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Make Your First Job Your Launching Pad
By: Anna Ivey

You‘ve earned the degree, and you‘ve landed your first job – smooth sailing from here, right? Well, actually, no. Your first job is just the beginning. Think of it as Career 101, the introduction to your working life where you learn the ropes. The jobs you held during summers or while in school were probably short-term and to make some cash. But the jobs you land now can set you up for a great future – or not. So if you missed some basic skills during those summer jobs, read on.
The working world is a completely different beast from the college world, and the transition can be a bumpy one. There’s been a lot of talk about newly graduating Gen Y’ers demanding meaningful responsibility on the job. I’m all in favor of internships and starter jobs that offer opportunities for challenge and increased responsibility. However, what may not be obvious to you is that you‘ll be expected to earn the right to handle responsibility and prove that you can handle significant challenges. It‘s your performance on the job, not your degree, that tells your employer whether you are really prepared to take on work that is meaningful, not menial.
Is having to “prove yourself“ fair? Sure it is. You had to prove yourself to get off the bench in athletics. You had to prove yourself to get your drivers‘ license or get to higher levels in WarCraft. Proving yourself on the job is just the same and doesn‘t have to be a long, tedious process. However, I‘ve seen a number of well-intentioned Gen Y’ers unknowingly shoot themselves in the foot. This article is designed to help you avoid common pitfalls and get what you want out of your first job. The following nine tips might seem completely obvious, but I’ve seen this behavior often. I’ll list the most common issues here as simply and bluntly as I can.
1. Respect Your Employer.
I’ve noticed a fundamental lack of respect by many twenty-somethings for their managers, supervisors, bosses. That lack of respect can manifest itself in something as small as the way you address an email or in consistently refusing to follow — or even acknowledge — instructions. You may think that you are masking it, but contempt for your boss will always show. And when it does, the loser is you. Even if your boss is a drooling idiot, it’s in your best interest to act as respectful as possible and even to try and find something you can respect in that person.
2. Respect the English Language.
If you can’t be bothered to spell properly or use correct grammer and punctuation when writing to your boss or a customer, what does that say about you? Well, fair or not, it says a) that perhaps you aren‘t as smart or well-educated as they believed and b) that you really don‘t care much about your work. Be very clear that there are very different standards for text messages or wiki postings and more formal kinds of communications. Ignoring the “shift” key altogether when you’re writing to someone you’re supposed to impress? Not good. Take the time to run spell-check; review letters and emails for proper grammar and punctuation. Grab your online thesaurus and use precise vocabulary. Language is power, and how you communicate will definitely affect how you are percieved. Don’t believe me? Read Orwell’s Politics and the English Language (”the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts”).
3. Banish “Hey.”
Banish “hey” and as much casual slang from your written and spoken communications as you can. This might seem harsh. But your new colleagues are not your BFF’s (”hey dwight”) or even your MySpace/Facebook friends. They might turn into friends, but don’t impose that casual familiarity unless and until the relationship warrants it – especially with colleagues from different (read: older) generations. Posting a message on someone’s Facebook wall and writing an email to your boss are completely different. Talking up a buddy and discussing a work project with your supervisor are in no way the same. I remember calling someone a few years back to offer him a job -- and thinking how badly I wanted to retract the offer when he said how “stoked” he was. Argh!
4. Follow Directions, and Don’t Make Your Boss Ask Twice.
If your boss asks you to put the customer name in a header for all of your project documents, don’t send him a document without the customer name in the header. Assume that you are given specific instructions for a very good reason -- whether you understand the reason or not. And if somehow you missed it and your boss has to remind you, DO NOT make him remind you again.
5. Don’t Ask for Clarification of Unambiguous Instructions.
If you’re asked to get the TPS reports on your boss’s desk by the afternoon, don’t ask him, “When do I need to get you those reports?” Or if you’re asked to restrict your report to 5 pages, don’t send him an email asking, “Is that a hard limit?” Questions like this make it appear that a) you weren‘t listening or b) you‘re challenging the instruction. Your boss’s time has value, and stupid questions tend to waste his time. Contrary to the brainwashing you’ve received in school, there is such a thing as a stupid question. But DO ask questions when you really don‘t understand.
6. Just OK is Not Enough.
Every day that you show up at work is another day you need to justify your employment. It‘s the beginning of your career, no matter where that starting point is. If you’re not doing your best, why should they keep you? And if you‘re not doing your best, are you really stretching and learning? A job is not pass/fail, and the job interview never really ends. Don’t wait until your first performance review to shape up. Set yourself up so that your first performance review catapults you to the next level of responsibility.
7. Tell Your Parents to Butt Out.
Don’t ever — EVER — let your parents contact your employers. If you want to be respected as a mature, independent professional, act like one. Leave Mommy and Daddy out of it, no matter how smart and well-connected they are. Expecting your employers to deal with your parents is beyond lame. They hired you — not your parents — and it’s not a package deal. If you‘ve got issues at work, you can seek advice from your folks. But you need to implement their advice yourself.
8. Get Used to Grunt Work.
I don’t care how smart or “entrepreneurial” you are or how impressed you are with yourself or how great your parents think you are. When you’re starting out in the working world, you’re going to do a lot of grunt work. It’s the only way to learn the ropes, and nobody is above it. Nobody. If you think you deserve to be entrusted with matters of importance in a starter job, you have delusions of grandeur. True entrepreneurial types do plenty of grunt work, and they don’t complain about it because they know it is as critical as any other piece to the success of the overall project or venture.
9. Understand Your Role.
As long as you’re reporting to someone, understand that your job is to make her life easier, not the other way around. Get assignments done, and ask for more. Pay attention to small and large ways you could assist with your boss‘s workload. If you have questions, do your own research before asking for her feedback. If you have a problem, come up with some possible solutions before approaching her.
So what if you follow these tips and work sincerely and hard, yet are still stuck in menial, meaningless tasks? Your first move is not necessarily to find another job – you may end up in the very same position. Instead, ask for a performance review and listen. Ask the question, “What do I need to do to progress into more challenging work?“ If the feedback you get seems valid, make the corrections requested, and ask for another review within a specific timeframe. But if, after soul searching, the critique doesn‘t seem valid or if you‘re told that there simply isn‘t more responsibility in your future, it might be time to find another job.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleJoe.com

Career Expert, Anna Ivey, is the Former Dean of Admissions at the University of Chicago Law School and author of The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions. Currently, she advises young people as they navigate life after college, helping them make life path decisions - career, graduate school, etc. Visit www.annaivey.com or contact Anna at anna@annaivey.com.

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