A journey: From a student to a professional

Emerging as a professional is to embark on one of life's most exciting adventures. It's after we change dynamically from babies to elementary schoolers to middle schoolers to high school seniors to adults by the time, we take our caps and gowns offstage at graduation and start on our professional journey.

Our school education indeed lays the groundwork for our future careers all this time, but when we graduate and enter the workforce, we realise, more often than not, that the road to professional success is anything but smooth. Things may not go quite as planned.

Students should take note of the following points to navigate this road, which no one really talks about, and make a success of their transformation into professionals.

Cultivating professional intelligence

The thought of our first professional employment has us all giddy with excitement. However, we had been trapped inside the social box since elementary school, we were constrained by mandatory educational standards, and now we are simply thrust into a world outside of the classroom. The only magic trick to adapt to this radical overhaul is to cultivate our professional intelligence, try to be part of the solution and not the problem, improve our communication skills, observe and listen more, and address the challenges with a positive attitude and perseverance. All this is conducive to developing entrepreneurial skills as well if we stay mindful.

Developing systematic thinking

Due to the fact that the majority of our assignments at school and college were independent of one another, we did not get sufficient training in systematic thinking. On the work front, having a systematic way of thinking is really necessary. Thinking and preparing in a methodical way should be our daily routine if we want our work life to go smoothly and successfully. In addition to understanding our own part, we should examine how different parts of the organisation come together to produce a result, how those parts are interconnected, and how the system could be made more efficient. Systematic thinking fosters our leadership qualities.

Improving emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is one of the most essential leadership qualities in the workplace because it helps individuals to recognise and regulate their emotions when engaging with colleagues. The environment of the workplace may, on occasion, degenerate into one that is fraught with tension, anxiety, stress, and even confrontation. During these times, we should learn to examine how we react to situations, take responsibility for our actions, and understand how our actions will affect others. The ability to comprehend and control our feelings will contribute to a positive attitude on life as a whole and leave us feeling more optimistic about ourselves and the world around us.

Chasing excellence

As a saying goes, "Strive for excellence, and success will follow you". We should apply this standard to both our life as a student and our life as a professional. Our culture is so focused on the idea of success that few concentrate on something that is more significant than success—and that is excellence! We should analyse our strengths, improve on our weaknesses, and try to be great at what we do, but we should also try to be a jack of all trades if not a master of many. Excellence is not to be found in a specific field like success is; it is to be found in our ability to work towards our company's vision from all sides. When we have the knowledge and talents that are unparalleled by others, success will naturally find its way to our doorstep.

It is only awareness about the journey or the lack of it that distinguishes the experiences of younger generations as well as older ones. If we are really focused on filling our journey with growth and success, we need to maintain a strong hold on these five pillars—professional intelligence, systematic thinking, emotional intelligence, skill set, and excellence. The information that we get from education is only going to give us entry into the professional world, but our being mindful of the experiences we go through and we create in this professional world is what actually makes us professionals.

(The author is the VP at S K Educations Pvt. Ltd )