CAREER PATH

4 skills only work experience will teach you

Your career teaches you many lessons that the ABCs of your textbook won't (Stocksnap.io)

From how to compete for a promotion to navigating your way around a difficult manager, there are skills that only your career will teach you. Even if you think you’re well-prepared for anything after university, surprises that life is likely to throw at you, will leave you thinking "Wetin dey happen?"

Regardless of where in life you are, there is something new for everyone to learn.

1. How to negotiate and not be taken granted of

If you want to build a successful career, you’re going to have to learn very early in your career that there is power in negotiating. Whether it’s starting a new job, asking for a salary increase or budgeting for a project, brushing up your negotiation skills will be the difference between striking the best deal and being taken for a ride. Unfortunately, school doesn't teach you this skills, like most people, you’ll have to take a few hard knocks and learn the hard way.

Read: Secrets you need to know to make more money

2. How to work with people and network

Learning to work with people is probably one of the most important skills you’ll have to master for success. You’ll have to learn how to handle the low-key aspects of your office culture and the people who make it that way: from your colleague who always has the most inappropriate things to say at the most inappropriate of times, to your manager who shoots down every idea you bring to the table.

The same applies to networking. Having a network of people you can reach out to in any situation will work to your advantage.

3. How to manage your time and responsibilities

Unfortunately in the office, there isn’t an administrator to set up a timetable for you and run after you when you’ve missed a submission date. This means that every single day you’ll have to manage your own responsibilities. You’ll have to be accountable for your own work, projects, meetings and emails. If anything goes wrong or you miss a deadline, you’ll be the one who'll have to answer to the mess.

You’ll also realise that enough time in a day usually doesn't exist. And if it does, there'll always be something else that can be done. But planning and keeping track of how you use your time, will help you to effectively manage it.

Remember: You have as many hours in a day as Beyoncé.

4. How  to handle feedback

Criticism whether positive or negative is an inevitable part of life. But the difference between school and office criticism is that in the office, there won’t be a teacher to congratulate you when you’ve aced a test or to tell you can do better when you haven’t. In fact, in business, you really are only as good as your last project. When given criticism the onus will be on you to listen to what you’re told, decipher what it means and decide how you’re going to apply it to better yourself.

Remember that receiving feedback of any nature from a colleague or your manager is usually a sign that they care about your personal growth and the trajectory of your career. The responsibility will be on you to remember this and use it to show your capability of learning and growth.

Just as with anything in life, the only way you’ll prepare yourself for the unknown is to break out of your comfort zone. Learning to navigate some of these skills before starting a full-time job - whether through an internship or a part-time job - will also ensure you’re aware of what to expect.