No rest for the graduates

A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research states that graduating in a recession leads to large initial earnings losses. Due to economic stagnation, the majority of students are forced to enter the workforce immediately after taking their bachelor diploma, instead of having the chance of pursuing higher education opportunities. The jobs they chose are often in industries that require entry-level positions, and not necessarily the job opportunities the graduates would like to pursue in their carrier. This leads to lower job satisfaction, higher chances of job-hopping and initial earning losses.

I have graduated from LCC IU in April 2016, and I was lucky enough to land a job in sales in one of the most dynamic cities in Europe – Berlin. I was so excited about the new job that I decided to take no break to rest and recover from the last four years of intensive studies.

They say sales is more art than science. With no previous experience and with no theoretical background in the art of selling I had to quickly learn as much as possible about this new position. What I did know is that sales is the backbone of any business, because without sales a company cannot grow. I was quite upset (and still am) that I have graduated from a business school without having any class or having read one book about this very practical and vital aspect of every business activity. My introductory manual to sales was “Predictable Revenue” by Aaron Ross, a book that I recommend to anyone who is interested in the art of selling.

The company that hired me operates in the Software as a Service industry (SaaS). The SaaS industry started out in the 1960s and was initially responsible for storing data for large organizations. The expansion of the internet in the 1990s offered more opportunities for companies to specialize and develop computer programs for specific data management tasks. Since then, the industry changed and developed a lot. In 2015 the global SaaS market was valued at $49 billion, and it is expected to grow to $67 billion by 2018. At this pace, the industry is considered to be one of the biggest technological disruptors for companies worldwide.

Sales is a tough job. Dealing with rejection every day is not something everyone can sign up for. Cold-calling is a nightmare for many people. Having an ENTJ personality type (as I do) can definitely help in sales and is recommended. The rewards of this job are quite appealing. Having a commission based paycheck is an attractive incentive to earn more. The job is never boring because dealing with people never is. Third, sales is a great opportunity to learn more about human psychology and social interaction. Also, many successful entrepreneurs started out in sales before they founded their own empires. Mark Cuban, Warren Buffet, and Howard Schultz are just a few names who had their first job in sales in their early 20s.

I am a strong believer that hard work pays off. Starting out in a field I had no experience before was a bold step and I took it mainly because of the learning opportunity I was given. As a recent graduate, I came to the realization that the knowledge acquired in school has little impact on my present job performance. Therefore, work experience provides a higher chance of getting better job positions than education. It is much easier to advance internally to a junior or senior position within the company than getting a Master’s Diploma and request junior or senior level positions.

The economic recovery of the 2008 crisis could be one of the factors that made me and many other fellow graduates of 2016 get a job just after graduation instead of pursuing a Master’s Degree. While the jobs pursued are cursed with lower job satisfaction and initial earning losses, the opportunity to work in fast-growing tech industries and the flexibility to work and live abroad are real benefits. The uncertainty that comes after graduation can be overcome by hard work and acknowledging both the drawbacks and the advantages of our times. One thing is sure, there is no rest for the graduates.