Congratulations on Landing Your First Job…

Too bad you’re going to have to quit.

To the graduates of the class of 2024: congratulations on landing your first job! Unfortunately, you’re going to have to quit.

Not right now, but soon. For some of you it will be in six months; for others it might be in a year or two. But eventually, nearly all of you are going to have to give notice. 

Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with you. It happens to every newly employed graduate. And ironically, the smarter you are and the harder you work, the more quickly it will happen.

Here’s the problem: You’re going to outgrow everyone’s expectations.

That’s unfortunate, because you’ve been raised and taught to “exceed expectations” and almost all of you will do so. But this won’t be because you are so talented. It will be because everyone’s expectations are so low.

They just don’t expect that much of you. But why should they? You don’t know anything! Sure, you’ve taken a bunch of classes, you’ve done the homework, you know the theory, and maybe you even squeezed in a summer internship. But you’ve never done it for real. You’re basically clueless.

They will expect you to learn quickly, but since they know your productivity is going to be low for a while, they aren’t going to pay you much.

Then an amazing thing will happen. You’ll start to figure things out. You’ll understand how all the theory you learned applies to the real-world problems you’re solving. You’ll see how the pieces come together so you can finish more and ask for help less. And little by little, you’ll earn that real world merit badge called “competence”.

But here’s the problem: in your mind, you’re now 90% as productive as the person with the better title and the much higher salary. But in everyone else’s mind, you’re still just a newb…a slightly more productive newb for sure, but a newb nonetheless.

So when you confidently walk into your boss’s office to ask for a promotion and a raise, they’ll tell you how great you are, how much they value you, and because you’ve done such an exceptional job, you’re going to be offered…wait for it…a 10% raise! They’ll tell you how proud you should be of that. “It’s more than double the average raise the rest of the employees are getting!” they’ll say.

If you’re disappointed at this point, you should be. Because you’re not 10% better than you were on day one. You are orders of magnitude better. 

And while your current employer will disagree with that assessment, you know who won’t? A new company. 

At your next employer, you won’t be judged by who you were. Instead, they’ll see you—and pay you—for who you are and who you will be before too long. They won’t be obsessing over what you were paid before and how big of a raise you are getting, but instead will be considering what you know right now, and what you can contribute.

I know, the thought of having to leave the job that you spent months getting isn’t encouraging. But it’s the way of the world for people just starting out.

Don’t worry, you won’t need to quit your job every year, forever. In fact, the older you get the longer it takes to outgrow people’s expectations. So, while you will need to switch sometimes, it’ll happen a lot less frequently. 

And this is about more than just pay…it’s also about challenge and learning. Yes, you will quickly outgrow your salary, but you also get bored and stop learning. Your employer will want you to be in a role that’s easy for you, where you’ll just crush every task they give you. You, however, should want to be challenged every day, to feel like you’re struggling to keep your head above water, to be somewhere you can keep learning. This difference is another reason to leave.

So, what are you waiting for? Get to work! Show up on time. Do 10% more than you are asked. Follow the rest of Randolph’s rules for success. Make yourself indispensable.

But most importantly, keep your resume updated. Unfortunately, you’re going to need it.

And while your current employer will disagree with that assessment, you know who won’t? A new company. 

At your next employer, you won’t be judged by who you were. Instead, they’ll see you—and pay you—for who you are and who you will be before too long. They won’t be obsessing over what you were paid before and how big of a raise you are getting, but instead will be considering what you know right now, and what you can contribute.

I know, the thought of having to leave the job that you spent months getting isn’t encouraging. But it’s the way of the world for people just starting out.

Don’t worry, you won’t need to quit your job every year, forever. In fact, the older you get the longer it takes to outgrow people’s expectations. So, while you will need to switch sometimes, it’ll happen a lot less frequently. 

And this is about more than just pay…it’s also about challenge and learning. Yes, you will quickly outgrow your salary, but you also get bored and stop learning. Your employer will want you to be in a role that’s easy for you, where you’ll just crush every task they give you. You, however, should want to be challenged every day, to feel like you’re struggling to keep your head above water, to be somewhere you can keep learning. This difference is another reason to leave.

So, what are you waiting for? Get to work! Show up on time. Do 10% more than you are asked. Follow the rest of Randolph’s rules for success. Make yourself indispensable.

But most importantly, keep your resume updated. Unfortunately, you’re going to need it.

To find other things I’ve written and much more, check out MarcRandolph.com