From classroom to the corporate world

There is a lot of difference between the contrasting worlds of college life and a corporate workplace, which can be quite overwhelming & a challenging task for most of the students. It is the phase where most of the students go wrong & they are unable to understand the changes & the difference in the rules of two worlds together. In the college, students were concerned only with their academics & maintaining their CGPA which usually comprised of practical cum theoretical knowledge on a broad basis. But in the Corporate world things work completely in a different way altogether. Being well-versed in some of the concepts, doesn't mean that you can carry that work with utmost perfection. So in this phase of a student's life they will learn how they can cope with the change.

Usually the Management professionals attend the business schools as a part of their education & progression into the corporate world as long as the business schools prepare the students for the real world where the challenges are a plenty and where the day to day working scenario is quite different from what they have learned during their student’s life. So for them there are some obvious gaps that such professionals must overcome if they want to succeed in the corporate world. It is rightly said that “Real Education starts outside the classroom” which any professional can do with some challenges and approaches that would stand them in good stead.

In other words, the decision as to whether one must focus on comprehensive skills along with specialization in a particular niche or whether one must focus completely on a specific niche with generalized skills thrown in for good measure.

So to start with, the management professionals must understand that the textbook and theoretical knowledge is to get good academic records during their classroom’s life which may not provide them success later in their life. They have to be well prepared to face the world head on when they start their careers. Of course, this is not correct to say that theoretical knowledge is useless, only they need to learn how to supplement & complement their didactic learning with their lived experiences.

Apart from this, students may find many similarities between the case studies in the books and the real world challenges, so management students perform well by paying close attention to such challenges during their education. Apart from this, in reality the value of business school education is in its ability to acclimate the students to how corporate life works.

Transitioning From Education to Career

Making a move towards business school to the corporate world might be tough initially, but if the management students focus on ‘getting their hands dirty’ by delving and diving deep into the real world which will approach the students, that can be easily adjustable for them to the new circumstances.

Infact, many of the leading corporations push for an hands- on approach in the field which makes them face to face with real world situations. The most important concept for any management student is to know and realize that the real world is unlike what has been taught in their business schools despite the best attempts and the most well designed courses.

This is just because most of the real world management problems occur from human to human interactions and therefore, people skills are a must for any management professional.

Lastly, we can say that business schools are just like the rivers which meanders in tricky oxbows and confounding bends only to dump all the precious fresh water into the salty ocean. From a bird’s eye view this may look complicated, but come down to the surface and only then can you understand why the complexity exists. It is those bends and oxbows which make agriculture possible. It is the dumping of the freshwater in the sea which makes evaporation quicker and rain possible due to a larger surface area

So what looks ridiculous and pointless to you may very well be the bedrock of the entire process.

Also Read

• Tips for New Managers
• The Art of Management
• Being successful in the era of high expectation