Life passes you by when you are in College. It is a period full of experiences that will actually have a direct bearing on your immediate future. College life is a fictional life if you ask me. It is nothing compared to what is in store for you when you remove that toga and start preparing your resume.
My college life wasn’t any close to an ideal one. I had my taste of bad gambles and wacky adventures that juggled my priorities beyond their limits. But it is normal actually. It is normal for an adolescent to have fun and live that age to the maximum. I feel sorry for those who simply stuck their heads on their textbooks and not enjoy what is actually around the campus. When you are young, you must enjoy it while at it.
I keep telling people of this age, “Enjoy it while it last!” Yes, because youth is a luxury. There are so much one can do in that age that cannot be enjoyed ten to twenty years later. It is such an exciting time when you are in that stage of your life. And once it ends, there is no going back. You will be forced by the same age you were rushing to get you into the older people’s league.
I once had a trainee who just graduated from an exclusive school. “Sir, I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Manufacturing Engineering majoring in Robotics”, she said. I was impressed. I have never heard of that course when I was in college. I guess I am “old school”! She seemed to be so confident when she gave that smile at me during her entry interview in my department where she was assigned by our Human Resources Department. “That’s great!”, I said. “Then you probably are the one I have been waiting for this assignment I want to be done soon”. She pocketed that smile of hers. I didn’t know why. Was it something that I said? I was only as candid as I always was.
Let me call her by the name – Jenny. Jenny was way too eager for my first project for her. Each of the three production departments in our Plant had a trainee to supervise. Jenny was the one assigned to me and I had to give her that same chance I was given when I was in my humble beginnings. I described to Jenny what I wanted her to study in the department. I instructed her to make some recommended improvements based on the data she can derive from her study. I gave her a simple objective and guided her as to how she may attack this assignment. I told her to accomplish this in three working days. Jenny went ahead bringing her pen, a clipboard and that same confidence she had the first moment I met her.
Three days went by so swiftly. I was actually just waiting for her to approach me as I was busy myself attending to important matters in the department. When I finally went to my desk to relax for a while was when Jenny went to sit beside me. “Sir, I want to show you what I did”. she said. I started reading her report and scanning the data she gathered. “Jenny, you got it all wrong”, I sternly said. “I think you did not understand what I wanted you to do. I thought that I already explained to you what this was for.” Jenny couldn’t believe what I said as she looked at her work which was still on my desk. Disappointed as I was, I explained to her again what she had to do. I told myself, “Maybe I assumed too much”. So I gave my instructions as elementary as I believe I could. I see her nod from time to time thinking that I finally was getting into her wit and made her comprehend what she had to do. “You have to do this in two days. I cannot give another three days as I did on your first try. Two days extension is already lenient. I hope you get this done right, Jenny.”
I turned around and started roving around the department to check on other things. As I was doing this, Jenny came to my thoughts. I asked myself, “Was the task too difficult for this young lass? Was it beyond her level? Am I expecting too much from her?”. I was actually trying to find a reason to change the project and give her something easier. I honestly couldn’t.
After two days, jenny came to me with a fully revised report. There were more data and she started to explain to me what she did. I kept quiet for a while and listened. Half way through her presentation, I couldn’t help it. “Jenny, you still didn’t get it.” I laid back on my chair’s back-rest and looked somewhere else to express my disappointment. Her report was not in any way close to what I wanted. I looked at her for a few seconds and she was waiting for the first statement that I was about to say. “Look Jenny. This is what you are going to do.” I started drawing flowcharts describing the process that she has to go through in gathering data, analyzing them and making recommendations. I actually told the lady what to do. I spoon fed It to her. She, again, kept nodding. “Look Jenny. I don’t want you to nod when you don’t understand a minute thing in what I am saying. Ask me now if this is completely clear with you. I am not going to go for a third strike. You will have to do this right this time.”
Jenny started to fall in tears grasping her hands. I gave her a few minutes to let it out. “Jenny, do not take this personally. It is just work. It is your work that I am disappointed with. Not you.” Jenny went on her way as she did the first two tries. Jenny never came back the next day. I was told by Human Resources that Jenny requested to be transferred to the Distribution Department. I was also told that another trainee was going to be assigned to me.
Lisa, my new trainee, came from a less exclusive school. She too was an engineer. She was simple and she seemed to know who I was. I felt that she was a bit uncomfortable when she sat beside me waiting for my instructions. I didn’t care. I had too many things to do that day and I had to give Lisa my instructions and do another equally important thing after that. Again, Lisa was nodding. I stopped and looked at her. She said, “Yes sir?” I paused for a second and asked, “Is it clear?”. She nodded. “Yes sir”. I said, “Okay, you have three days to accomplish that.” Lisa turned away and started going through the production lines to start her work.
I usually arrive an hour early for work. I don’t want to rush and I want to enjoy a glass of juice and some bread for breakfast. Lisa came to me when I was finished eating which made me think that she wanted to talk to me while I was having breakfast. “Sir, is it okay for me to show you what I did now?”, Lisa asked. “Sure, show me”, I replied. We scanned through a two page data organized in tables with the proper titles for each column. After that, she showed me a couple of computations she made on her notebook. After about five minutes of discussion, she showed me her two-page report. I read it silently as Lisa anxiously waited for my comments. “Lisa, good job. You seems to have gotten things right. I will just add a few comments and will get back to you later.” She smiled. “Thank you, sir”, Lisa calmly said with a smile. Lisa received all my comments and submitted to me the final revised report that same day. It took her one day to do the same task I gave to Jenny. An Industrial Engineering graduate from a technical institute which was not considered one of the top-five colleges and universities in the country. It was not in the same level as the university where Jenny came from. Was It the school? Was it the course? Was it the person?
I had my taste of fresh blood initiation. My first boss was reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company I first worked for. I was working for the Human Resources Development Department of a large Food Manufacturing Company. There was one morning that all of us Industrial Engineers were seated in a conference room with our boss. One of my colleagues submitted her report on a Plant that she and another colleague were working on. When my boss received my report, he looked at me. Two seconds after that, he looked at my report. “Mr. Carpio, when I read your report, I feel sorry for your parents for wasting all their money they spent to bring you to college”. All but one of my fellow Industrial Engineers giggled. Some even laughed. My boss was not done. He fried my report and tore it in front of us. “This is garbage. Make me a report that makes sense at least”.
I felt hurt. I felt so low that morning. I would have tendered my resignation that day. “Why am I going to take this? Who the hell is he?”. I could have said that to myself. Instead, I took it as a challenge. I never forgot that morning until this day. I re-did my work and asked for advice from our senior Industrial Engineer. He gave his comments and suggestions which I immediately made on my report. I submitted my report to my boss a day after. He made a lot of comments. The revisions he made on my report made my paper look like a scratch pad. He used a red marker – not a pen – to indicate his remarks. He gave it to me and said, “Re-do it.” My boss never uttered a word after that as he started reading other document on his desk. I joined my fellow engineers showing my colorful report. “At least he didn’t tear it this time”, I said with a smile. They all laughed. I felt like a good sport. I giggled myself and studied all of my boss’ comments. I didn’t leave the office that day until I got my report written the way my boss preferred me to write it. One report – revised three times – in one day.
As the months passed by, I continued to have red colored reports. However, the red colored corrections became fewer and fewer. There came a time that my boss used his pen to make revisions. In six months, my boss would tell me to draft a report he wanted to submit to the CEO. He would make me take note of points that had to go into that report. This kept on and on. I was becoming my boss’ ghost writer. My senior Industrial Engineer told me once, “Wow, he seems to prefer you now than me!”. I took it as a complement. A complement I earn through a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
On my ninth month, I told my boss that I have decided to accept an offer to work with another company. I was invited by him to have a couple of drinks after work. During our drinking session was when I learned that my boss used to be a speech writer for a Senator. So that was why he was so good at all these. He told me that I should also have the same patience to mentor people in the future. He advised me to have that effort of teaching those who are willing to be taught. He told me that I will be rewarded a hundred-fold if I help people improve and be successful in their own careers. I was also told to expect that some will be resistant and will hate me my intentions. He told me how many new graduates have quitted on him. How many have hated the way he would insult their work. He said that he never had regrets. “Believe me, Noel. The world out there is crueler than I am”.
Graduating from an exclusive school does not assure you of being a master of your art when you get into the real world. The world dominated by top-notch people and slave drivers. It will not be your diploma, the clothes you wear or much less, how you can express yourself so well in English. Many fresh graduates, particularly from exclusive schools, think that the workplace they just got into is an extension of that same room with a blackboard and a lot of chairs fronting it. Many of them tend to be arrogant. They project themselves to be all-knowing. They even go to the extent of insinuating to their new boss that all around them is “old school” and that they have all the fresh and new ideas that will storm the company with bigger profits.
When you graduate from college, you must remember that as soon as you enter the workplace, you are nothing compared to those who have been there before you. You are a maggot hoping to get off your entrapment and see the real things around you. You have to realize that the education you have just received is just a tool for you to adapt well at work. Education prepared you for work. The course that you have completed only makes you understand the basic things that the real world has already mastered. In short, you are back to being a school grader amidst an arena of professionals that will take every opportunity to eat you alive if you dare cross their path.
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