Your first job is extremely important as it serves as the launch pad for your future career path, but often the lack of experience can make things challenging to start well. With a lot to prove and endless questions in mind, there is much to do, to make things right!
It was a dream come true; to be placed with a job at a reputed IT company, right after my college. Nevertheless, I was both thrilled and anxious at the same time. You have a lot of new faces and unfamiliar buildings to remember, a new role to take up and a zillion eyes watching you as you battle to make a place for yourself in the organization. I was exhausted and perplexed not knowing how to deal with things in the initial span of time, as I was treated not less than an experienced team member. I was often snowed under various tasks (and they came from different hierarchy). I was clueless on how to get going with tasks. Many a time I was caught unaware of the policies and processes and had to wait for the guidance from my manager or my senior colleagues. I feared making mistakes and how I shall be looked upon if I couldn’t keep up to the expectations set on me. My lack of experience in handling situations added to my frustrations. I felt lost and even wondered if I had made the right choice!
You learn with experience or through someone else’s experience. While I was still new at my profession and lacked experience, I tried to learn things on my own with time and from people around me who had rich experience in the profession. These were few things that I learned from my first job:
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
We always hear that our first impression is the last impression. Though it’s not always true and appearance isn’t everything, it can definitely make an impression in one way or another. It’s not important to be dressed in formals, but to be dressed according to your profession. Just like dressing I learned how important it was to demonstrate your interest towards new initiatives and track them to closure. The key is not just about getting your work done and how you do it, but also about excelling at it every day. And as a newbie I often faced the situation of getting piled up with various task and not able to prioritize my work, which affected my productivity. Brain Tracy in his book “Eat That Frog” mentions the “ABCDE method for priorities” where ‘A’ stands for ‘very important’ something you must do else might have serious negative impacts. ‘B’ stands for ‘important’ something you should do but less important than A. ‘C’ stands for things that are ‘nice to do’ and do not have any negative consequences for not completing it. ‘D’ stands for ‘delegate.’ ‘E’ stands for ‘eliminate, whenever possible.’ By using the ABCDE method, one can easily distinguish between important and unimportant task. This method helped to focus on both my time and attention to most essential things to do. Timing is crucial too, be it for a meeting or for seeking approvals. Always try to be ahead of time and while seeking approvals or to discuss important matters so that you can facilitate good decisions. If things can wait, then check the air in the room before you put it on the table.
“Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.”
Mangers can be a source of inspiration and/or stress, but even the worst managers can teach us valuable lessons. Some play the role of a coach and mentor for you, who offer constructive feedbacks to bring out the best in you and shape your career ahead. They help you to focus on your strength areas and develop them while, pointing out areas to focus for your future roles simultaneously. It is meaningful to have scheduled meetings with your manager once in a week or so, to discuss on the new tasks closed and also on the way forward. I also made it a point to check with my manager frequently on the various tasks assigned to me. It is essential that you confirm with your manager on how he/she prefers to communicate with you (phone, emails, instant messaging tools and so on). Meetings with your skip level manager once in 6 months helps to analyze your track record so far and plan ahead. This helps to gain a big picture view of your career ahead and their experience can help a lot in your learning. My rapport with my colleagues helped me to understand how they approached each situation and also look at things differently. They helped me to find enjoyment as we toiled out at work. Inter-team bonding also helps to know what’s happening around you and to get my things done faster.
“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Be afraid of not learning from them.”
On the job learning helps you to learn things faster. It’s an added advantage to shadow your boss at work; it helps to learn without the fear of committing mistakes. If you don’t make mistakes, you won’t learn. Everyone commits mistakes, but it is essential that we act quickly and with due diligence to rectify these mistakes. We often shy away from accepting our mistakes, but it is essential that we own our mistakes and take responsibility for them. It reflects the value of integrity in your nature. We could avoid making many errors by keeping our eyes and ears open. So until I had a good handhold of things I tried to learn from all, by being open to advices and views. Reading policies, process, articles, reports, and newsletters helped to gain insights about the organization and its culture. And in no time I found myself in charge of my life again.
“A goal is a dream with deadline.”
Deadlines are set for your success and to help you take a step closer to your goals. Deadlines helped me to prioritize my work better. Hence it is extremely important that we stick to them. Therefore before committing to any deadline, one needs to understand the task at hand and time required to complete it. We often commit on shorter deadlines to please our managers but find ourselves in trouble in the end. During such situations it is important to inform our managers in advance if we need more time than to wait until the last moment. Better planning and understanding of the task helped me to come up with proper deadlines.
“Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.”
While at work, you will come across a variety of personality types within your team; the leader, the team player, the expert, the difficult and so on. Having a difficult manager/ senior at work can make things worse, but the key is not to be affected by them. Perceive them as clients and it will be easier to handle. Understand their motives, and help them to celebrate their success. Don’t let their behavior be an excuse for you to slack. When offered a chance, speak up your mind irrespective of who’s who. Have clarity on things you want to put forward and be prepared to face the questions that follow.
“Our lives are defined by the opportunities, even the ones we miss.”
One of the greatest lessons that I learned was to treat each opportunity as a means to learn and grow. Organizations provide rich platforms for you to learn, such as their internal and external training programs, various customer meets and forums, and so on. Leverage these opportunities and experience as the next step of your career. Things that differentiate organizations from one another are its people. Hence your core competences are your unique selling proposition, aim to harness and channelize them, to give your career a lift. It is also essential to engage in diverse tasks, to discover what you really like to do. Maybe what you thought you’d like isn’t what you do best!
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
The definition of success may vary with each person. I always wanted to see the outcomes of my initiatives but it’s not always possible to successfully close the initiatives. So I redefined my success as the new learning and experience that I gained by taking up a new initiative. It is vital to enjoy the journey as much as the end results. Else it was too easy to get dejected and give up. Enjoy what you do and give in your best, and happiness shall follow your path. Nowadays, organizations take care of the overall engagement of their employee and provide avenues for fun and enjoyment; indulge in them. That will revive you and get you back on track even during the darkest hours of the day!
Quite often, it’s easy to perform at an interview and get a job, but it takes greater efforts to be successful at it. The initial phase of transition can be arduous, but once you find your place in the organization, you’ll be ready to take on the world!
