--- title: 5 Real World Skills You Won’t Learn in School description: Practicing these skills can make your transition into the real world much easier. canonical: https://time.com/4233255/real-world-skills/ author: Varsity Tutors article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-23T17:04:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:09.157Z og:title: 5 Real World Skills You Won’t Learn in School og:description: Practicing these skills can make your transition into the real world much easier og:url: https://time.com/4233255/real-world-skills/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37ab205af9f5bde7/69887e9e524fc0ed01df6dc2/colored-piggy-banks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3619 og:image:height: 2036 og:image:alt: colored-piggy-banks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Real World Skills You Won’t Learn in School twitter:description: Practicing these skills can make your transition into the real world much easier twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37ab205af9f5bde7/69887e9e524fc0ed01df6dc2/colored-piggy-banks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Real World Skills You Won’t Learn in School > Sponsored content. 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It covers the reporting, scoops and conversations shaping AI and the decisions facing leaders. #### Where can I get reported AI news rather than commentary? In the Loop is TIME's AI newsletter, built on original reporting and access to the people building and governing AI. It publishes Tuesdays and Fridays and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes TIME's In the Loop? Harry Booth, a tech reporter at TIME, writes In the Loop. #### Is In the Loop free? Yes. In the Loop is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: 3 Tips for Keeping Expenses Low in College [Watch (HLS stream): 3 Tips for Keeping Expenses Low in College](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/o0DMW6Yj.m3u8) (1:25)  _Published 2015-12-14. Financial expert Lynnette Khalfani-Cox shares financial tips on how college students can cut expenses and save money._ by [Brian Witte / Varsity Tutors](https://time.com/author/varsity-tutors/) ## Brian Witte / Varsity Tutors Feb 23, 2016 5:04 PM UTC  Multi-colored ceramic piggy banks Multi-colored ceramic piggy banks Getty Images by [Brian Witte / Varsity Tutors](https://time.com/author/varsity-tutors/) ## Brian Witte / Varsity Tutors Feb 23, 2016 5:04 PM UTC Success in school calls for a specific set of skills—for instance, time management, reading comprehension, and the application of learned abilities in narrowly defined contexts. In the world beyond school, however, the problems you face are rarely well defined. One of the best things that you can do is to think of your time in school as base-building. Once you graduate, it is your job to figure out how to apply your book learning to the real world. Mastering these less common school lessons will help you make the transition in little or no time at all: **1\. Focused communication** Most academic writing assignments carry a page minimum and a page maximum. In real life, your goal should always be to communicate information as concisely as possible—there are exceptions, but most individuals wish to read less, not more, and they will not provide you with a target length. So, work on paring your emails and other communications to the bare minimum. Do not forego essential information, but do not include filler either. Your managers and colleagues will appreciate your brevity. **_Varsity Tutors:_**[_How to Make the Most Out of Your College Degree_](http://time.com/4088600/college-degree-make-the-most/) **2\. Meeting efficiency** Many college students dread the group project. Unfortunately, unless your career involves panning for gold in the Alaskan wilderness, you will likely participate in group projects throughout the remainder of your working life. While ensuring that people work well together is technically a manager’s job, you can partially prove your worth as an employee by demonstrating your ability to make meetings run smoothly and efficiently. There are many [guides](https://hbr.org/1976/03/how-to-run-a-meeting) to this subject. Familiarize yourself with them, and then take these steps: arrive at meetings a minute or two early, come prepared, help others, and do not allow yourself to be distracted by minutiae. **3\. Money management** The average college student worries about money, even if he or she is fully supported by his or her parents. After graduation, these worries may only increase. You will need to worry about earning a wage, paying your taxes, beginning a retirement fund, paying for health insurance, and so on. The cost of not understanding how to manage your financial life can be immense, but fortunately, a simple Google search can uncover many resources that can help you improve your financial literacy. **_Varsity Tutors:_**[_3 Questions to Ask Before Applying to a Graduate School_](http://time.com/3912687/graduate-school-preparation-questions/) **4\. Long-range planning** College is neatly organized into semesters and years, its boundaries clearly defined. The smart student will have monitored graduation requirements and important but rarely offered electives, but there are very few college tasks that last longer than a year. In the real world, however, there are often major undertakings that have multi-year timelines. Sometimes these timelines are negotiable, and sometimes they are not. Learning how to adapt is critical to your success beyond college. Look for time management and project planning software. Speak with your colleagues about how they manage tasks, and what tools they use. Your employer may have a standard program that you are required to use, but do not be afraid to look beyond that to keep your personal life on track. **5\. Contingency planning** One of the universal truths of the modern world is that no job is guaranteed. Positions are outsourced, businesses are sold or closed, and technology replaces human workers. Do not assume that your career or job will always exist. Keep your network thriving, and watch emerging trends in your field. Learn skills that augment your present abilities. Being computer literate, for example, will always add to your value. Your secondary abilities may help you survive a round of layoffs, or they may help you make the jump to a better opportunity. **_Varsity Tutors:_**[_3 Myths About the Gap Year_](http://time.com/3898053/myths-gap-year/) _Brian Witte is a professional tutor and contributing writer with_ [_Varsity Tutors_](http://www.varsitytutors.com/tutoring-los%5Fangeles)_, a live learning platform that connects students with personalized instruction to accelerate academic achievement. He earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington and holds a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University_ ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] One of the things that I tell students, is that if you're going to control costs while you're in college, you really do have to look at lifestyle expenses. Because, this is one of the biggest areas that trips up people and gets them into an overspending cycle early on in life. So, whether it's your housing and living arrangements, The food that you're eating, or the clothes and other products and services that you're buying, you need to be mindful of your spending habits. On the residential front for example, you should have a roommate, and then the two of you are sharing the cost of that dorm room for example. So, when it comes to eating out, or just eating in general. Two things here. I don't think anybody should get on an all you can eat meal plan, and this is one of the things that colleges really push these days. It unnecessarily taxes students and their appearance, to pay for stuff that they don't actually eat. The reality is that a lot of students are going to eat off campus, or at other restaurants that are independently operated, but that are housed on a college campus. If you know you're just gonna eat Off campus or outside of your meal plan, you have to start doing the smart budgeting moves. Whether that's being aware of coupons, deal days, discounts, know these things ahead of time. Set the parameters and the rules for yourself. And then follow through on it. 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