By Ryan Griffith | Reporter
Transitioning into the working world can be stressful for even the most prepared college students.
On Wednesday, four Baylor alumni gave their best advice to Hankamer School of Business students on life after college.
“When you go through college, you kind of have guardrails…but once you walk across that stage, there’s no guardrails; you can do whatever you want. And you have to live with those implications,” Alex Dixon said.
Dixon, a 2012 graduate, currently works for Accenture, an international consulting firm.
“Transforming your mindset from college to career is a difficult mindset switch,” Dixon said. “It’s definitely doable, but I think that mindset switch in terms of understanding what the implications are for me comes into every decision I make.”
Dixson said that fitting into a company’s culture is integral to a new employee’s success, but it isn’t always easy. Dixon said he believes that the best way to integrate into an organization is to eat with co-workers.
“Try not to eat alone,” he said. “If you’re eating alone, then that’s a missed opportunity in terms of understanding or networking within the company. Or not just within the company, but also in the area, wherever you are.”
According to Dixon, every work lunch has potential value, whether it’s with immediate coworkers, a supervisor, or employees in other departments.
Morgan Greenwood graduated from Baylor in 2015; she now holds a sales position at the Austin office of VMware, a Silicon Valley-based tech company. According to Greenwood, figuring out a living situation is an essential part of succeeding as a young professional.
“That’s something you want to think about,” she said. “Who you want to live with and who you want to be with. I don’t think I’d recommend living alone, because that kind of closes some doors.”
Greenwood recommended that seniors get on a regular schedule. Graduates who are used to eating, sleeping, and working out a regular intervals will find the transition to the working world much easier, she said.
Kimberly Dixon, class of 2016, is about to begin a new job with Qualtrics, a company specializing in market research and customer insights. She said she believes that seniors should be as proactive as possible.
“Know what you’re getting yourself into,” Kimberly Dixon said. “Really research where you want to be and why. I think here at Baylor, too, they have so many opportunities to, you know, interview with so many different companies. Like, you can go out and reach out to a company not at Baylor.”
