Congratulations! You've earned the lifetime achievement of acquiring your first job! It would be nice to say, "Just memorize your chem. textbooks and you will be successful at everything you do," but that's not the case. Industry is a different beast when you come straight from an academic background. The author of this chapter is a recent graduate from the University of Detroit Mercy who currently works in a highly regulated field, pharmaceuticals. This chapter will cover crucial skills and lessons that will help you succeed in your first job in industry such as flexibility, following the rules, communication, networking, working in a team and passion/drive. The author currently works as a quality control chemist at Ferndale Laboratories They hold a BS in Biochem. and has more than a year of experience in quality control.