8 Learnings in my First Year at Work

July 29 marked my first year at work as a software engineer in the FinTech industry. The past year has shown me many things: how much and how little I learned from college, the commitment it takes to keep learning, the ever-present helplessness as an international student on F-1 OPT, taking charge of your own economic freedom, and the discipline required for a pandemic-enforced work-from-home lifestyle. Below are 8 things that I learnt during my first year at work.

1. Keep Learning

Learning does not stop at graduation. You could have highest honors in your college, but if you do not stay updated with the latest technologies in the industry, your relevance quickly fizzles out. Almost every company offers its employees free access to learning courses, and it is in your best interest to make full use of that. Have a genuine passion to learn. You can break down the learning by picking up a new topic every month. You want to learn about Cloud? It is okay to start with a beginner’s course for any of the current cloud offerings (like AWS, Azure, GCP etc). Most technologies I use at work were not learned in college, but on my own time. College helps you build a strong foundation, but continued learning keeps you visible above ground.

2. Find Mentors

Many people struggle to find mentors in their industry. Many times it is because you expect to have a clearly defined relationship with your mentor where they answer all the questions you have. But going up to someone and asking them to be your mentor is seldom the way forward. Instead, you should spend time talking to your peers and seniors, developing a relationship with them and figuring out what their strengths are. They may or may not belong to your team or company. They should be different enough from you to offer you fresh perspectives but similar enough to understand your problem in the first place. You can have multiple “mentors”, each of whom can help you out with one specific area you require guidance in, such as technical, financial or social.

3. Internalize Feedback

During the first year in any job, we are all hyper vigilant about how we are being perceived and thus are on our best behavior. We are eager to please everyone, we try to be as flexible as possible with other colleagues, and we enthusiastically take up any work that comes our way. As such, it can come as a shock if some of us receive “negative” or constructive feedback. But it is important to remind ourselves that nobody wants to use their precious time to give feedback to us, so if they are doing so, it is for our benefit. Feedback helps us change some unproductive/potentially damaging aspects of our work ethic and an opportunity to look past our ego and be vulnerable so that we can have an open discussion about ourselves with our manager/team. We should make full use of that. It is okay to not be perfect, but it is not okay to guard imperfections behind personal ego.

4. Be Patient With Coworkers

The people you meet at work are all different. Their personalities, experiences, work ethic, commitment, cordiality — all differ. As a new grad, you can come in bubbling with excitement and hoping to be best friends with everybody. However, work has become a normalized aspect for many of your coworkers, while it is just the start for you. Give everybody time to get to know you, without imposing yourself on them. Sometimes, people may take a while to warm up to you because they may have some preconceived notions about you, or feel insecure around you. They may even try to put you down. I certainly have encountered both, but maintaining my composure without feeling insecure in turn helped me get past them. You don’t want to complain to your higher ups when you are new and hurt, so you learn to develop a thick skin on the job. Some coworkers prefer keeping their social and work life separate, which means you can’t necessarily gel with them even if you try. They have the freedom to that, so give them their space. You can be just as cordial with them without knowing them beyond work. Patience is key.

5. Have The Talk

First promotion is special, and so is the first salary raise. But it can be extremely daunting as a newbie to praise yourself and list out why you are a great candidate for promotion, or tell your superior that the company needs to pay you more since you’ve been going above and beyond. This discussion means you make yourself extremely vulnerable in case you hear a “No”, and then try even harder at work. But it is important to get that conversation going, and at frequent intervals, so that you do not walk into a huge shocker because you were too intimidated to clarify your aspirations with your superiors.

6. Document Everything

I learnt this early on, only because my mentors told me about this. It should become a part of your work life to maintain this list of highs and lows, your achievements, struggles, self-reflections, people you interact with, during your first year and beyond. This way, when you have conversations with your superiors about your progress, promotion, remuneration, feedback etc, you bring concrete points to the table instead of feelings which are harder to quantify. The fast paced nature of most workplaces makes it difficult to retain it all in memory, so note taking helps.

7. Seek Help Shamelessly

For six solid months in the beginning, I could be found saying “No” to almost any question which sounded like “Have you heard of <insert technology here> before?” There were plenty of times where I just did not get a concept the first time, or the second time, or if I was having a particularly off-day, the third time. But that is where point #2 to Keep Learning helps. Additionally, I learned to leave my ego at the door when I walked into work, so I could ask questions without worrying if they sound ridiculous. A stupid question now can save you face much later should that knowledge gap get exposed. Ignorance is not always bliss.

The last point may apply only to some of you, but it certainly is very important for me.

8. Be Aware of Immigration Policies

My company’s employment visa sponsorship keeps me in the United States, so my visa status is always on my mind. There have always been innumerable regulations and restrictions around entry of foreign nationals/workers, which have caused sleepless nights and anxious days for many, including myself. Amidst the confusion, it is your duty to get your queries answered by the immigration firm your company works with. Directing queries to an independent immigration attorney can help expedite specific queries. It is important to keep your supervisor in the loop about your visa status (or struggles) so they may take necessary steps to help you if an unfavorable situation arises. Make it known your stakes are high, because your visa status is a constant source of anxiety, and others may not recognize that.

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