You’ve worked hard to earn your degree and even hard to lock down that first job after college. You should recognize and celebrate the successes you’ve had, but don’t underestimate the importance of starting your first entry-level job off on the right foot.
Here are 5 actionable tips to help you succeed beyond your wildest dreams in your first entry-level job:
When given a start date for your new job, it can be extremely tempting to relax and passively wait for that date to come before you start getting familiar with your new job. That’s not a good idea. You should spend an hour or so each day getting more familiar with the company, the role, and the people you’re likely to work with. Here are some tips for getting on top of the job before it begins:
There are going to be a lot of moving pieces on your first day. There will be new people to meet, new processes to learn, routines to establish, and the list goes on. Arrive early and create structure for yourself to make it less overwhelming. Here are some suggestions for creating helpful structure on your first day:
Recognize that there’s going to be a lot for you to learn and that your coworkers have a lot to teach. Be patient, respectful, humble, and curious. If you don’t know or understand something, ask for some guidance and help, listen intently, write it down, and take it to heart.
You might find yourself not agreeing with the way certain parts of the company or processes are run. That’s fine. However, it’s always a good idea to attempt to understand why the current processes exist before attempting to change them. You want to work in a place where your voice is heard and respected. Your fellow employees will listen and respect you only if you’re willing to listen and respect them first.
If you remember one thing from this list, let this be it. Nothing is more important than setting good goals for yourself. Ideally, you’re creating these goals with your manager so that you’re both on the same page with respect to the expectations for you in your role. Only once you know what you’re working towards and how you’ll be evaluating your success can you truly start making progress in your job. Good goals will help you push yourself to learn new things, meet new people, tackle new challenges, and get the absolute most from any job.
Learn How to Set Great Professional Goals
Truly knowing yourself and attempting to understand what you find challenging and rewarding about your job will pay dividends. The better you know yourself, the easier it is for you to set great goals for yourself and achieve them. You’ll get more meaningful results faster in almost every aspect of your work.
So being introspective is important. Great. Now how do you do it?
Sometimes success in a new job comes naturally and sometimes it requires a great deal of effort. Regardless of what situation you find yourself in, these tips should help you start taking control of the situation and ensure you make the most of your first job after college.
Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as What is an Entry-Level Job? and find answers to common interview questions such as What’s Your Dream Job?
READY TO INTERVIEW? FIND YOUR NEXT ROLE ON WAYUP. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR…
READY TO INTERVIEW? FIND YOUR NEXT ROLE ON WAYUP. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR…
READY TO INTERVIEW? FIND YOUR NEXT ROLE ON WAYUP. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR…
READY TO INTERVIEW? FIND YOUR NEXT ROLE ON WAYUP. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR…
READY TO INTERVIEW? FIND YOUR NEXT ROLE ON WAYUP. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR…
READY TO INTERVIEW? FIND YOUR NEXT ROLE ON WAYUP. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR…