Anoop Verma
YOUR first day at work after leaving college can be an extremely stressful situation. It is thrilling to be out of the cloistered environment of schools and colleges, but the real world has its own set of challenges. Just as you make preparations for examinations and job interviews, you also need to make preparation for your first day at job. Such preparation is necessary if you want to make a positive impression on your supervisor and colleagues and reduce stress. Your work reputation begins before you know it, and you can’t afford to let your guard down.
Here are some pointers to help you prepare for your first job:
Dress conservatively
During your initial days at office, you should avoid the kind of dresses that will make you stand out from your colleagues. It is prudent to dress conservatively unless you are working in creative fields like advertising, animation, etc. The day one should see you in your best formal clothes.
Be on time
It is necessary that you should be few minutes before time on your first day at office. Being late on first day will invariably tarnish your reputation. In order to take into account the traffic related issues that you might face on your way to office, you should make a test run to the office two or three days before the day when you have to report there. The test run will give you an idea of the road conditions and the kind of traffic you are likely to face, and then you will have a fair idea of the time it will take for you to reach your new office.
Be fully prepared
Before the scheduled start date of your job, you should give a call to your supervisor at office and inquire about the materials or the resources that you can review, or if there is anything else you can do to prepare for handling the responsibilities at office. You should ensure that the hiring forms and the paperwork are completed ahead of time. If there is any documentation that you need to bring with you on your first day, you should pack it carefully in your bag.
Be polite and friendly
In many companies it is a culture that a senior manager takes the new employees around the office and introduces him or her to everyone. You should be patient and pleasant with everyone, and listen to the job descriptions carefully. You should be especially respectful and polite to the administrative and support staff whose opinions often influence senior players. Make everyone you work with feel important, valued, and respected.
Don’t shy away from taking charge
You should always avoid the ‘I am new’ excuse. From the first day onwards your intention should be to take on any assignment and ensure that you are able to deliver on it. It is great if you can execute the project on your own, but it is necessary that you should avoid making mistakes. So seek out all the answers and directions before getting too far into the project. If a project requires that you should come in early or leave late, be willing to do that. Also, don’t try to appear too eager to corner all the limelight in case a project goes of well. Be sure to thank people, share credit, and give compliments when appropriate.
Follow the rules
You can only follow the rules when you know about them. Many companies have guidelines for social media usage, phone calls and usage of other technologies at work hours. Make sure you know and abide by these guidelines. Office PCs or laptops are not for personal surfing. Many have been sacked for visiting forbidden sites. So you have ensure that you are using the office resources only for official purposes. These days most organisations have systems through which administrators can track the websites visited and it would take a lot of explaining when caught visiting a recruitment site. It is really foolish to apply for another job from office network.
Work within the system
If you have a great idea, think it through, anticipate the questions, and then bring it to your boss or team. Don’t let your enthusiasm cause you to send this to the CEO and make what could be a fatal error to your career advancement. It is always advisable to keep your close colleagues and your supervisor in the loop when you are coming up with newer ideas.
Avoid getting into office controversies
With so many people working in a closed environment, a little bit of politics and gossip is always at work in any office. In background of all the work that is being done, their will also be a degree of personal stuff. You should avoid getting caught up in such controversies. While presenting yourself as a good listener, you should take care to avoid taking sides.
Be diligent in maintaining data
All offices have some kind of mechanism to enable employees to file daily reports on the work that they have done. It is on the basis of these daily reports that the performance of an employee gets judged. You should learn about the proper way of filing these daily reports and ensure that your report is properly field on every working day. You have to present a picture of someone who is completely organised.
Be cautious
It is very easy to fall into the trap of cribbing about the organisation or the boss. Such activity is not only futile; it is also dangerous. It is certain to boomerang on you and spoil your chances of progress in the organisation.
