Grad school has a reputation for being the most difficult time in a student’s life.
It didn’t take long for me to figure out why this was the case.
Everyone wanted to lead or be the person to present the team’s work.
When it came to the grunt work, like compiling research, interest waned.
Tread carefully and hone your people skills.
You’ll meet people lessintelligentthan you who are better at those soft skills.
And you know what?
You’ll see them getting their feet into doors you won’t, and it’ll sting.
Youre a big fish in a small pond.
Doubly so if you have a knack for expressing yourself half-way eloquently.
Cant just talk an equation away.)
Congratulations, youre lucky.
And also, very unlucky.
And probably some of the eight things further down the list.
Our society values intelligence beyond proportion.
Intelligence is certainly still a door-opener.
But it will never get the job done on its own.
The solution, of course, is to build those so-called soft skills yourself.
Ideally, do it before you go to graduate school, but it’s never too late to start.
Go to the guest speakers and lectures.
Go on offsites and class trips.
Assist professors who are looking for grad students to help out.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you’re making friends.
Better friends, and potentially closer friends than you even made as an undergrad.
You’re more mature now, more focused, and more interested in your career and long-term goals.
You will tap into them at some point for postgraduate projects, and theyll do the same with you.
Get to know them, and use every opportunity to meet and learn from as many people as possible.
No one will force you to attend those guest lectures, or travel for talks and conferences.
Don’t do it.
Embrace them and learn to balance your time.
Learn from your guest speakers and visiting professors.
Make friends with them.
It’s an excuse you’ll almost certainly regret.
Depending on your personal situation, that can be true.
However, for the years that I didn’t, I racked up some solid student loan debt.
Smart money decisions now will lead to a much happier graduation day.
Ideally, this is how you’ll uncover your future career.
When you do find it, connect as much as possible with the people involved with it.
Go talk to themoffer to work in their labs, or help them with their research.
Ask them if they have projects you might work on, and express your interest in their field.
Also, keep your textbooks.
You still have a long way to go.
If you have those connections we mentioned earlier, the whole process is a little easier.
Your business school colleagues may have leads to share, or they may be starting their own companies.
Even so, don’t expect anythingyou’ll still need to work your ass off to get a job.
In the sciences, you’ll have a doctoral thesis or defense, or your own published paper.
In business you may author a thesis or case study.
If you’re headed for graduate school next term, hopefully this is useful to you.
Title photo made usingStokkete(Shutterstock).
