The perks of making your first transition from college to corporate life

We’ve all talked to our own selves. We often and always have two different voices , more like two people dwelling within us, and having a conversation of their own. One of the voice is from the brain/the mind, being the logical one; rendering only factual, realistic and tough statements, while the second voice, is from the hidden recesses of the heart, being the more tender, optimistic and honeyed one; speaking only what we truly like and want.

Well. I have recently had quite a few encounters of the voices of my mind and heart being in a constant conflict and war of words.
I am talking about the time when (just recently) it was my first day at office as part of my summer internship that I am pursuing.

I was perpetually excited for my first day at work, (as any college student would be). I had started dreaming and visualizing what my first day would be like, along with a few doubts and apprehensions too! including, what kind of work will I have to do, will my employers be sweet and friendly, how long will I have to work, how will my co-interns interact etc etc.

The day had approached after enduring a lot of nervousness, anticipation and flying butterflies eating up the stomach!
Amidst the pristine environment at office where the air filled an unconventional vibe, I mustered my courage, and went inside the room with confidence and faith, believing that everything will be fine and that I’ll be able to comprehend well. (The general way how we all must boost our spirits and reassure ourselves with confidence, before starting any new routine/important task). Interns were also supposed to work in the same office as the official employers of the company, in the same rooms, same cubicles, same floors
To my pleasant surprise, my employers and immediate mentors at office turned out to be very warm and welcoming in their ways of talking, communicating and describing all about our internship, related tasks, assignments, targets etc. Their friendly and amiable demeanor really helped me get comfortable at office and seamlessly accept my work and workplace with ease.

But just as I started my tenure as an intern on the first day, little did I know, that, I was about to experience something exactly opposite to what I had imagined it to be, to what I’d been experiencing in life till now. After some initial few minutes, when, my heads unfolded and elucidated all about the work, tasks, aims and targets, and some ‘unclear replies’ from my side, there was pin drop silence in the cubicle.
From there on, commenced, the never-ending voices of my mind and my heart, relentlessly conversing and debating for the agonizing and punishing situation I was stuck in.

My co-intern hadn’t joined me on my first day, and hence, I was the only intern, sitting like an innocent rabbit in front of my heads. I tried my best to maintain a calm and serene exhibition on my face, and pretended to understand everything while enjoying the extensive research domineered to me on the very first day.
I soon realized that this is what its going to be like, to work in an office, and to work so efficiently and effectively, that completing the targets and tasks is like the end of your life.

To precisely describe a corporate office- It is a place with similar-looking people, wearing similar clothes, possessing similar-looking goodies and commodities, working in unison, going to the cafe in a group, eating together, sitting together and even, getting up together! A corporate house- having crystal clear, clean and polished rooms, tables, chairs and doors. All goods and articles kept at exact proper places and not a single thing slipping out of position. The entire region is sterilized and immaculate. So are the people who work there. So are the rooms, so are the cubicles, so is the cafeteria, so is the washroom!

Monotony and repetitiveness dominates an office, and is inescapable for employees and workers. It is almost like having yourself locked in an unchanging and undiversified territory, without altering your routine and state of mind. Those college students, who are perceived ‘hooligans’ and gypsies, would want to run away on day 1 itself! I’m not a gypsy as yet, but I felt like running away too!
Reach office-start working-embark on the boundless and voluminous research and complete your task/target for the day. It is up to you, how early your complete. Take 2 hours, 4 hours or 6 hours, complete your work and leave. The people who have worked there for decades now, seem to have effortlessly accepted this as a way of their lives, and appear contented and uninhibited. It seems that all they care for is, their targets and their works. There are innumerable laptop and monitor screens are all over the place, with a pair of persistent eyes, glued to the screens.

For unwinding temporarily , they often take breaks in between and go out or sit in the cafeteria. But, the incessant uniformity is apparent again. They sit down together, walk and talk right and get up to go back, all at once, together. IT IS MECHANICAL!

The reason why I have chronicled more on the monotony is because, that is the most influential aspect that any newcomer/freshman/ college intern would get bothered by!

College is all about hopping and jumping from one place to another, from one fest to another, from working for projects, tasks and assignments to chilling and hanging out in the canteen with your group of friends. It involves working hard and partying harder with crazy ventures, insane priorities, winning that long-awaited competition, preparing for functions, events and surprises! Teasing your friend, joking around with teaches, making the classroom into a hang-out zone, while someone strums up his/her guitar and others start singing, as if having an enjoyable time around a campfire. Slipping, running and racing in the corridors like school-kids! and considering the college campus like your home, there are myriad of cherished aspects and the list truly goes on!

Although internships at corporate houses and official jobs thereafter, are not only about the overloaded work and the humdrum, but also about being extremely considerate and dedicated for your project at hand. It spells concentration and coherency, no matter how or what you do. It involves taking charge and being as innovative as you can be. Managing your own content, taking orders and guidance from heads and hence, handling your team sums up a methodological system of corporate work. Establishing and advancing on new formed-ideas and leadership qualities are influenced to a great extent with corporate careers. It is meant to create individuals with their own respective expertise, into experienced leaders.

College life hence, is purely dissimilar to corporate life, and those, who are planning to undertake their corporate careers right after completing their college degrees, will be in for a good toast!
The ways to initiate though, are not stiff or impossible. If you really want a job just after college, then make sure that you endeavor on a beautiful trip/voyage or embark on an outdoor adventure before taking the plunge.
Also when you’ve got your job once and start working, you can even head out for one-day road trips or weekend getaways to nearby places, to wear off that mundane routine from your minds, for some time. Such breaks provide a good refreshment for the heart and soul and render new ways to inspire us to go to work again. Because once you bag a job, there will be no end to work! So traversing across wide and open roads or trailing up to a certain height to a neighboring hill, from the grounded desk/chair at office you were cemented to, definitely proves to be fulfilling, stimulating and revitalizing both, for the body and the mind.

So, if you are a college-going student, planning to intern at a corporate firm, then get ready to experience an unerring contrast of what your ‘dream workplace’ has been till now! Interns are given too much work and are expected to be productive and equally sincere as the other employees.
Wishing all my friends, the very best for acquiring an initial taste of corporate life, in the midst of enduring the workplace eccentricities, slogging your backs off, to chasing all the targets, tasks and proving to be a testimony for other interns!

Here’s wishing all the strength, concentration and productivity for a successful tenure (brief or long).

So, let’s play some real-life ‘office-office’!