From Campus to Corporate: the beginning

Reading time: 2-3 minutes

I thought had life all figured out – I “gave it my all” during K-12 school to earn good grades and get into a great University with a top-notch program. I “worked hard and played hard” through my college years – graduating in three years but taking full advantage of the adventure college presents. I took a year off after college to experience the world – international internships and 7 months backpacking in the mountains and jungles of South America.

I came back ready to hit the ground running and put the same passion and hard work I applied in college into “making it big” in the corporate world.  I engaged my networks and was offered an interview for the dream job – supply chain analyst at Microsoft.

I studied hard to prepare for my half-day interview. To my honor and delight, I was selected to begin as a supply chain analyst for the Entertainment and Devices division. The next several weeks flew by and I could hardly believe I had landed such an amazing job. I was challenged every day and worked hard to prove myself.

Then it happened – the “when’s summer break?” syndrome – in college, I always got a break between spurts of hard work. Christmas break, spring break, and the beloved three month summer break – now all gone from my destiny.

As it turns out, I am not an unusual case. Many have come before me, and many still will experience this bizarre “quarter life crisis.”  As more attention is given to “20 something’s” entering the work place, society looks to our generation for clues. We are the so-called Generation Y, also called the “Trophy Generation.” We were raised to believe that everyone wins and if we try our hardest; an “E for effort” is the best grade. As evidence of this, my favorite quote (from General Patton):

"If a man does his best, what else is there?"

This has caused problems in the corporate world because as my generation enters, wide-eyed and full of expectations, we think that a job should be perfect in all aspects. If we try our hardest, we should win and succeed. As such, a difficult boss or bad working hours is cause for quitting.

I want to share my experience, whether you are coming out of college or work with those who are.

I want to shed light on this “Trophy Generation” as I pass my one year anniversary in the “corporate world;” I hope you enjoy this collection of thoughts!

Comments

[SarahG]

Can't wait to hear more!