The Essentials of Being a Professional

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were roughly 2.8 million students who graduated with either an associate or bachelor's degree in 2011. I was one of them.

I'd just finished my business degree at Ohio University, which at the time, was more known for being a party school than it was for its academics. My grades weren't great for the type of student I am, but I worked hard enough to graduate with a 3.2 GPA and felt pretty good about landing two job offers before graduation. Neither were for the “lucrative” $65,000 salary that our MIS (Management Information Systems) professors said were possible in this field. However, after spending the last few years living off of ramen noodles and cheap beer, the thought of making $40,000 a year sounded pretty sweet. By the week of graduation, I'd accepted my offer, signed a lease for an apartment in Cleveland, and was beginning to prepare for my first day of work the following Monday.

The story is nothing special. In fact, if you ask a millennial, I’d bet there’s a fair chance they’d share something comparable. Each of our professional journeys would eventually develop into their own story in time, but the reality is that many of us may feel a similar feeling while starting out. Misplaced.

I was no exception. Aside from being socially awkward, I looked young, and my personality wasn’t necessarily the best match for our company’s clientele (which were accountants at this point). “Thrown to the wolves,” Baptism by fire,” and “drinking from a firehose” weren’t cliches anymore, they would be my reality for the next 18 months until I’d eventually search for a different opportunity. I reconnected with an old roommate and moved on.

Over the next dozen years, I advanced up and around the organization that I’d come to spend the next decade with. Each opportunity presented new challenges, new characters, and most importantly, more money (kidding of course, but it was nice).

That said, it wasn’t always great. I’d had my share of lumps too. Enough mistakes have been made over the years that I’ve come to accept that it’s just a part of becoming a professional (it’s true in life as well). Some mistakes are avoidable, others are not. And while it’s easy to dwell on the things done wrong, it can be just as detrimental (if not more) if you can’t find a way to learn something and move on. It’s something I wished somebody had explained to me at the beginning of my career.

It’s now been more than 14 years since graduation and I look back at the thing I know now that I wished I’d known then. It would’ve likely led to more positive outcomes, but instead of wondering “what it could have meant to me,” I’d like to share these with the intent of wondering “what could it mean for others.”

A few notes about this:

• Readings are intended to be simple and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to digest.

• Content is authentic and written (by me) based on life experience (not by some AI tool - images used on the site are another ).

• This is my first time writing publicly. If you have feedback, thoughts, ideas, etc., I’d love to hear from you.

  
  

- Luke