What advise do you give your children entering the Workforce?

It was my birthday last week.  The evening before the big day, my elder daughter, in her last year in college decided to pay her dad a visit. She is in the final year of college, staying on campus in a college where she is pursuing B-Tech in Chemical Engineering. Over the weekend, she wanted advice on the upcoming “Campus Placements” and general advice on what it was like entering the workforce.

So we sat down first preparing her resume for the placements; placing her mark-sheets, certificates, and all the paraphernalia one gathers as a student. My first question was to ask her what was the single biggest achievement she could be proud of as a student. I was expecting her to reply that the fact that she had won a 50% waiver on tuition fees every year was the ultimate achievement. I was not wrong, in my assumption, but the spin that she gave in the discussion, was that “she was consistent”. She consistently worked hard to maintain her grades, despite the challenges she faced, like being out of studies for almost a month due to medical reasons. I then realized that I could perhaps learn a thing or two from her as well; as we discussed work and employment. The following were the highlights:

Charting a path. We agreed that she needed to decide what companies she wanted to focus on, and the kind of roles she was looking for. She had to chart her own path; it could not be made for her. This would have to be done by her alone at every stage of her career, and she needed to see the long term while taking those decisions.

Adaptability: When the decision to take up Chemical engineering happened, it was out of love for organic chemistry. During her internship she realized, being on the shop floor was difficult as she was allergic to some strong chemicals. So she needed to adapt to changed circumstances, without giving up her passion. Be adaptable and be ready to change, always; as you never what life and circumstances have in store for you.

Determination and perseverance: Life has its ups and downs, and we would constantly face challenges. She had faced a major challenge in her second year when she missed a complete month of studies, but she did not let it come in the way of maintaining her status as an achiever and merit scholar. Similarly we would face challenges, but we should not let them come in the way of our lives.

Managing conflict. In one of her internships, she must have been witness to “office politics” and wanted to understand how she could manage awkward situations and conflict, especially as she would be a junior. We agreed that the golden rule was “keep the ear open, and the mouth closed”, as active participation in office politics would achieve nothing except brief exhilaration. Reaction was not a good idea, but taking measured responses was always appropriate

Nurture relationships: Maintain relationships without looking at the potential benefits a relationship brings. Do good and you get good.  Learn to forgive and forget.

Don't Carry Grudges: They never benefit anyone. They may give a high, but would always lay you low in the long term. Keeping internal peace would go a long way in maintaining a balance in life.

As we finished our discussion, I realized I needed to reinforce some of these qualities myself.