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What They Don't Teach in School

March 26, 2024

K12

Written By Reid Poling, PE, MS, LEED AP BD+C

Think back with me, if you will, to your graduation. High school or college, this milestone is rightly celebrated as a key lifetime achievement. For me, in true University of Kansas tradition, I walked through the Campanile down to Memorial Stadium to hear speeches and wishes of good luck for the future. Days before, I walked across the stage in the famous Allen Fieldhouse in a separate School of Engineering ceremony with my classmates. Possibilities abound, graduates set off to begin their new careers after what feels like a lifetime of preparation, studying, and exams. However, as much as school can and does teach you, there are some lessons that are just plain difficult to teach and are learned only “on the job.”

Let me take you through some of the lessons I have learned in the past five years since my own graduation. If you are a relatively recent graduate, or perhaps still a student, these words of advice may help prepare you further for life outside of the classroom. And if you have been in the industry a while, this may serve as a reminder of the struggles encountered by a new graduate hire and offer both perspective and guidance.

Whether or not my struggles with learning soft skills in the workforce resonate with you, there are certainly some things you have learned the “hard way.” Perhaps you excel socially, but tend to struggle with technical tasks. Each day as a professional, there are things that we all do which we never learned in school. Some days the easiest things you do in your career are what you struggled learning in school. For me, the days when I run photometric calculations are a return to the familiar and a welcome reprieve from a hectic work schedule. Nonetheless, just as we did as students, we must continue to push ourselves outside of our comfort zone to learn new skills throughout our careers to remain leaders in our industry.

This article originally appeared in Zweig Group’s weekly business management newsletter, The Zweig Letter.

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