12 things they don’t tell college graduates for your first office job

1.      They’re hyenas. Roger from engineering is watching you take a walk break or play a game on your lunch break and he’s judging you.

2.      60% of your office workers are actually miserable. You think they’re working overtime because they are important but actually, they just don’t want to go home. Don’t be like them.

a.      Parkinson’s Law -- work expands to fill the time allotted. If you have 3 weeks or 3 days to get something done the quality of the project won’t be that much different. Leave at the end of the workday and don’t engage in the silent competition of who can work the most hours.

3.      If you work for a small company:

a.      Your CEO is going to strategically place his/her office so all office workers have to do the walk of shame to leave at the end of the day or if they come in late. Your CEO has done this on purpose.

b.     If they say they are “family oriented” this means they offer horrible maternity/paternity benefits and the insurance isn’t great

c.      The perk of a small company in my experience is layoffs are rarer since the CEO personally knows you

4.      If you work for a large company

a.      You are truly  just a number

b.     Their policies and procedures are asinine

c.      The perk of a large company is you don’t work as hard

5.      Affairs are common. Be aware. Back to my point 2, don’t work too many hours because where you spend your time is where your attention and focus goes.

6.      Keep and/or get friends outside of work. Yes at work you should have friends. But what if one of you gets laid off. Awkward.

7.      It’s exhausting. It’s because it feels like a Ferris wheel that doesn’t stop. Every M-F you’re at the office. When I first started working in an engineering firm in college as a tech full days, I was so exhausted I fell asleep as soon as I got back to my apartment. When I woke up I was so disoriented I drove to the office at 7 PM in the evening only to see an empty parking lot when I arrived. And I did this multiple times lol.

8.      The work you will do is not hard. It doesn’t matter what job it is. I’ve been working for over a decade and have seen many different professions, and everything can be learned on the job. Don’t be intimidated.

Tips:

9.      Take your lunch. Meal prep on Sundays. You’re going to get chunky if you start going out to eat for lunch and spend way too much money.

10. Get an activity or workout type you can maintain forever. 20 minutes at lunch a couple times a week is perfect in my current season of life. For others, it’s mountain bike riding or pickleball several times a week. Otherwise you’re going to be on the train to high blood pressure and your mental health will suffer if you don’t move your body.

11. Stay living poor -- hit those student loans HARD and get them paid off.

12. On that note, get to 30% savings rate ASAP. I am currently not at 30% since kiddo and farm mortgage but I am working strongly to get there. This is the safest bet to getting out of the race early/have a fund to start a business.

Keep in mind, having an office job has perks! A steady paycheck is phenomenal. A desk to sip your coffee while you check emails is a pretty easy life. Benefits are great—especially if you get any sort of 401K matching and health insurance. Now who knows what AI will do to the white collar market, but historically it has been a safe route to a solid retirement and a solid middle class life.

Happy savings guys.

-A