Meet Toby, a Search Consultant at Thurn Partners. Toby shares his experiences navigating the transition from the freedom of university life to the structure of the working world - he shares the lessons he’s learnt, and what makes life at Thurn Partners both rewarding and enjoyable.
Leaving the freedom and flexibility of university life and stepping into the ‘real world’ can be pretty daunting. Having studied Finance at the University of Bristol, I was used to working on my own schedule and having days full of variety. The responsibilities of university life – or its lack of – make the idea of getting a proper job with real responsibilities and consequences somewhat scary.
The most noticeable change going from university to full-time work was the structure and routine of it all. Getting up at the same time and doing the same commute each day gets you into a good groove. You still get a lot of freedom during the day though, with the ability to work on a schedule that best suits how you work, like doing outreach messages in the morning when you are most sharp for example.
The work itself is very different from what I studied at university (Finance). I have never been one for essay writing so I thought that my outreach content may not be up to scratch in comparison to my more literate colleagues. However, I’ve found that my more concise and to-the-point style of writing has still been effective. My familiarity with a lot of the financial terminology also eased the learning curve a little initially.
Going from studying something that is vaguely applied to the real world, although still mostly theoretical, to interacting with candidates and doing ‘real’ things was a change I was eager for. I was also tired of all the solitary work at university. In the office, you're no longer working in isolation; you're part of a larger team with unique expertise and perspectives which makes getting the hang of things significantly easier and more enjoyable.
One aspect that I thought I was going to miss was the great social life at university, but joining alongside plenty of other graduates is something I am very grateful for. It drastically eases the transition and creates a great environment, things like grabbing a coffee or lunch in a group really break up the day.
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