How To Behave In Your First Job

It is the first day of your first job and there would be a million questions on your mind. How to dress up, how to behave, how to conduct yourself and most importantly how to make the most of your first job and lay the foundation of a great career with this job. All the years that you toiled hard, studied and prepared for a career will now find a realization in your first job. So, be ready to make sure that your job works for you and you leverage your experience in a way that it becomes the perfect launch pad for a rocking career ahead.

Every individual would have a different approach towards things in life. The same stands true for the first job also. Fresher jobs in different industries are laden with different types of responsibilities. Depending on what kind of a fresher job you are in, your behavior and approach has to be decided. However, there are a few things that generally remain common to all jobs for freshers. For instance, your first day, your anxiety and the setting of how things will be are just the same. So, a few tips can always help as you will at least have an idea of how to approach it.

Firstly, make sure you dress up appropriately for the first day. Irrespective of whether you know or not about the dress code, dress up in a formal attire for the first day. Since you are a fresher, do not overkill with the formal dressing. A Full-sleeved shirt with tie and pleated trousers will be good for boys while girls can wear a salwar-suit or formal trousers with a business shirt. Dressing up in formals will give you some confidence and also show to the employer that you are serious in your approach. Later on, you can always find out what the accepted dress code is and adhere to it. Many companies do not require its employees to dress up in formals everyday but you should not take that liberty on the very first day. Your first impression counts so make sure you make the right first impression on your first day of the first job.

When you reach the office, someone from the HR department will take care of your induction process and filling up of all the joining forms. This is done for all new joinees and since you are a fresher straight out of college, you would need guidance and help at every step. Don’t hesitate to ask for it. Instead of doing something wrong, just ask for guidance and everybody knows you are a fresher, so people will be more than willing to help. When you are seated at your desk and introduced with the team, make an extra effort to get to know the people in your department, what the job profile entails, read up about the company and its history. If there are other members in the same team, become close and friendly with them. Show your inquisitiveness by asking intelligent questions.

In the initial few days, just focus on absorbing as much as you can about the company and its work style. Don’t think that you will make a fool of yourself by asking too many questions. Also, do your own research by going through the corporate site of the company, reading up more on the values and goals of the company. This will help you set a focused approach and also let you align your goals with that of the company. Once your work begins, pro-actively ask for feedback from your managers. This will immensely help you improve your performance.

Make sure that you act in a professional manner from the first day itself. It is ok to be friendly and making friends at the workplace but ensure that this not come across as a non-serious approach towards work. Your first job is your window to the real world. It is in your hands how you shape your career based on this foundation.
It will be great if you can find a mentor at the workplace who gives you useful tips and guidance on the job. In some organizations, there are formal mentor programmes, otherwise you will yourself find one. Apart from these things, there are other general things like being nice to everyone, working extra hours, showing keenness to learn new things that will ensure a great start to your first job. Just keep these things in mind and be ready for a great career waiting for you after a successful first job.