STARTING out in the corporate world immediately after graduation is no easy task. College and the real world are barely even comparable.

In college, your peers are your age. All of a sudden, you join the corporate world and your peers are in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s.

It is a big adjustment to feel comfortable collaborating with people who could be your parents or grandparents, but it is actually quite easy when you get beyond the numbers.

Here are a few ways I fit in with my older colleagues.

Watch video: I owed Rs 9 lakhs @ age 19

Make fun of your age

The day after my 23rd birthday, I was at work and needed to use the extremely slow colour printer for the first time. I had a rather large document printing and a coworker and my boss were also waiting for their documents to print.

My coworker said to me, "So, you think now that you are 23, you can use the colour printer?"

I replied sarcastically, "I thought you had to be 23 to use the colour printer. Why do you think I never used it before?"

Yes, it was a very corny joke. But we all got a good laugh out of it and nobody took it seriously. It is nice to be able to joke around with your older colleagues and bosses .

If you take yourself or your age too seriously, people will consider you the arrogant young guy who thinks he deserves more than he actually does.

Read:

• The best words to use on your CV

• Do you have a job or a career?

Illustration: Abhijeet Kini

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e-mail: Ryan Healy

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