How to Start a First Job

You need to perform a reality check on what to expect when you start a new job. This is the first step before you show up for work. Nobody has to tell you that you won’t be starting at the top. Getting a first job could mean a rock bottom position. Unfair as it seems, even college interns may be given tasks a company won’t let new workers like you do at first.

How to get the promotions


You’ll start moving up the ladder after you take the second reality check of understanding the difference between your goals at college and your new goals when starting a new first job. The goal you strove for in college was to enrich yourself through studies. Your goal during first days on the job is to figure out how you can enrich the company by making contributions to its bottom line. That’s what the folks who run the company are interested in - what you can do to help them.

So in order to get promoted, you need to convince your bosses you can help them more than your fellow workers can. But don’t make a complete fool out of yourself trying. At least not during first days on the job when you’ll feel like a blockhead, anyhow, because you think everyone knows more than you do. Just realize that’s how everyone feels when they start a first job.

Tips for a first job (the first few weeks)

Be the first to arrive and one of the last to leave. This accomplishes two purposes. First, getting an early start on the day gives you more time to absorb new things you’ll have to learn. And second, getting to work early and leaving late shows you’re you’re a doer, an achiever, a hard worker, and someone who is interested in the work at hand.
Don’t ask questions you can look up yourself. This prevents you from making a pest of yourself by asking too many questions during the first day on the job.
Understand that your new colleagues are not your best friends. So don’t treat them as such. You need to know your boundaries at work. When you share too much of your personal life, you’re apt to reveal things that aren’t flattering. In order not to become part of the gossip mill at work, be friendly yet businesslike.
Smile. That’s how to cover up the uncertainty you’ll feel when you start a new job. And smiling makes you feel happier. And your good feelings will rub off on your bosses and colleagues.
How to start a new job? By remembering to take the two reality checks mentioned earlier and to practice the four tips for how to start a new job.

And above all, put a smile on your face during the first days on the job. You can cry later when you get home.

Written by Randy Place