After you complete your education, equipped with knowledge, you will land in your first job. This would be the most crucial opportunity and a perfect platform to work in and depict your skills and nurture them, and excel in your career for future. This is the place you will have many unknown experiences and lot of learning. No one expects too much productivity from a fresher.
However, this would be the time, when you would be more excited. You will sound a little immature due to lack of experience, but you have to tackle many things that are new to you. New policies and systems, getting acquainted with your new office environment, your next cabin co-workers; you may have to deal with many people in and out of the company including your bosses and may be you may have to exchange lot of information with other people. Probably you may have to get used to new city or town, new food habits in that particular city etc.
Managing all different things at the same time may create confusion and may mount substantial pressure upon you. To avoid this pressure, you have to understand every part of your work like nature of work, technology used and how to get it done etc.
Know well about the people around you. Good understanding of your surrounding atmosphere keeps you moving without any friction. Your work will be done fast and you will be comparatively more productive. However, to achieve this you need lot of hard work and patience.
To have a pleasant and successful first job experience, you should walk your first steps without making mistakes. Remember that one fourth of the job aspirants face firing or lay-offs during their first job, due to the mistakes they commit unknowingly. Let your first job create a very good impression for the rest of your career. Here are mistakes, you have to avoid during your first job:
Be on time and dress formally
Early is always better. Being at least fifteen minutes early for your first job or any job, gives you enough space to settle down at your desk without wasting office productive hours. It is a sign of your punctuality and interest. For any reason if you are late, keep your boss informed ahead of time through phone message or e-mail. Don’t be casual in messaging be quite formal.
We come across many articles on the web about formal dressing to the office, go through those on the net and briefly go through your office dress code, and follow the same. After all first impression is the best impression, memorable forever. Strictly avoid over dressing or under dressing. Both are equally cyanic.
Be Keen on fundamental Orientation
If the company is providing you fundamental training or orientation, make sure that you participate in the training without fail. Even though you feel that, the orientation is of no use for you and is mere waste of time, try not to overlook it. You may have a chance to get together with many people along with you and it would give you a chance to express yourself. Your trainer may also give a positive feedback about you, which makes your future work very easy and you can easily get along with your manager if he had a positive impression about you.
Have a brief discussion with your manager and clarify your queries
Discuss about the project in hand briefly and let your boss know your expectations and your future goals, so that he can render the possible support to fulfill your objectives that are congruent to the company goals. Know your manager’s expectations from you, so that you can try your level best to reach up to his expectations.
Don’ t ever have a know-it-all kind of attitude and you need not always magnify your expertise, knowledge and skills , let the people experience it as you work. Be open to new learning that keeps you abreast of the current trends and technologies at work. Ask all the possible questions necessary to fulfill your job requirements. It may look odd in the beginning; but it saves a lot of time. For example, you are taking an hour to locate a file or cafeteria, as you are new to the office. Better, ask some one.
Never involve in Grapevine
As you are a new person to the office, you cannot judge anyone before you meet and them and know enough about them. Don’t take anybody’s side unless you work for sometime and know them in detail. Involving in office politics and unnecessary gossip puts you into soup. So, politely deny engaging yourself in those matters (office politics and grapevine).
Follow Email Etiquette while Texting your Superiors
In the context of emails, always try to be more formal. Use proper addressing like use of Mr., Ms., Mrs. Dr. etc, and signatures that include your company contact details. Avoid unnecessary text, exclamations, and abbreviations.
Switch off your Cell Phone and Net while at work
Immaterial of the kind of meeting, whether it is one on one meeting or groups meeting with your manager make sure to switch off your cell, so that it does not distract the attention while you are involved in the discussion.
Most of the people are more distracted and addicted to social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Google etc, to the extent that it impairs their productivity. It is very difficult for the companies to keep track of every employee, if they are making essential use of networks or not. Therefore, most of the offices to day are imperative on cracking down social networks. Therefore, it is good to avoid social networks, while at work. If you are caught red handed browsing through the net in you early working days of your office , think that your job is gone.
Make office hours more productive and try to give 100% output
Don’t waste the office working hours wandering here and there in the office campus, going around the colleagues disturbing them, in exchanging mails in fresh hours of the day unless it sounds urgent , showing up little later in the morning and leaving little early in the evening etc. If you are got noticed by your boss doing all these things, it is damaging for your job and is unforgivable. So, take care of all these things at least until you complete first year of your job.
Follow all these tips and make your first job good for you and your boss.
