Landing first job of career

First jobs always hold significant value in people's lives. It is not only about the money but also about the emotions involved. Jobs can exist in both  physical and virtual, for example online, places. Graduates sometimes settle for a single job throughout lifetime or gain experience by shifting jobs on a regular basis.

 First jobs are often perceived as the beginning of success, and the energy boost acquired after getting the news of the first job  motivates people immensely to do better and prosper in life.

Regardless of all the merits associated with getting first jobs, people often come across a great deal of dilemma while selecting the appropriate one.  Many factors come into play while opting for the first job.

Assessing the learning scope and growth opportunities

The most critical aspect of the first job is its underlying learning opportunities. One's mentor or supervisor plays more important role in a youth's career than any other factor. However, a job applicant cannot play a direct role in choosing his or her own supervisor but they can often analyse the learning scope in the first job and where it leads to. Healthy growth opportunities in the job is also imperative as this will give youth a well-rounded career.

Assessing the compensation package

The most common dilemma is the salary range which is one of the most difficult things to talk about during the first job interview. Almost every industry and established organisation have a pay scale and the graduate will be offered a compensation within that pay scale. At times, jobs that give low salary have other forms of monetary incentives such as a proper health package and an excellent reward system. So, the overall benefits should be considered, not just the take home salary.

The first jobs can act more like an experience and hence people sometimes neglect the amount of monetary outcome. They sometimes accept a job offer too quickly out of pressure to get a job as soon as they graduate which leads to frequent switching. Some often make the decision to switch jobs if they receive an offer with a slightly better salary. These create problems for employers and give wrong message to future applicants as to what should be valued. Salary will affect the overall job satisfaction and youths should not neglect it while having realistic expectations from the industry or the company they are applying to.

Assessing the job role and requirements

People, more often in Bangladesh, apply for numerous jobs without really assessing the job description and requirements. This, many times, results in selection too but every person in this world is unique, for which not every job is suitable for every individual. Due to several factors such as financial shortcomings and responsibilities, people most often settle for occupations that are not mainly designed for them. This happens for one specific reason-- when the organisation urgently needs an employee for a certain role, and the applicant perfectly qualifies for the job even though the potential employee may not precisely desire the offer. This does not necessarily lead to low workplace performance in the future but most of the times, the work satisfaction obtained in return is less compared to the usual.

On one side, some people are suffering from lack of jobs whereas, on the other hand, there are people who have multiple job offers. A management trainee at a renowned local bank states, "It becomes a difficult choice when you get more than one job offer as your first and that too from two other renowned companies. I was accepted into both ACI and Robi, and I had to weigh all the pros and cons and settle for the one that held more value to me. It feels like losing an opportunity for another because first job offers hold that much importance to you."

Assessing the workplace culture

Another critical aspect that must be taken into consideration is the culture of the workplace. It is not possible to capture the essence of the atmosphere unless one genuinely starts working in the organisation, but if appropriate questions are asked in the final rounds of the interviews, it is possible to get hold of bits and fragments of the culture of the organisation. A mismatch between workplace culture and an employee can lead to severe consequences such as lack of interest in job. This is detrimental to both the employee and organisation because the employee may become stressful in search of a new job.

To avoid such consequences, both the interviewee and the organisation must take extreme care while hiring individuals. For instance, a person may be more comfortable in having personal space while working and hence may not feel at home while working for an organisation that has open office culture along with many social activities.

Dilemma by definition refers to a situation in which a choice needs to be done between two or more options especially ones that are equally desirable. And first-time jobs seem to hold way more weight in human beings' lives than other jobs. To come out of these dilemmas, some suggestions have been proposed by current job holders. An individual needs to sit down and contemplate the factors that matter the most to him or her in a profession which includes salary, learning, industry, job roles, workplace culture etc. The factors should be listed down according to priority, and finally, the occupation that accommodates as many factors as possible can be chosen.

Job satisfaction is the key to a successful career, and an individual must apply and opt for jobs that provide them with the maximum return regarding satisfaction and fulfilment.

The writer is a first year student of BBA programme at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka. She can be reached at [email protected]