How (And Why!) To Use Your Class Time to Build a Professional Reputation
Posted on Tuesday, July 4th, 2017
Here’s an interesting phenomenon: when you google ‘how to improve reputation at work’, there are thousands of results, all offering real-world advice for building a positive professional reputation for yourself.
But if you google ‘how to improve reputation at school’, there’s not much. But this is misleading: your work reputation starts at school, and so the best way to start building a professional reputation for yourself is now, while you’re still a student.
Why is it so important to build a positive reputation for yourself as a student?
The stereotype of students is well-known: showing up 15 minutes late to class with Starbucks, wearing sweat pants, and stealing a nap in the back row of a lecture. This probably isn’t your reality, but it can sometimes be tempting to fall into that pattern.
But if you want to set yourself up for success, college is the place to do it. Why?
Your professors want to help you.
First things first: you want to be on good terms with your professors. Beyond being there to teach and help you get started in your field, your professors have a huge network in place—a network that they can use to help you.
By working hard to build a solid reputation with your teachers, you gain not only their help, mentorship, and expertise, but also access to a whole new network of potential mentors, employers, and teachers.
Your industry is a small town.
It’s not just your professors who can have an impact on your future career. In many industries, the students that you graduate with will become co-workers, industry connections, and possibly employers.
If you build a negative reputation among your classmates in school, it is something that can follow you after graduation. You don’t want a reputation from your school days following you into your professional career, so putting in some effort now is a good idea to save yourself more effort later.
How to Build a Good Reputation at School
So that’s the why. But what about the how?
Luckily, when you’re in school, building a positive reputation isn’t actually very hard. Remember: reputation isn’t about being a genius or top of your class. Reputation isn’t even about your grades.
Instead, your reputation is about your behaviour and characteristics. You don’t need to be the smartest in the room. You just need to show that you care. And there are some very basic, powerful ways to do just that.
Do what you say you’ll do.
This is about accountability. People want to know that they can rely on you. They want to know that you’re a trustworthy person. Meeting your commitments and doing and what you say you’ll do is the most important way of doing so.
Submitting projects by the due date, not skipping meetings, and being on time to class are key ways of ensuring that people know you’re trustworthy.
Remember to be nice to yourself, too. Don’t take on too much and then stress about not meeting commitments; instead, agree to what you reasonably believe you can accomplish. Remember: it is always better to under-promise and over-deliver.
And if you know that you’re going to miss a deadline, be accountable for it. Tell the people who need to know, and give them as much warning as possible that you won’t be ready for the due date. That shows that you accept responsibility for your actions, and that you understand your behaviour has an impact on others. It’s a sign of respect.
Respect, accountability, and trustworthiness: these are the foundations of a good reputation.
Pay attention and be engaged.
The next step to creating a solid professional reputation in school is to be sure that you listen. Listening is the key to success in a lot of situations, including most professional ones.
So listen in class. Meet with your professor to talk about things. When you start making the effort to be engaged and participate, your experience at school starts getting more and more positive.
Often, you get out of your education what you put into it. So when you show that you’re engaged and interested, it becomes a lot easier to learn. And when you start participating thoughtfully in class discussions, you build that quality reputation with everyone around you.
Start acting like a professional now.
There is no better time to start building professional habits and skills than when you’re in school. Using your time as a student to put in place the foundation of your professional reputation will make your life so much easier (especially when you start looking for post-grad jobs).
Practice the basics of professional behaviour in school: dressing well, avoiding gossip, listening, accountability…the list goes on. Having these kinds of skills in place will make your transition to a professional job much smoother.
School is the place to start flexing those muscles and figuring out what kind of professional habits work for you, because there’s no better place to make mistakes than in school. You’re here to learn what works and what doesn’t. By choosing to prioritize your professional reputation now, you’ll pave the way for your future career. It’s the best place to start.
And remember: it’s never too late to change your reputation. Humans are very adaptable, and people want to see others succeed. The people around you are rooting for you.
If you would like to learn more about the Algonquin College co-op program, please visit our website at https://www.algonquincollege.com/coop/, connect with us at coop@algonquincollege.com or call us at 613-727-4723 Ext.7623. You can also follow us on Twitter @AlgonquinCoop.
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