The Career Encouragement Blog: Starting Your First Job

Apparently the sport coat at the second interview did the trick because Jason got the job. So now what? How to make the transition from college to corporate without falling apart? Why did I just say 'falling apart"? Because that's what some young people seem to do when they start their first corporate job. It's not easy to go from the relative flexibility and variety of a college student's schedule to the routine pace of an entry-level corporate position. Without a plan to handle the emotional components of this life transition it can be easy to spiral into negativity about "the rat race" pretty quickly.

Here are a few ideas to help Jason manage the transition:

1. Accept that it's going to be hard. As silly as this may sound, many young college grads assume it is going to be easy to transition from college to full-time work without a hitch. Expect that it will be a difficult challenge, and then as each challenge hits come up with a plan to deal with it, rather than panicking and running.

2. Make a plan to stay. Assuming you did your research as you were looking for a job, and you selected the opportunity that seemed like the best match for your skills and interests, don't spend a lot of time second guessing your decision to accept the job. Trust that you made the best possible decision you could at the time, given the circumstances you were in, and plan to stay for awhile and give the job a chance. I always recommend people make a committment to throw their energies into succeeding at their job and not even looking at other options for at least 6 months. This way they can really experience the work and the company and develop a valid base of knowledge rather than casting about for greener pastures based on half-truths and partial information.

3. Have a plan to develop work relationships. One of the hardest things for college graduates entering the workforce is that they go from a relatively homogeneous group of daily peers (in terms of age, life stage, and goals) to a very diverse group of daily peers. If you are the only young person at your company it can feel lonely at times. It can be tempting to find other people who seem most like you and hang out solely with them. The trouble with this strategy is that the purpose of work is to do good work, not to hang out. So if you want to do well at work, you have to learn to develop relationships with the people who can help you do good work. This means meeting other department managers (your boss' peers) as well as people who do what you do (your own peers) and everyone in between. You can also put effort into developing work relationships with people at client companies - if you have a good boss s/he should have some good ideas for you on how to do this. And, of course, you want to be sure to maintain weekly lunches with any of your college buddies who work nearby to share funny stories and good ideas. That support will be invaluable to you as you all work to grow your careers.

4. Make a plan to move up. Along with making a plan to stay, it can be very emotionally stabilizing to have a plan to move up. It seems common for Gen Y'rs to have held 5 jobs in the first three years after graduating. And there are a lot of career blogs that will tell you how to spin your rapid movement into a great story about how you moved up and grew in your career each time. And that may work for you. But after sitting through countless debrief sessions with hiring managers, believe me when I say that the young person whose resume shows that they were able to stay in one place long enough to be recognized and promoted will always have an edge on the candidate who had to move around to be "promoted." Why? Because work is a team sport not a solo endeavor. If your contributions are such that you are given extra responsibilities (and presumably more compensation) within your current job it shows that you are able to earn the respect and support of those around you. Hiring managers like to see that in a candidate. So in addition to committing to staying for at least 6 months before you consider other options (as mentioned above) I recommend whenever possible that new employees committ to staying until they can earn a promotion. The sheer effort you will put out to learn enough about your company - the business side and the politic side - in order to earn a promotion will be invaluable education as well as a huge confidence booster for you.

5. Have a plan to leave on good terms. If you find that a particular job is just not a fit for you, don't just bail in a panic like Tina did. Tina worked at one of my client companies. We hired her as a Marketing Manager after she graduated from her MBA program. One day her boss found a note on his chair. "This job doesn't feel like a right fit for me and I want to explore some other opportunities. I am taking my two weeks vacation so my last day as an employee here will be Friday [two weeks from today]. Thank you and good luck! Tina." In Tina's desk drawer we found nearly $700,000 of unprocessed client orders. Yikes! One month later she called to see if she could get a reference letter since she had "given two weeks notice and left on good terms." I did her a favor - instead of ignoring her voice mail, I called her back and very gently explained to her in the most encouraging way possible that she had not left on good terms. She called her boss to apologize, but it was too late to get a reference. I heard from her again nearly 9 months later and she was still unemployed. The moral of the story? Have a plan to leave on good terms. If you find you are unhappy, talk to your boss about other opportunities that could be available and ask for support in moving towards them. If you find that your company just doesn't offer the right opportunities for you, don't blame the company - not every work place can meet every individual need. Instead be open with your boss about what you are looking to do and see if you can work out a win-win. Maybe you could go to part-time and start another job or go back to school part-time. The key is to always treat people fairly and professionally so that you build relationships and references along the way instead of burning bridges.

For more great information on how to start a new job, check out Ask-a-Manager's column on 9 Ways to Start Your New Job Right. Good stuff!

Comments

I also love that Tina thought she could just "announce" that she'd be taking two weeks of vacation, starting right now. Jeez.

Posted by: Ask a Manager | July 03, 2008 at 02:52 PM

Peggy, what a great post. Am immediately forwarding to my son, who starts a summer internship on Monday, and who (God willing) will find and start his first "real" job after finishing college this coming spring. Thanks!

Posted by: Ann Bares | July 03, 2008 at 05:55 PM

Peggy - this is just wonderful!
Anybody - young or old - should focus on building relationships at work...it's funny how often that they either overlook doing this or just don't feel the need.
And as we all know - it's not so much what we know than who we know ...

Posted by: Jackie Cameron | July 05, 2008 at 02:43 PM

Peggy,

You can feel free to remove this comment, I was just wondering if you would mind adding my blog to your "Links to Great Sites" blogroll? Love your work and the encouragement! Thanks - Aaron

Posted by: Aaron @ Effortless HR Blog | July 06, 2008 at 01:24 PM

As a newly employed person, number 2 really hits home with me. I was finally able to sit down with my boss and team and get an overview of what tasks we do by each month/season. It definitely takes time to learn a new job. Several tasks truly are seasonal. Thanks for the great advice!

Posted by: MMG | July 09, 2008 at 09:37 PM

I think that the best advice is accepting the fact that it's going to be hard. If you are not used to work, it can be difficult to manage receiving orders from your authorities!

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