Question to recent graduates/about to graduates.

I'm finally going to graduate in a year (which will be after 5 long years) and can't shake that feel, bro. While I do know all this stuff and such, I only know how to be an accountant or something in Academia. I probably wouldn't feel confident just walking in to a job in my field and being left to do it. It feels like even though I have this shiny piece of paper and huge debt, I don't properly know how to apply this stuff in real life and that I would still need further training or the real world is just going to eat me. Is this how everyone feels?

Some do.
Then there are those who are sure they know the job better than any old geezer who hasn't updated their skills in a decade or three.

I know nothing. It's cool. I only really know the stuff I've actually applied in my own projects or has been taught in more than one class.

Try snagging an internship relevant to your field to get some work experience under your belt and you should be green-lighted to get a job mostly anywhere with an accounting degree. Or there's always grad school.

I know I feel that way, even though I've still got two years before I get my bachelor's.
It's kinda nerve-racking, but at the same time, there will always be someone better/more experienced than you, just as there will always be someone worse than you >_>

I agree with the internship thing as stated above, though.

Er I don't know what you guys are worried about. It's not like if you walk in with a degree they expect you to know, all they want to know is...well that you at least can do the job, that you're capable. In any job, besides like inside job relocation will make you go through the most basic retarded training. A college education can't teach you how each enviroment will be.

Hell one job will have no computer and expect you to use a calculator from 1980, while another will have a gym option where a computer does all the work for you. -shrugs-

I'm terrified! I think I have ~5 classes left, but no idea what to expect in "the real world." Finding an internship seems to be my guiding light right now, along with grad school (maybe).

I feel less anxious when teachers say nobody has any idea what they're doing on their first day, though.

I never really got out in the "real world" between my college graduation and me furthering my education, except for a few part time gigs. What I can say is that you do have to relearn some stuff, because memory isn't perfect, but there is much more learning by experience in the workplace. Work in accounting for a while and the stuff you learned in college should naturally blend in with the demands and procedures of your job. Just remember to keep studying up and to stay current in your field.

In regards to internships: Internships happen during the summer, which is Jan-March in New Zealand. The companies do their intake in the first few months of the preceding year. They also like face to face interviews and, as a consequence of studying abroad for the first half of the year, I've missed out on all the internships. I'll also be graduating half way through next year, but most grad programs do intakes for the beginning of years, so that makes things awkward. However I have been looking in to grad programs with some of the major banks, and they do intakes twice a year, and I'll be graduated in time for the August ones so I'm sure as hell going for those.

The only thing I am worried about is getting a job and being thrown in the deep end and them assuming I know what to do.

Well, having already experienced more job hunting failure than all my graduating electrical engineering peers, I can definitely say that interviewing is a skill. It takes practice. Prepare your anus. Apply early. Apply often. Ask questions. Appear enthusiastic and interested. Be prepared to play the numbers game. Interviews always end with "Do you have any questions for me?" If you're worried about being thrown in the deep end, ask about mentors and the availability of other employees to teach and enlighten you. As previously mentioned, I think they really just assume you have a capacity for learning and self-teaching.

Also... I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I just interviewed today with a company president. He echoed that sentiment, and he's well into his career. Be prepared for any possibility I guess.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rick

The only thing I am worried about is getting a job and being thrown in the deep end and them assuming I know what to do.

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That will NEVER happen. Employers will always put you through a training/adjustment period because everyone knows that school is not the same as a workplace. Especially considering that every work place is unique and they will all expect different things of you. They just want you to be able to do what they ask you to do, with the presumption that you know at least basic knowledge of the field.

Unfortunately, actual employers don't want to take extra time training new employees and they know that someone fresh out of school won't know what the hell they're doing which is why it's hard for graduates to get a job. You NEED to do an internship as that is considered the main training period.

While I was still in school, I had that general feeling. I managed to find an internship about a year before graduating, and it was at that point I knew it wasn't too bad; my employer didn't expect me to know everything, but expected me to be able to adapt and learn. I then got hired for a full-time position by a different manager (within the same company), since I made a good name for myself. I got hired for a job that I didn't have any real experience with, but with the assumption that I had transferable skills to my new job. Turns out I did. Don't discount your ability to learn on the job.

I was supposed to graduate this semester but it's been pushed back to next semester. >_> No clue what I'll be doing. At the moment, there's really not a damn thing I can do, so I'm probably looking to graduate and move back in with my parents for a year or so with no job before pomegranate gets figured out. :|

As for interviewing, it's definitely a skill. and definitely a skill I don't have. <_< I only get jobs when someone I know recommends me to their supervisor when they're unexpectedly short-staffed and need someone immediately. I've never gotten a job I've formally interviewed for.

Heh, in the same boat. Graduation pushed back until the fall. Graduating with only two degrees. Unsure if work will be available. Unsure how I'll get a job etc... I guess there are internships. But those still don't give you a guaranteed job always.