No-Nos For New Jobs
A friend just landed a new job! Woo-hoo!
She phoned with the good news and then asked this question, “Do you have any tips for how I should act my first week on the job?” Ha. Of course, WG has tips. Weirdly, they seem to all be negative–what not to do. Hmmm. Anyway, here they are:
Don’t be late. Are you thinking, “Duh”? But being late that first week brands you as a tardy person. You don’t want this. Even if you are on time every day for the next YEAR, some people will still regard you as the kind of person who’s not on time. It’s not fair but first impressions take ages to live down. So be absolutely sure to be on time while you’re still the newbie.*
Don’t talk too much. That first week, focus on looking and listening. You are getting the lay of the land. Put yourself in receptive mode for a bit. It’s amazing what you can learn while your mouth is shut.
Don’t criticize the “way things are done.” Even if you can clearly see inefficiencies, stupidities, or worse, hold off before pointing out the error of your new co-workers’ ways. People do not appreciate some new person coming in and telling them they’re doing things wrong. Especially when they’re doing things wrong. Even if you were hired expressly to identify and fix problems, spend that first week looking and listening (see above).
Don’t establish alliances. It is too soon to reliably know who are the upstanding, smart, and sane ones and who are the whining, backstabbing, and bullying ones. Treat all overtures of friendship with kindness, yes, but also a little bit of distance. And if someone is too friendly, beware. This may very well be the person who is on the outs with everyone else, or who is in some way a problem.
*Weirdly, once you’ve established a reputation for punctuality, you can actually be late from time to time and it won’t hurt you. Not that you should, of course……
SUBSCRIBE
Great list! I always make a habit of taking copious notes my first week. So many people are showing you how to do things, where to log in, etc. that notes will keep you from having to ask people to repeat themselves.
Also, I think people sometimes get a kick out of watching you take notes as they speak. Makes them feel important and all that…
Good column, good comment as well. I like to also advise people to put out the max effort possible the first week – get out ahead of the curve if you can.
Dear WG,
I love this list! Okay, so it’s:
-be punctual (even early!)
-listen, be attentive (speak little)
-accept the way things are done (for the time being)
-be diplomatic and courteous to all, chummy to none
I love your reader’s comment about taking notes, which also communicates to the other person that what they have to say is important. Great point.
WG – do you have any advice on what to wear the first week? I feel like it’s the first week of school. Remember those days in American public schools and you got to wear your new sweaters, etc.? I feel like wearing all of my nicest, most professional clothes (sans the interview suits!), but don’t want to get carried away. I worked a brief stint in another industry that was not the right cultural fit for me and one thing that truly separated me from them was the clothing. They all preferred to wear jeans and running shoes. I simply cannot dress like that for work.
It may help you to know that I’m going to go work for a large software company (such as Apple, MS, Sun). The hiring manager wore very nice clothing (think Ann Taylor) and the peer with whom I’ll be working wore flipflops, casual cotton cropped pants, and a t-shirt (and that was her early-in-the-week outfit). At work, I’m more inclined to dress like the manager than the peer.
Is there a way to dress more like the manager than the peer without the peer feeling under dressed? Maybe on Fridays I should consider dressing down a bit?
I’m heading into my new job within a few days. I’ll let you know how it all goes.
Take care, WG!
~Gemma
Hey, way to go in expressing this points POSITIVELY, Gemma!
Hmmm, what to wear, what to wear. Fun question. Thinking cap is on…..
Oh, to have the “new job” questions…
Gor Gemma–I work for a large tech company–one of the ones mentioned, actually, and what you wear may depend entirely on what your job is. I often find myself crawling under desks, lugging equipment, or moving things around. It doesn’t happen reguarly, but it does happen. As such, I try very hard to make sure those are my (nice) jeans and not quite t-shirt-but-won’t-be-distraught-if-it-gets-destroyed.
Some people on my team wear jeans daily. Others dress more business-like. I think the key is what you’re comfortable wearing…generally people in these companies are more focused on getting stuff done than what you’re wearing. When your VP wears a t-shirt and shorts every day, you’ve pretty much got the gamut of options.
The article is a little old and out dated. Yes, I am currently employeed but afraid to jump. There’s a lot of temp agencies and employment job boards out there that are providing false leads. I am a Fl. native and haven’t found anything in over 1.5 years. The federal job unemployment numbers are completely false and inaccurate.
as an employer i am also very disappointed that potential candidates do not send thank you notes/emails/phones calls thanking the potential employer for the interview and restate that they are very interested in the postion.
I think when you look at the list you can also read between the lines when you read, “they are looking to the future”… doesn’t that mean they totally take older workers (really qualified ones) out of the mix because they think they will be short term and not long term?
Sad, that leaves a lot of qualified people out…
Personally I’m sick of seeing so many stories on the do’s and don’t for resume writng. Recruiters are being overly meticulous and just rediculous. I’ts like we’re being told we can’t just be ourselves on a resume anymore. We have to get some personality and use a professional resume writer. What nonsense. Recruiters and the above author is full of crap!!!
To Melanie:
If you need your candidates to be brown-nosers and kiss-assers than you’re not an employer worth working for. You’re too high on your saddle lady. It’s bad enough that applicants have to supply the ‘perfect resume’ to recruiters like you. And now you want a frigging thank you note?