Who else has post-graduate employment?

[GoldFish]

I have been in my first graduate job for nearly six months and while there are parts i have really enjoyed and there have some signs of growth. The issue i have is that i notice the staff around me seem to be very sharp ...and very strong socially, they don't have time for negative traits at all. This is one thing you will learn if you ever work in the IT field is that the majority who prosper are usually conditioned to be very positive ...because the nature of the industry is that there will be a lot of failures in order to succeed in problem solving ...

As much as i resist it i become really passive agressive ...i am nice but inwardly i am shouting and stamping the ground because the work load is always more then i can achieve in a day so somebody will be dissapointed in the end because i have to make a priority list of the most important tasks and the rest has to stay behind until i get more time.

Amongst the pressure to work efficiently and fast there is then the expectation that you will show a bit of personality which for me usually only occurs during breaks and at lunch time ..for some reason when i am inside and at work the pressure just ruins my mood. However there are occasions when i do ask people questions and i try to lighten the mood ...

there are always the really chatty and confident ones that I feel awful that i don't make more of an effort with but its because of the self consciousness of working around alot of people that makes me very shy.

So the trick is to seperate the responsibility and pressure from the work itself so that you can think clearly and then you feel useful and you can work fast while being upbeat.

that's the think thought i know i am not upbeat enough at work or positive enough outwardly and this is a major issue, especially in IT.

the only reason i become negative is because of this damn self consciousness that turns me into a borderline mute.

i can't stand it, i think the best thing for me to do would be to just let go and talk even if rubbish comes out of my mouth.

also i thought i was smarter then what i am because at work and during meetings people seem so switched on and have a mountain of knowledge which they can articulate really impressively at the drop of a hat ...

often my mind wonders and when they ask me a question i essentially wing it even if i sort of know the question. i'm always uncertain and never sure, so this makes me hesitate and i have to think really hard about it.

i just feel so inferior even though i know i have some potential ...

Also i feel like the weak male of the group. Alot of the other guys show a lot of grunt and confidence and are playful with the girls ...
then there is me this big mystery that only a few know.

[pinkwafer]

Most graduate jobs don't appeal to me for the reasons you've put why you're finding it difficult.


Personally, I wouldn't even try. I know my limits.


But well done for staying in your job so far

[kastra]

I held down a graduate job for a year between 2006-2007, but then the crazy caught up with me It wasn't that bad an environment to be honest, but it was pretty formal which heightened my SA as I was always worrying if I would say something improper. There was a whole group of graduates and placement students in my dept who formed a social group but I never became part of it (mostly because of my avoidance, and living in a different city from most of them) so that would get me down as well. My actual position was something of a double edged sword in that I was working on projects on my own 90% of the time, which I liked cos it kept me in my comfort zone, but it meant I had little reason to interact with people.

[littlejack]

When I graduate, I am going to stick to a small company/department. I don't want to go near the city.

[ponder]

By "graduate job" do you mean one which recruits via a specific graduate programme? When I was looking for work I noticed those all tended to follow a theme of seemingly looking for mediocre academic/technical skills but lots of the fuzzy soft skills stuff. It seems to me to be window dressing around the traditonal "right sort of chap" career progression.

Of course, maybe that's just sour grapes on my part. Probably just as well none of them hired me, I wouldn't want to work in that sort of environment.

[Optimistic]

I was on a graduate job and I found it very anxiety producing. However, I did it and completed it and it probably has helped me a lot with my SA. I don't think your situation is that specific to IT as work stress is everywhere. Mix that with SA and it's very hard!