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No matter what you do in the future, your first job can be a springboard into your career. Even if your first job has nothing at all to do with your later career choices, it can help to shape your work life for years to come. Here are five qualities you should bring to your first job, and five rewards that you should be able to expect.
What you should bring to the table for your first job
An honest day’s work
You are, for the first time, being paid to do a job. Whatever you are doing, it is important to someone; that’s why they’re paying you. So, you’ll want to respect that.
- Arrive at work on time
- Don’t leave early
- Take the time allotted for lunch and breaks. Don’t sneak out early or come back late
- Don’t play on your phone or make personal phone calls; your friends and family should respect you enough to understand that you’re at work. Unless it’s a true emergency (and most things aren’t), speak with them after work.
An amazing attitude
- Do not ever utter the words, “That’s not my job.” Every job description includes “other duties as assigned” or something similar. It is your job.
- Contribute to creating a positive environment in the office. Be pleasant, positive, and don’t hang out with the people who spend their day gossiping and spreading negative energy
Willingness to learn
Offer to learn something new. If someone calls out who was supposed to be operating the cash register, or helping a person in a wheelchair get into the shower, or even going out for coffee, offer to step in. You never know what you might learn, or love, or be great at.
If your boss asks if you want to learn to [anything at all], say yes, or course! You might find things you’re great at that never even occurred to you. Or you might find that you don’t really like something you thought would be a good match. This is all good information for you as you shape your career.
And, it will make you stand out in your current job.
Willingness to stay away from negativity
Like anywhere else, there are negative people in every workplace.
Negative people:
- gossip instead of thinking for themselves
- complain instead of thinking of solutions
- bring down the morale of the workplace
- will lead you in the wrong direction if you let them
- are not going to go very far in their careers unless they make some changes
So why would you want to be part of whatever the negative people are doing? These aren’t your friends. Don’t engage with them. Be courteous and nothing more.
Instead, be part of the group who treat others with respect, focus on doing a good job, and make people feel comfortable at work.
Find out here is you have a negative attitude at work.
Attention to detail
- Slipshod is not the right way to do any job
- That memo from your boss applies to you – pay attention and follow what it says
- Read your email carefully before replying. Be sure you understand the question before responding. You don’t want to be the person who causes more confusion. There’s already plenty of confusion in the world of work email. Check out Email Etiquette at Work for more on this.
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What you should get from your first job (besides a paycheck)
Understanding of what you might want or not want to do for a career
Your first job may or may not lead you to the career that you want. Learning what you don’t like is as important as finding out what you do like. Take the opportunity to think about:
- The size of the organization. There are great things and not great things about working for a huge company, a small one, or something in between. Wherever you are in your first job, pay attention so you can figure out what’s important to you
- If you work in an office environment where people come to work at 9:00, leave at 5:00 and are off on the weekend and holidays, does that suit you?
If you’re in a more round the clock situation like a residential program or a creative company, where people work long or unusual hours and the day isn’t always predictable, does that suit you? If you’re in one, do you dream about the other? There are no wrong answers, it’s just something to think about.
- Is it important to you to have a job that is mission driven, or is making a lot of money your more important motive? Again, there are no wrong answers. Any job done with integrity is something to be proud of. It’s just something else to think about when deciding what you want to do for a living.
New skills
No matter the job, you should come away with a skill that you couldn’t do before. Whether it’s operating a particular machine, a software program, relating to people with disabilities, or anything else. Whatever it is, it’s another skill to include on your resume and another step toward figuring out what you want for your career
References
It doesn’t matter if you like your first job or not. You will probably need a reference from your first job in order to get your second job. And so on and so on…
This means you always want to be in good standing at work. Whether you like the job of not, do it with integrity. Then, when the next opportunity comes along, be it within the same company or someplace else, you’ll get a good review from your current employer.
It is true that many employers will no longer give references – will just confirm dates of employment, position, maybe salary. But, if you’ve really been a star, your supervisor might tell you to give out their cell phone number so they can give you a reference themselves.
Competence
No matter what the job, you’re getting paid to do something that someone else thinks is important. You keep doing it and you keep getting better at it. That’s developing competence. And once you develop competence in one skill, it’s easier to keep going.
But it’s not just those hard skills that you’re getting good at. It’s customer service, getting along with colleagues, time management, handling emotions at work, and so much more. When you’re able to do all that, you’ve developed competence that will continue to grow throughout your career.
Pride
It feels good to get paid to do a job. And it should. You’re beginning to make your own money, pay your own bills, and you’re off to a great start.
Always take pride in your work. Do the best you can in good faith, and you can always be proud, no matter what the actual job is.
When you take pride in your work, it shows. And that is how you will continue to advance in whatever career you choose.
