Make Your First Job Count for Success: A Shout Out to Millennials

Well, it is a big deal. Your first postgrad work experience and there’s so much going on inside your head. Accepting the offer letter is just the beginning. Whether you’ve had an internship experience before or not, your first job will definitely shape you in the most unique way possible. Obviously, the textbook didn’t teach you everything and there’s a tad more you need to glean and make yourself ready for the professional life to follow during the next couple of years. Owing to the fact that more than 40% of the unemployed workers are millennials, it’s clear that experience is one thing that lacks amongst this cohort.

It’s time that you get out of the frolic mindset and get serious towards making the most out of your first job. So, as you prepare for the new role, here are a few pointers that will make the drill easy and learning for you.

Spot Problems with an Active Spirit

Remember how you used to be all pepped up for those events during college and high school? Well, that might find some application over here as well. Having a naïve approach, a number of millennials often fail in their first jobs felling under confident while tackling problems. Shouldn’t there be a way out of the same?

The best way to avert such an issue is to face it. Since the beginning itself, if you can become highly obsessed about identifying issues and craft solutions readily, then there’s nothing more that you can take from the job arena. It can be anything, be it meticulously making corrections in your manager’s PowerPoint slides or keeping an eye on the competitor’s every move. After all, smart work is all that ‘Generation Y’ is known for!

Dig Deep Into the Organizational Culture and Find the ‘Power Nucleus’

Agreed that you’re not used to stringent norms and strict regulations, but things work a tad differently in the job market. You need to start by observing the behaviors and values that are highly respected in the organization. Ponder over things like, what does the company stand for? What is its mission statement?

This way you’ll easily know the kind of culture that buds in the company’s working environment. Also pay attention to details like the written and unwritten rules, the way your company is different from its competition.

In addition to this, it’s also required for you to observe the way all staff members interact inside as well as outside the office space. Who is the one to call shots and has more power according to his job role? Search for people who are always admired and looked up to. This might sound a wee bit off-track, but it does say a lot about how aptly and timely you socialize at workplace.

Being Pro-Feedback Helps

You might have attended all those classes during college, but it is almost impossible for you to have every skill honed the moment you enter the workforce. You are definite to miss some key ones and that is exactly why it is termed as the ‘learning phase’ of your professional life. Forget the time when you used to get frustrated over bad grades from a professor who didn’t favor you. It is practice that makes you a better employee every time there are targets hovering above your head. But, things seem to go wayward in the absence of any guidance, hence feedback.

What’s required for you is to ask for feedback and improve in the process. Ask your mentor and the seniors to point out all pitfalls specifically and be open to hearing any kind of advice. It makes you highly receptive and collaborative as a worker.

Attitude Decides The Altitude

One of the biggest shortcomings that millennials are associated with is expecting too much, too soon. First-time employees often have the wrong idea that they know much more than seasoned employees, who’ve spent years working in the company or industry. You need to know that there’s a dire need to earn your stripes.

Colleagues and managers are the ones who will help you to clinch accomplishments and justify higher number of responsibilities. But, the deal lies in the way you conduct yourself and maintain your attitude. Be it your boss or the support staff, watch yourself before sounding too condescending or ignorant simply.

Don’t Fret Over Failures

It’s all about taking the chance to try out new things and not being scared of falling down. The age itself calls for taking small risks and getting up every time you fall down.

Seriously, excelling in the professional arena is about how many times you fail and the number of tricks you learn not to. Utopian environments are hard to find at workplaces. All that’s required is to give a good shot with harder gut every time, you’ll definitely hit the bull’s eye!

Enough said, there’s so much you are to learn in the forthcoming phase. Keep your confidence high and learn as much as you can. Things have just begun, there’s a lot more to follow!