From Student-hood to Almost-Adulthood; 5 Mistakes I made, and how you can avoid them.
From April to September, worldwide, a fresh set of University and College graduates enter the 'real world' – but it's not as simple as landing 'The Job', which is what I thought. Here are the five mistakes I made in five months in my first job, and how to avoid them.

Don't rush into moving out
I decided I absolutely would not move in with my parents after university, so I rushed into renting a room, without checking out the landlords, letting agents, or the property in much detail. Fast forward five months, and I was living in a windowless box in Hackney for £700 a month, while suing my letting agents for neglect, disrepair, fraud, etc.
Trust me, move in with your parents, take your time finding a reputable letting agent, and thank me later.

Dress for your workplace (and the weather)
If you know that the office you're about to start working in is a jeans-and-shirts kinda place, why are you wearing a pencil skirt? And then comes the heatwave, it's 35 degrees in central London – why are you STILL wearing a pencil skirt?
Go and get clothes that fit the industry – if it's finance, then sure, go full suit, pencil skirt, what have you. But in Media? Tone it down a bit.

Chill out with the caffeine
While at University it may have been acceptable (and common) to survive on three hours sleep and four cans of Redbull, it's not what you want to be doing if you're trying to move into being a functional member of society.
(Side note – you'll also get absolutely rinsed by your colleagues for it.)

Start a savings account
I'm serious. For the first four months, I had no idea what I was spending my money on, or when, or how much of my paycheck I was saving... and inevitably I'd come to a week before payday and be eating cheese sandwiches for every meal.
My suggestion - Monzo

Keep your personal life personal
Seems self-explanatory, but keep personal matters as far from the workplace as you can. Keep it for after-work drinks, or just away from work altogether. This'll help you focus at work, and keep that work-life balance.

I'm not saying everyone makes these hiccups in their first job as an almost-adult semi-professional... but it can't hurt to know to avoid them 

Find a team that supports you
This one is actually not a mistake I made, but just a piece of advice everyone should live by. The team at Moriati Media have helped me through every single one of the mistakes I've made, from helping find legal advice to getting out of my flat contract, to helping me dress less like a struggling first year and more like a young professional, and of course, have taught me quite literally everything I know about recruitment.

Can't wait to see what mistakes I make in the next five months!

Niall Moody + Charlie Curtis are organising the return of the media nomads RFC at Richmond 17th October. Sales Force v Nomads. Please share flyer and book tables for this charity event!