealing with people.

This means dealing with people of different kinds. You need to be able to ``read'' people and at times second-guess their expectations of you, particularly when you are at the entry level. Managing relationships effectively goes a long way in avoiding misunderstandings and heartache in your professional life-and the earlier you begin to do that, the better.

What the books and movies leave out about from the exciting professional images they create is that all jobs (no exceptions) involve a lot of boring, routine but nevertheless important work. Some of what I mentioned earlier forms part of this-writing and reading memos, attending meetings, making telephone calls. Add to this the follow up that almost all work requires-following up with people, following up on experiments, following up on records.

Despite all this, there are exciting moments in professional life. What we need to make sure of when we enter a job, is that the routine work will be compensated for by a reasonable amount of stimulating and engaging work. For instance, if you have an MBA and become an account executive at an advertising firm, you would expect that at least 25 per cent of your time (at the entry level) would be spent on tasks for which you have been trained. If, even after your training period, you end up pushing bills and making appointments for your boss 90 per cent of the time, you know you need to do something about it. Or if you are trained as a biochemist and end up only cleaning the laboratory, there is something wrong there.

Such situations can be avoided by doing a bit of research before accepting a job, and by making sure you spell out your expectations (and find out the employers') during the hiring process. Before signing on the dotted line, make an attempt to read as much as you can about the work culture. Talk to people at the company, and visit the work place if you can. What has the experience of others at your level been? Why have people left the company or organisation? How open will your boss really be to what you want to do? Talk to other people you know to get an honest appraisal of what their job really involves-what is a routine day really like? Get all the details, not just the surface gloss.

At the entry level, you cannot expect to be spending all your time ``on task''. However, you must make sure there are spaces within which you can discover and express your potential. And you must make sure you use them well, instead of spending even that time and energy on complaining about the rest of the things you have to do. That's the only way to enlarge those spaces for yourself.

USHA RAMAN

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Towards purposeful teaching
Next     : Know your English