PC Load Letter

The University of Texas business school is cocky. It’s a great school, really it is. But there is no way they can fully prepare you for what to expect when you leave campus. There are things you should expect when you are entering the workforce. Corporate America is a strange place and nobody is fully prepared for what it has to offer. Below are some of my observations from my internships up to my current job, feel free to add some of your own.

 

-Everything is called a “project”… Especially as an intern. “Chelsea, I have a project for you. I need you to make 20 copies of this and 20 copies of that. Then collate them. Thanks.”

 

-The toilet paper sucks.

 

-Kolache Fridays are glorious. Everyone is friends on kolache Fridays!

 

-You get really annoyed when someone brings something stinky for lunch.

 

-I really feel like I know some of these people more than their spouses and kids do. I know what they eat for breakfast and lunch. I know the rotation of their clothes. I know what they think is funny and what makes them annoyed. I know their bathroom schedule. I know if they didn’t sleep well the night before. Basically, I know too much.

 

-PC Load Letter actually shows up on printer/faxes. I have seen it with my own eyes.

 

-Offices are considered “decorated” if you have a family picture and a small plant. How depressing.

 

-At least once a week, someone doesn’t show up for work because they are in jail. (Wait, does that not happen at every company?)

 

I guess my company is a bit different than many, I think it’s mostly the industry. It’s common here for people to cuss, smoke, and dip. It’s normal to show up in jeans and a t-shirt… and in some cases, sweatpants and a shirt with holes. There are a ton of moody people here. On any given day, there is someone here that you aren’t allowed to talk to because they are in a bad mood. We don’t have annual reviews, vacation request forms, a shared computer drive, or an easy way to get office supplies. It’s not that these things are necessary, but they are often useful. (Read here to see how helpful an annual review would have been.)

 

Another thing we have at our office is crappy hand soap. It’s thin and smells nasty. It dries your hands out. I hate it. So I took the liberty of bringing in better soap. I started with the Coconut Lime soap for Bath and Body Works. I love that soap. It reminds me of my community group in Austin (specifically Jim and Veronica). I was at the mall last weekend and decided I’d get a few more flavors. I bought 3 new soaps and brought them to work. If you work in an office, you know how exciting this is. New soap! In fun flavors! Yes! So everyone took their turn to go to the bathroom and try out the new soap. We keep the nasty pink and one new soap on the counter. The others waited patiently in the cabinet for their turn. On Tuesday afternoon I went to the restroom and something was different. There was no soap on the sink. I opened the cabinet. The others were still there waiting patiently but the missing ones weren’t in there either. I reported back to one of my co-workers in an email. I told her we have a thief on our hands. There was no ransom note and we have very few leads.

 

College kids, many people tell you that work can be boring. Nothing is exciting, the same things happen day in and day out. That may not be true. You may be lucky enough to work in a place with a soap thief!

 

Honestly, who steals soap??