2019 has been a year of big change for me. After graduating from college, and starting my career as an Accounting Financial Analyst. The transition to working at a fast-paced company was challenging and accompanied by moments of self-doubt. But after five months, I finally feel confident in my ability to contribute to the team and fill in the gaps in my knowledge. I want to share the top three lessons I have learned to help recent college graduates make an impact in their first role.
Lesson 1: Impostor syndrome is natural.
Wikipedia defines impostor syndrome as the, "psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud". Being a recent college graduate at a company of knowledgeable high-performers can certainly be intimidating. Naturally, I began to question if I had the necessary skills to succeed. After discussing with mentors and peers, I learned that this feeling is completely natural for new hires. It is easy to believe that we are alone in our feelings of incompetence, but this simply is not true. It is a part of the initial learning process to wonder if you have the potential to succeed.
Takeaway: Confidence is an action before it's a feeling and nobody will have faith in you unless you have faith in yourself. If you are qualified enough to get in the door, the hiring manager believed you that were competent enough to succeed. Use the feelings of incompetence as a motivating factor to become a subject matter expert in your role. Most importantly: be patient, be curious and stay focused.
Lesson 2: Take personal responsibility for knowledge acquisition.
The initial on-boarding process was overwhelming and I began to feel like I was falling below the performance expectations. I knew it was time to shift my perspective and take decisive action toward daily improvement. My performance drastically improved when I decided to take complete responsibility for my own success. Rather than encountering a problem and immediately asking for help, I vowed to use all available resources to find the answer on my own. I currently work on the Payments Accounting team, which is an important and complex function. I set time aside each day to watch YouTube videos about the Credit Card ecosystem, read and re-read internal training documentation and study the flow of accounting transactions through our systems. I may not know everything, but I know I can rely on my mentality to get me over the hurdles.
Takeaway: Whatever your job function, treat your role like you are the founder and CEO of your business line. This means making your best effort to know the economics of your industry, constantly asking yourself the "why's" behind your daily tasks and having an unwavering commitment to improvement.
Lesson 3: Network as much as possible.
At the start of my job, I was really nervous to reach out to people in the company and learn more about their role. I feared being seen as annoying and holding people back from doing their job. After mustering up the courage and asking a few people to have coffee, I realized that most people are very excited to help out young people just starting their career. I do recommend coming prepared with questions about their career, tough lessons they have learned ,or things they would take advantage of if they were my age. Coming prepared can eliminate awkward lulls in conversation. Meeting people throughout the company is a great opportunity to learn about other positions and expand your professional network.
Takeaway: While it is important to master the daily tasks of your day job, it is also supremely important to find mentors and learn more about other roles in the company.
I hope my lessons will be of value to you at the start of your new job. Get comfortable with adversity and learn to love the process!
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