Hit The Ground Running

There is a tendency for university students to think that all one has to do at university is to study hard and get good grades. Then, when they graduate, a good job and a good life will follow.

Work life demands more than that. These days, bosses expect students to “hit the round running”. What this means is, the day you begin work, your company expects you to be fully functional, requiring minimum supervision, very independent, capable of handling most if not all the job duties assigned to you.

But that is not all. As a university graduate, what will be required of you is not just what you have learnt from your books or your courses. In fact it may have nothing to do with your major and your curriculum. At work, university graduates will be expected to have developed the following attributes:

• Global perspective — what you know and understand about international affairs.
• Cultural sensitivity — the sensitivity you need as you work along side people from other cultures.
• Diversity — the ability to have broad perspectives on issues and have a wide set of work skills.
• Maturity — the psychological attribute reflecting that you are a fully developed with a strong sense of responsibility and self-discipline.

Do you have these work attributes? How can you prepare yourselves so that you can “hit the ground running”? Here are some of the things you can do:

1. overseas exchange
2. local internship
3. mainland internship/overseas internship and,
4. community services (Service Corps / other social services)

Just do it!