The corporate life is one many young adults fantasize about. For whatever reason, the thought of showing up to work with a buttoned-up shirt, crisp pants, slicked-back hair and a briefcase in hand is appealing. But corporate offices are not always what you see in media. While many wouldn’t trade their jobs for the world, lots of fresh graduates go in only to find it wasn’t the dream job they thought it would be. So here are 5 harsh truths about life in a corporate environment:
Office politics exist
This is true in nearly every office. It’s unique to every company and worth trying to understand. When you get your first corporate job, try your best to understand the inner workings and dynamics of the company. As a newcomer, you might miss out on valuable opportunities or get taken advantage of for this very reason. It’s a strange environment almost reminiscent of your times in high school. Most people grow to live with it but some find they can’t. Politics is a nasty game.
Your co-workers can be selfish
Let’s face it — people are a**holes. If you’re talented and passionate about what you do, some people can try to bring you down solely for their own self-interest. They hate seeing others succeed without them. These types are very common in most corporate offices. Never let them deter you from reaching your goals.
Your scope of work will constantly increase
When you first get accepted into the company, it’s likely you’ll be given a list of what your new role entails. You’ll know exactly what you were hired to do and how you should go about doing it. But the longer you stay in the company, the longer that list gets — while your role and salary stay the same. While the good thing about this is that it teaches you to multitask and helps you gain lots of new skills, it can get tough to juggle. Realise when taking up a corporate job, that the scope of your work will gradually increase.
Extra effort sometimes goes unnoticed
In a corporate office, with dozens of employees sometimes under the supervision of a single manager, it can be hard to keep track of everyone. This can get frustrating since it means that extra work can go unnoticed. If you do anything hoping you’ll get the appreciation for it, it is likely you might not. In fact, it’s more likely that your supervisors will notice your flaws rather than your contributions.
It can kill creativity
Depending on how important exercising your creativity is to you, this can be a downer. Desk jobs are known to kill creativity. It makes sense when you properly consider it. Doing the exact same tasks at the exact same desk is unlikely going to spark any creative ideas. Of course, you can always find a creative outlet outside of work. But if you’re the type of worker who craves innovation and new ideas, the corporate life may not be for you.
