Does finishing business grad school prepare you for the commercial world?

The reason I wanted to write about the clash between business is because no one enjoys the cold shower of reality as opposed to the expected warm transition from class to real-life applications.

The moment a student graduates, their education actually begins.

To avoid a harsh transition, most students are well advised to develop the following skills:

Learn how to work with people

I wanted to title this segment as “learn how to work with difficult people”, but realized that the word difficult is relative. Your perception of a person as being a good/bad coworker is not universal in your office world.

Learning to work with everyone is a great skill. Please note that working with everyone does not mean working well. Some people at your workplace will never warm up to you, and spending your energy to build a synthetic synergy might not be worth the efforts.

The key is to work effectively with your coworkers. If you need them to do something for you, figure out what they might need and reciprocate. Sometimes a getting them a cup of coffee, handling a tedious task or simply showing an interest in what they do shall be a very compelling thing to do.

Everyone needs something, be it a sales client, a grumpy boss or the annoying desk-mate sitting across you.

Be comfortable with uncertainty

Most offices are not filled with co-workers, but people with quirks. Some do not like picking the phone until they are finished wit their pending items in their to-do. Others will gladly pay someone to read their email. All these quirks lead to people who might want to do things their own way.

Communicating with such people can lead to long silence after an email or an un-answered phone, leading to a delayed decision. Fixing the uncertain nature of real business life can be very tempting to the new graduate. This is a noble idea, but it might involve fixing
personality issues, and to be honest your personality still needs work.

Certain levels of uncertainty are healthy especially when they have a positive risk premium. The skill is Learning to manage extreme negative uncertainty. Other than that, the wisdom is in being comfortable with not knowing or receiving that response in time.