Way back in college, while preparing for Group Discussions (also known as GD), one of the rare topics that we came across during our mock-GDs was _ ‘Do students, who are the best academically, go on to make it as the best, professionally?’. There were several variants of this topic too, but they all triggerred us to think this, if we have good marks (its so long since I used those words!), will we also be the smartest, or let’s say, the most wanted, employee around?
We all know, there are about tons of changes that happen in life, as one goes through the phase of being a student to chilling it out at work! But this is a story of what happens if you are a good student, getting all those good grades, all diligent, disciplined, not-lazy, hard-working, sincere, and more often than not, the apple of your teacher’s eye. If you were none of the above, still, you’ve got to read on, for this is also a story of one who was not any of those things that might have earned him the ‘good’ before the student. Which of these two went on to being the highest rated employee later on? Is there a fixed formula that can be applied to know which students crack the scene at work and which don’t?
Let’s begin with why we want to know the answer to these questions. My idea is to figure out if there is a direct correlation between your grades and marks and your performance at work. For, is it not this very point on which most companies rely on, to select their candidates? Is it not this, that preconditions an interviewer’s mind on what to expect from the interviewed? Is it not all about marks and percentages for a freshman? Why else do they have cut-off percentages for candidates who can attend the written test, which is like step one for the selection procedure, at most companies?
In a quest for answers to doubts such as those above, here is what I observe _
> Students who are all about living in that moment, donot go much further. To elaborate, students who are studying for the upcoming exams, with answering all questions in the question paper perfectly, the only thing on their mind, are less likely to absorb the actual course content. They rigorously work out old question papers, seek answers to those odd questions, which have never repeated but may do so this year, revise answers to problems, go all over the extra mile! For all their hard-work they are often, at the end, left with little knowledge of what the course was all about. But, they do know the answers to the questions in the question paper really well. So, with this kind of half-knowledge, it is not really surprising that they often donot reach up to the mark at work. Needless to say, this is not always the case, but this is often the case.
> Lazy students remain lazy all life. Once the seeds of indiscipline get planted in your personality, you are unlikely to let go off it, remaining a person who wants the easy way out, all your life. A hasty exam preparation will get you the marks, but indicipline is evil and continues to corrupt your system. You will find life is unfair, hikes are unfair, performance ratings are unfair, but never attributing this injustice to your own indifference to a thorough performance.
> For some, it has to be the area of interest. There are two kinds of people when it comes to work _ One, the kind who will put in an almost thorough effort at the work assigned, regardless of whether they like what they are doing or not, whether it gives them the kicks or not. They are often consoling themselves, encouraging themselves, pushing themselves ahead telling themselves this is the practical way! The other kind requires the right kind of work and the right kind of environment to contribute effectively. This kind really flourishes and rises upto its ultimate height provided the right impetus. The heights achieved by such folks are usually much greater than those achieved by the less-stimulated ‘practical’ kinds. But hey, there is no right or wrong about this, we do need folks of all kinds to keep a project moving!
> The small drops and the mighty ocean. Performers can again be classified as those who contribute in little amounts, facilitating the mighty performers and then, those who contribute big, because an idea struck them big. I am guessing these two kinds of contributors are born out of the two kinds of people _ one kind that spends all its life working out life’s little problems, winning life’s little battles, merely getting the work assigned completed and awaiting the next task. Then the other kind, that spends all its life day-dreaming, thinking of big ideas, big problems and big solutions, they are not just getting the work assigned completed, but are also thinking up the next step.
> Domestic challenges affecting work. As a student, we are protected, pampered and kept away from facing life’s real challenges, often. Rarely, if ever, did we have to stand the queue to pay the electricity bill and then go to attend school, but while working, there is something or the other that needs to get done, every day, in order to keep the home running. In other words, we get domesticated! We have to time-share between work and domestic duties, unlike as students, when all we had to do was either study or relax! Or should we read this as, how well do you multi-task?
> Some folks are happy with being average. Unfortunately, this is something that gets moulded earlier as a kid. If your folks didn’t push you enough, its unlikely you went on to do closer to your maximum capability. Pushing / encouraging is different from exerting undue pressure. Such folks are happy achieving 50% of what they set out to achieve. It is sad that so much capability gets wasted, but they dont seem to care! Even at work, they are happy just earning the daily bread, they donot seek excellence. They donot feel the need to innovate, they donot bring new ideas or energy to work.
> Getting a job is not a destination. But some of us end up thinking so. ‘Gotten myself a job that I like’ is often the ultimate ambition a student possesses. While this is good, it is also necessary that one recasts one’s ambitions after crossing the ‘gotten myself a job that I like’ phase! Otherwise, stagnation is bound to happen, leading to a decremental effect on the performance at work and a disappointment to your employer who pinned big hopes on to you.
With observations such as these, am thinking its the personality which decides the performance at work. However, there are little pointers one can get about the kind of employee a student will lead on to, from the marks transcripts. A student with the best marks may not always make it as the best performer at work, but someone with below average marks is unlikely to turn out to be a good performer. But most importantly, you can gauge yourself perfectly, to know how you will fare, and the changes you are going to need to fare even better.
Off course, in this whole quest we have kept counterproductive agents at work aside, like bad bosses, sensitive issues at work, pay, benefits and the company itself. Those which require a separate zooming in, a whole new quest!
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Hi. Nice article. Progress in work and being a good student does not have much of correlation. Just like studies require lots of hard work even work requires. But then sometimes with passage of time the zeal and enthusiasm to perform and lead fizzles out. And academic brilliance and maturity at work is not related. Work calls for different dimensions like maturity, group work, endurance etc etc.,