Tips for young professionals

Here’s a question that came my way about recent grads’ first days on a first job.

“What are some common mistakes that you see young professionals make when they are new on the job? Any tips on how they can navigate this crucial time period more easily?”

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen is assuming that any system on which you rely will work the way it’s supposed to. Check and double check everything before you submit it. Your new organization’s system was programmed by people, and people make mistakes. Just because the data came from the organization’s system doesn’t mean it’s correct, or more importantly, what the person requesting the information wants. Be clear when given an assignment.

A second mistake is leaving things to the last second. Things go wrong, system availability gets limited, you get called into a meeting, or the work simply takes longer than you expected. Pulling an “all-nighter” is likely no longer an option. Deadlines at work are very important and missing them is a way to get a blemish on your reputation that will be very hard to erase. Give yourself a deadline two days ahead of the project deadline. In addition, if completing your work is dependent on someone else doing their work first, keep in close contact with that person to ensure that they will get you what you need in time for you to do your part of the project.

Finally, remember Ben Franklin’s advice. “We are given two ears and one mouth and should endeavor to use them in proportion.” No one ever “listened” their way out of a job but many have talked their way out.

What did you learn in your first days on the job? If you have any good “lessons learned” please share them in the comments for all to see.

Only the best,
Ron