School to Work: Skills to know Part III of III

This post continues where I left off in this series of the work habits that you need to learn in school. See my previous posts for parts I and II.

9. Follow the Rules: This is an easy one. Simply follow the rules. You first need to know what the rules are. This falls right in line with knowing who your boss is and knowing how to ask questions. In school there are rules to follow and if you choose to break the rules there are consequences. In work the consequences can cost you your job. There is no after school detention in the work place and there is very few "do overs" if at all. Typically the consequence of breaking the rules is your job. If you value your job then value the rules. Follow them.

10. Stay Motivated. In school teachers set up motivators to accomplish specific goals. These motivators are often in the form of getting a good grade on a project well completed and turned in on time. They can also be in the form of awards, recognition, or even sometimes candy. It is important during the school time to learn what your internal and external motivators are. Learn to set goals and learn to accomplish them on your own. This involves organizing your time, breaking down large projects into smaller tasks, and giving yourself rewards. Set goals for accomplishing work but also long term goals for your career. Post them. Refer to them. Keep your eye on the goal!

11. Take responsibility. In school we learn that when we don't complete our assignments we fail in some way. We get a lower grade or no grade at all. We must learn to accept the consequences for our actions. If we mess up then we need to fess up. This is taking responsibility. If we don't learn this skill then we will surely fail in our workplace. Every one makes mistakes from time to time no matter how hard we try. We must take responsibility for our actions and mistakes so that we can continue to grow as a person and a professional. Lying has no place in the workforce. It will get us fired quicker than anything else.

12. Meet deadlines. This has been covered several times in this series. Deadlines loom ahead of all of us all the time. School is a perfect place to learn how to manage our time to meet short term and long term deadlines. Others depend on us in the workforce to have our work accomplished by a specific time so that other people can do their job. If we fail to meet our deadline then others will fail down the line. In school we have homework assignments, tests, and projects. These all fall in the area of learning how to meet a deadline. If we learn it here then we can apply this skill in our workplace.

So there you have it. 12 skills that you learn in school that transfers into the workplace. We go to school to learn these skills. We use our subject areas to apply these skills. This is what successful people learned in school that make them successful in work.