I immigrated to the United States when I was seven years old. Life was hard for my family. They were not working glamorous jobs. They were making ends meet the best they could. My mom never had a Bring Your Kid to Work Day at her low wage job. I did not get exposure to folks working in corporate settings either. So when I started working in the tech industry after college, I was very nervous -- I didn't know what to expect but I knew that I really needed to succeed at this. This was my chance to make a better life for myself. I had been waiting for this moment my whole life.
I consider myself very fortunate.
My first job was through J.P. Morgan's Software Engineer Program.
I remember getting the call with the job offer. Compensation was several times more than what my mom made in a year. I was thrilled. I was terrified. Many people I looked up to told me that this was a place I could learn best practices and grow. Also, the money... so I accepted. I had many restless nights after that. I was worried that any second the offer would be rescinded. I did not rest until the first day went by without a hitch. I am happy to say today that everything worked out.
The program offers many benefits:
"You’ll have access to continuous training both on-the-job and via courses to build your technical and business skills. We’ll cover topics ranging from cybersecurity to presentation skills to further your career development. Our teams are dedicated to your support and advocacy throughout the two years of the program."
They're not kidding. I got a lot of support here. I had access to mentors, trainings, and built strong networks. My manager was cool and I learned more from them than I ever thought imaginable. I highly recommend joining a program for new grads if you want extra support during your transition from student to professional developer.
New grad programs set the expectation that you will need extra support to succeed. When you tell more senior colleagues (the good ones!) you are in the program, they will make themselves available to you for help. Many will offer to mentor you. Take them up on it.
Programs also tend to have policies to ensure that those in charge of your success are doing right by you. Managers often have to attend trainings to learn how to best support you. Seeing how seriously my manager at the time took the trainings increased my trust in them. They often shared what they learned at the trainings and kept me in the loop about what was coming up like the dreaded performance reviews (which they prepared me for!).
On the flip side, Jesse Jiryu Davis writes about getting his interns taken away at one point:
"My managers were watching me founder and they issued ultimata: get involved, make goals, get the project on track. I never did. With only weeks left in the summer, Intern Protective Services reassigned my apprentices to Mike O'Brien, who maintained the MongoDB Connector for Hadoop at the time."
Jesse did eventually triumph as a mentor (yay!) but what I'd like to point to here is the structure set in place to ensure folks are supported. You want to know that your employer will rectify the situation if you find yourself on a team that is not working for you and you want to be sure it is easy to say something to someone who can help you before the situation gets too dire. Communicating difficult issues will be much easier in a new grad program where regular check-ins with program coordinators are the norm.
I remember running into my program coordinator at the time and them saying, "Hi Flo, how are you?". They remember my name?! They must have interviewed hundreds of candidates! In a firm of over 400,000, do not underestimate how many people you will get to know. They will be rooting for you. That's pretty special and it will make a difference in your life. As you grow in your career, you will still get support but the expectation will be that you will seek out what you need. The support you get at this stage will model the support you will most likely seek in the future. Make sure you have high standards for yourself!
So, in conclusion, if you are uneasy about the transition to professional life, consider a new grad program. You will learn what you need to succeed, have a structure in place to make sure you are supported, and you will have dedicated folks helping you every step of the way. I am really grateful my career started out like this!
I am happy to talk to you if you are considering a new grad program :)
Top comments (1)
Thanks for sharing your story! Brilliant to hear how the well the grad scheme served you.
I didn't get the opportunity to go through a graduate scheme, my first role was just 'graduate level', which later found wasn't the same as a graduate scheme. That being said, I've been doing a lot of talks in Universities, recently, trying to inspire people to look at graduate schemes! It's such an important transition period, having the support network around truly facilitates your own growth.
Also, it's great when you find a large company that sees you as a person. I'm not quite at 400,000 employees, but my current company is 16,000+ employees, and our large office in Glasgow has around 500 of those. You're absolutely right - it is so great that people still find the time to learn your name, and say hi. It's one of the things that shocked me most working in a big company, and it boils down to a great company culture.