Handling constructive criticism is one of the most essential skills you can learn in college. But the hard truth is that nobody really likes being told their work or effort is in some specific way lacking something. When someone criticizes your work, it may bruise your ego, and the genuine offer for help may be taken as an insult.

Another part of the hard truth about criticism is that the older you get and the more responsibilities you have, especially in your chosen career path, the more criticism you are going to get. This is part of the process of improvement, and handling it is key to taking the best out of it.

The great examples of constructive criticism almost always point towards practical solutions. Like: the sentences are too long. This implies a clear remedy: reduce the sentence size. Here are two different kinds of criticism: constructive, which is focused and analytical, and non-constructive, which is general and perfunctory. In that sense, the person who’s giving the criticism should be very aware of their word choices in order for the message to be received in a clear and productive manner.

Among the most common criticisms you’d hear from teachers throughout your years in college, is “This work is too descriptive; it should be more critical.” First Years get it a lot. It’s because they haven't mastered academic writing, and at this point, the teacher who’s giving you this point is probably right. Make sure you look at whys, not only whats.

Another common criticism you hear is “the work doesn’t answer the question,” and this one may be a teeny tiny bit frustrating. You sat there for the past few sleepless weeks, sweating yourself to cramps only to be told you interpreted the whole task wrong. It may be hard to hear, but hey, next time, you will definitely benefit from reading and re-reading the task, so you won’t need to sacrifice your entire body for writing.

On the other hand, if someone intends to make you feel bad with their criticism, then this is clearly not a piece of constructive criticism, and they are probably exorcising their own demons. This is not your fault, and you may wanna distance yourself from this type of “help.”

However, if the person means well and wants to help you, then the criticism is somewhat of a gift, which may not sound very pleasant at first but will surely give you room to thrive and improve beyond what you thought was possible.