Preparing yourself for the first job

Anoop Verma

THE first job can be a scary proposition for those who are straight out of the college and venturing into a new career path. You might be of the opinion that your education has prepared you for executing the job, but it is also true that there is only so much that you can learn from any institution. There are some things that you can only learn through the practical experience of working in any company.

Different companies have different kinds of working environment, so the challenges that you face in one place can be quite different from what you face at a different place. However, in every company you will have to work hard to ingratiate yourself with the company’s culture. This is not an easy task. Any fresher has to keep his expectations in check when he or she makes a beginning.

The length of time it takes you to adjust to a new job varies from person to person, and job to job. While you may fit in immediately at some jobs, it may take a little longer in others. Here are few tips that you can use to ensure maximum success in your first job:

There is no alternative to hard work

It is possible that the work that is given to you by the company might seem boring during the first few days. But you have to develop a taste for it, or you will find it difficult to survive in the competitive office environment. No matter what your job is, you have to revel in working hard. The attributes like smartness or cleverness that you might be having in ample qualities will not matter much, if your work ethic is not solid. It is only by working hard that you can make an impression on your superiors, who will then help you advance in your career.

Integrate yourself with company culture

There is massive unemployment in the country, and you have to keep in mind that hundreds, if not thousands, of people are after your job. So it is imperative that you should get yourself in tune with the working environment at office. You have to develop good working relationship with your colleagues and superiors. You don’t need to go out of your way in changing your personality for an employer, but you have to try your best to develop a good working relationship with everyone. You should make an effort to meet everyone as quickly as possible and if possible introduce yourself around the office.  Lunch time at office can be a good time to make new friends, so you should ensure that you eat with your colleagues.

Stay organised

While in school or college you would have been taught about the ideal of being on time. In your first career, you have to put this ideal into practice. You have to be on time at work, you have to ensure that you complete your job in time. In most companies your boss might not be able to take notice of you unless you have made a horrible mistake. If you don’t want to be singled out as being really unproductive, you have to keep your desk clean and ensure that you do the job that you have been given on time. Don’t over-promise on what you can get done during the first week. There’s going to be a learning curve, so take that into account when setting deadlines on projects.

Get noticed by the right people

There are two kinds of people that you are likely to find at your new job – the ones that have the authority of giving you work to do and those who will just try to push their own work on your shoulders. So the first thing you need to learn is who has the real authority to hand out assignments in the work place. Get noticed by this person, and start getting work directly from him or her.

Ask questions

You have to portray yourself as someone who is genuinely interested in the welfare of the company. For this you have to ask the right kind of questions from the right people. Your boss and your co-workers want nothing more from you except that you should do your job correctly the first time. So if you are in doubt, you should not hesitate from asking questions. You also need to ensure that you listen to the answers carefully. If someone tells you a good way of accomplishing better results, you should put those ideas into practice immediately. However, you should not pester your boss for help in every small decision. Once the project is over, you can go to ask your boss, what you should do next.

Have realistic expectations

You should not expect that everything would go your way in the job that you are doing. There are going to be lot of frustrating experiences that you will have to take into your stride. To keep yourself feeling bright at all the time, you can put up pictures of the people who are your motivation for working. Decorate the walls of your cube with colourful material. Decorate your computer screen with sayings that inspire you. You should never try to make changes right away. Your focus in the first week of joining a new job should be to make sure that you are observing, understanding and asking right questions.