Your First Year on the Job: Getting It Right from Day One

Congratulations! Many of the graduating students I know have secured their first professional job. Now what?  This is the first in a series of articles focused on what you can expect from your first year and the behaviors employers will value helping you set a course for a successful career.

You are on a year-long job interview.  Everything you do and say is being evaluated by others in the organization.  Is this person someone we want to develop? Are they a good fit for the career path they are on and the organization? Do we want to keep him/her in the organization? Does he/she have leadership potential?

As a new professional, learning how to be a professional is your first task. You want to get noticed for the all right things.  You want to differentiate yourself from your peers in the right way. You want to be effective at what you do.  

Stay focused on what you are doing now.  Your best preparation for moving up is to do what you are doing now really well.  It’s easy to look at your immediate supervisor’s job thinking I can do that. Maybe you can, maybe not. But acting in a manner that suggests that or discussing it with your peers and colleagues means you are not focused on doing what you do well. 

A while back I hired a very bright, talented recent college grad for an administrative position. At the agency it was the entry-level job to get exposure to all facets of the business, for people to get to know you and how you worked.  I was out of the office a minimum of three days a week and every six weeks I worked from London and Paris for a week.  I needed and wanted to rely on her and could. Her work was excellent. She quickly earned my trust and that of others.  The senior leadership team agreed she was on an account management career path and should be given additional responsibilities.  That was until the day she went to my boss, the head of client services, to tell her she should have my job.  Sure why not.

After a good laugh with my boss and many conversations with my assistant on how we could get her experience to one day have a position like mine she wanted nothing to do with it.  She thought after nine months she had earned it.  Needless to say she didn’t last very long at the agency. Had she stayed focused on her job I think she would have done very well.

The other take-away from this behavior is to benchmark against the appropriate people in the organization.  Had my assistant considered her responsibilities and those of her peers, she would have understood how well she was doing and that she was on an accelerated career path.

Be a sponge. Develop good listening skills. When you are new, you will be overwhelmed at first.  Information is coming at you fast and from all directions and many people. Your first few weeks on the job should be spent absorbing, reflecting, and learning. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know." Ask questions. Learn from everyone. Take notes. Be curious. Listen more than you talk. Soak up everything you can. You want to earn a reputation as someone who pays attention and gets things right the first time. You are on your way to professional success.

Don't expect a lot of hand-holding.  The traditional Human Resources Department once responsible for onboarding/orienting new employees and developing training programs has been decimated over the past few years.  Your immediate supervisor is in part responsible for your training and development and so are you. You will need to be proactive in developing relationships and seeking out help from peers and colleagues. It’s a good way for you to start identifying a possible mentor within the company.

Dress the part. Most of you entering the workforce know to dress according to the company's culture and rules.  A wise woman (my mother) said to me "… honey, if you dress the part everyone will believe you". Stay focused on what you are doing now, however, dress for the position you want to have.  Behave for the position you want to have. Dressing up also applies to the work you submit. Use an appropriate font, add color, use quote boxes, whatever it takes within good taste to get you and your work noticed for substance and style.

 
Office etiquette
Your office is your new living situation. And with that comes some rules to abide by.

• Always clean up after yourself in the kitchen, a meeting room and other common area. Make a new pot of coffee if you took the last cup. Report a machine that isn't working--don't just walk away from it.
• Arrive early. To work, meetings, lunches, dinners etc.
• Don't take the elevator to go up or down one or two floors.
• Don't create excess noise or distractions in the workplace. Not easy when you work in an open space. Keep your voice down when talking on the phone. Use headphones.
• If anyone farts (including you), ignore it.
• Don't get drunk at office gatherings, client dinners and other events. Know that everything you do is being evaluated. Don't be fodder for the next day's office gossip. 
• If you do drink too much you have to show up at work the next day on time.  Be the person who is a good partier and the person who shows up the next day just fine. 
• Eating at your desk happens more often than not. Avoid smelly foods that will assault your co-workers.

When bad things happen. 

How you handle them tells your boss a lot about your character.

• No surprises.  Let your supervisor know what is going on.  If you are in danger of missing a deadline; say so and in time that something can be done about it.  If you don't understand the assignment, ask for clarification before you are too deep into the project and heading in the wrong direction.  If you've made a mistake, say so, again in time that it can be corrected. 

• Leave your personal problems at the front door. There will be times when something tragic happens that needs your attention or distracts you from work.  Don't hide it. Leaving for a time might be the better option. Tell your boss or Human Resource representative and give them an expectation of the time you need.  (Company policy will dictate if the time is taken as personal time, vacation time or other.)  Before you leave draft an email with what you are working on, what needs to get done to meet deadlines and provide other relevant information to your work. Be sure to check in with your boss during the time.

In the next few weeks I’ll be covering meeting behavior, business communication, developing relationships and more.  Let me know the things that concern you about entering the workforce. I’ll try to cover them.