Twelve Steps to First-year Job Success

Charlie Endicott

2007

Twelve Steps to First-Year Job Success

1. Adopt the right attitudes

* Don’t hang on to student attitudes and

behaviors too long.

* Understand and earn the rights,

responsibilities and credibility of your cohorts

2. Adjust your expectations

* If you work at keeping your expectations

realistic, you won’t be disappointed.

* Expect to be surprised. The odds are that

many things about your job won’t be what

you expect them to be.

3. Master breaking-in skills

* Learn the art of being new

* The more you understand about being a new employee the better off you’ll be in long run.

4. Manage the impressions you make

* The first impression you make is the last

impression you make.”

* Everything you do will be magnified, thus

build a good professional reputation.

* Want your co-workers to notice your

professional maturity.

5. Build effective relationships

* Pay attention to how people communicate

and work together.

* Find ways to “fit in”

* Remember, you can’t change the culture

until you are accepted into it.

6. Become a good follower

* Watch your colleagues, pay attention to

the things they spend their time on.

* Learn the norms and values of the

organization by watching how other

behave.

*remember that it takes skill to be a good

subordinate; you can’t become a good leader until you have learned to be a good follower

7. Understand your organization’s culture

* Pay attention to the ways things are done

around

* Understand what people expect of you,

particularly the accepted work ethic,

social norms, and the limits of behavior.

8. Develop organizational savvy

* Every organization has its rites of passage before you can become a full member of the team.

9. Understand your new-hire role

*Understand how big a role “being new”

plays in everything that happens.

*Co-workers understand the transition period, so don’t be frustrated

10. Develop work savvy

* Learn what your boss wants, needs and expects-and then do it.

*If you make your boss look good, you will

succeed.

11. Master the tasks of your job

* Remember that it takes skill to be a good

subordinate; you can’t become a good leader until you have learned to be a good follower

12. Acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities you need

* Be a good listener

* Make sure you understand what is required

* Learn from the people who have the experience