During our university life, we tend to romanticise a lot of things, including corporate jobs, due to our lack of life experiences. The idea of going to a corporate office every day, dressed in ironed clothes, with neatly combed hair, laptop in hand, travelling by an office car and sweetened with many other perks, seems enticing from the outside.
From presentations in front of teachers and classmates to participating in business competitions, you strive to gain experience you think would earn you that corporate job you so wholeheartedly dreamed of.
However, the excitement fades away after actually stepping into the so-called corporate world.
Why? Because no one tells us the ugly truth about this world or we decide to ignore the red flags to hold on to the delusion of a glamorous lifestyle.
No worries, we are here to give you a few reality checks of this corporate culture.
Stressful work environment: Every job life is stressful. There’s no job where you can avoid stressing about your work. But in the corporate world the word “stress” carries a heavier weight. Demanding deadlines, tight budgets, constant pressure to grow, etc. will make your life pretty tough. There will be times when you want to give up everything. But doesn’t matter what situation you are in, the show must go on, so there’s no option to quit.
Favouritism: Someone who is familiar or has personal connections with high-ups is given preferential treatment in hiring, promotions, or assignment of desirable tasks. This can create a perception of unfairness among other employees and demotivate them from performing better. There’s no way to escape this harsh reality.
Showing efficiency means more pressure: “If I work more and complete tasks before the deadline, my manager may perceive me differently, potentially leading to higher performance evaluations and faster promotion. However, it’s important to be cautious, as this mindset may eventually result in being overburdened with extra work that could have been avoided. In the corporate world, displaying efficiency can sometimes be counterproductive.”
Meetings are a waste of time: Be prepared to have back-to-back meetings which are not limited to office hours. Often times your manager will call you to arrange a meeting after hours because something urgent has come up. Other than the urgent ones, you will find most of the meetings to be senseless, boring, and a complete waste of time. Your mind might be saying, “Just run from this place,” but in reality you will need to attend those meetings. And the more disastrous part is that sometimes you will be assigned to write meeting minutes.
Never-ending politics: Doesn’t matter how much you avoid politics in the office but politics is everywhere. Those who say office politics do not exist everywhere are often times the ones being conspired against. So, you need to be prepared to handle a few backstabbing colleagues and try to keep your sanity amid the madness.
There are many more topics that we could have discussed but we’re not going to give you a nightmare. Relax! Every profession has pros and cons, not a single profession is super perfect. We just need to be flexible and adapt to the situation. That’s how we can mitigate the negativity from life.