This is a guest post by Lindsey Pollak.
(*Without being seen as a brownnoser, bulldozer or brat.)
It’s January—a time of new beginnings and, for many people, new jobs. If you’re in your first few months as a new employee, you are probably eager to make an impact. At the same time, you want to be careful not to rock the boat too much. How can you strike a balance between productivity and politeness? Here are five tips to guide the way:
1. Listen more than you talk. As my grandfather used to say, there’s a reason you have two ears and one mouth. The best way to learn the ropes and make friends is to listen carefully to the way people in your organization interact. People love to talk about themselves, so give colleagues and clients the opportunity to share their advice, guidance and tricks of the trade. Listening is a great way to win friends and influence people.
2. Network up and down your organization. In other words, bond with the mailroom guy. Many employees spend all of their time networking with higher-ups, when the truth is that to get things done in an organization you need connections all over. Ask a wide variety of people to lunch or hang out in the kitchen and introduce yourself to everyone who walks in. You never know from whom you might need a favor in the future.
3. Be a problem solver. As you join projects and begin to make a contribution with your work, be the employee who offers solutions to problems, not the employee who is always complaining. Being known as the go-to problem solver is a great reputation to cultivate.
4. Seek feedback. Instead of wondering what your new employer thinks of you, take the initiative and ask. You can do this informally with colleagues—“Hey, since I’m new, I would love your feedback on my presentation.”—or formally through regular performances reviews with your manager. If you choose the latter, work with your boss to create specific goals so you will be able to measure your success moving forward.
5. Don’t curb your enthusiasm. Finally, never underestimate the power of a smile. Be yourself, but let your passion and enjoyment of your work shine through. Gloomy guys and gals are generally not high on the list for promotions.
Lindsey Pollak is the author of Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World and writes a daily career advice blog at http://lindseypollak.blogspot.com.
The point about networking up and down the organization is a great reminder! My first job was on Wall Street. As a young group, we were always very respectful and accommodating to all of the “very important” people we served. It would have been easy to act self-important around the under-valued groups in the organization.
However, as it turned out, our most crucial allies were in the copy room. We often relied on them for last minute work as a result of demands from higher-ups.
Our “you win more with sugar than with vinegar” approach to working with everyone in the organization resulted in some miraculous turn-around times and helped earn our group a great reputation (which helped at bonus time)!
Thanks, as always, for the insights!
Miriam Salpeter
http://www.keppiecareers.com
http://www.keppiecareers.wordpress.com
Great article! I agree with Miriam that the “network up and down your organization” is crucial. If you’re kind and respectful to everyone (regardless of position in power), your authenticity will be respected.
Excellent, thought-provoking posting. Hopefully the follow from my free semi-monthly newsletter, The Career Accelerator, will add to the subject. (To receive my newsletter please go to:www.commonsenseatwork.com
9 Steps To New Job Success
Every year hundreds of thousands of careerists start new jobs. Survival, to say nothing of career success, is far from guaranteed.
One-fourth of those in their first career jobs don’t survive the first year, according to a study by The Employment Foundation. Nearly half are out the door in 18 months, reports Leadership IQ, a training firm.
The career counseling is clear: recognize the extreme importance of getting off on the right foot from day one on a new job. Performance in the early days will often provide strong and lasting indicators for both employee and employer as to how a new hire will perform. Fair or unfair, first impressions have a lasting effect on success.
Nine Basic Career Tips
Here are nine basic job tips that can be helpful in making the most of the first job.
1. Work, work, work and then work some more. No substitute, no short cut will replace work. This means more than working diligently from eight to five. Take work home for nights and on weekends. Near total immersion in the job is recommended.
2. Arrive early on the job and stay late. Get to work at least 30 minutes before the specified starting time at lease for the first several months. This is a good time, before the interruptions of the day start, to take care of routine chores and get a head start on the day.
Often, the boss is also in early. (That may have something to do with his being boss.) It’s a great time to get better acquainted with him. Demonstrate interest in the job. Ask for extra information and guidance.
Stay a while after the regular hours. Clean up the personal work place. Collect the files and reading materials to take home for review that night. Make a list of actions to be taken the next day.
3. Don’t expect to conquer the world in six months. But realize the scoreboard is operating from day one.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and seek help when needed. To do so is a sign of strength not an admission of weakness, as is often assumed. Seeking assistance, intelligently, shows confidence and desire to do the job. Acquire a mentor as soon as possible. Find someone who has been around the track to provide coaching and share experiences. This will not be difficult to do; most people like to be asked for advice.
5. Observe how things “really get done.” Learn how the machinery of the organization works. (This is likely to be quite different from what’s spelled out in the policy and training manuals.) Absorb the folklore.
6. Don’t join cliques or deal in office politics. Leave the gossip to others.
7. Respect the hierarchy. The organization is bigger and stronger than any one person. The new boy in the neighborhood can’t change it in the beginning. Recognize and respect there’s a chain of command; everybody has a boss. Rebels rarely survive for the long haul.
8. Know the business of the business…the mission of the organization, what it does and what values it represents. Learn how the job fits into the overall picture.
9. Adapt to the environment. Observe the style of dress – casual or more buttoned down? – and be guided by it. Is business done in an informal manner or strictly by the rules? By memos and formal meetings or by face-to-face discussions and chance meetings in the hallway?
It just makes common sense to recognize that those who go contrary to these guidelines make life difficult for themselves and raise the odds against their career success. Who needs that?
I wish you successful trip on your career path!
Ramon Greenwood, Head Career Coach
Common Sense At Work
How long should I wait to ask for a chair that doesn’t hurt my legs (it is obviously old and stained)? And a cubicle away from the highest traffic spot, when over half the cubicles in the office are empty? I was hired in as a senior corporate employee, located in an office other than HQ.
Hi Gretchen,
OSHA would probably say you can ask for a chair that doesn’t hurt your legs yesterday. It really depends on the rapport you have with your direct supervisor. If he or she is open to those kinds of conversations , great. If not, look for opportunities to bring it up. In my experience, I’ve found most people are okay with asking even if they don’t agree with you.
Shawn
When you try to get employees to join you and if they have to relocate from their base to the new place of work you would have to ensure that the relocation package is suitable for the employee who you want to take on. The bigger companies normally offer generous perks to candidates who are willing to relocate and who have the necessary qualifications that the company needs. However, the smaller organizations may not be able to give the same benefits but will make offers that will also make an impact.
Thanks, Alice. There are definitely trade offs to consider when weighing opportunities from different sized organizations. What one might lack in resources they could make up for with flexibility.
Shawn