Your First Job? Avoid These 10 Mistakes

The first job of a person is extra special to him/ her because it not only is their first step into the world of experience but also the beginning of their independence. Given the tremendous importance of the ‘first job,’ there is a lot of pressure on the Indian youth to shine in their workplace. However, workplace load can have a detrimental effect on, both the physiological and psychological, well-being of a person, as well as impede their performance. So, it becomes exceedingly crucial for young joiners to take precautionary measures and avoid certain tricky areas.

1) Chasing After Cash:

An excellent pay package is a desirable thing because it guarantees material happiness, freedom and independence. Many employers try to rope candidates in with this bate. Money can certainly satiate us to an extent but it might not win in the long run. Having a long-term perspective and future plans for one’s career is the best path a person can chalk out for oneself. Doing similar types of jobs might put us into a particular category, getting out of which might be difficult. Acquiring the right set of skills in a job is of prime importance because diversity indicates the ability to handle varied situations and inculcate divergent thinking.

2) Not Keeping At It:

Employees are mostly never given tasks of utmost importance in the beginning because in the initial stages, they are too alien to the office atmosphere and require time to familiarize themselves with it. During this period, most employees are given routine work and everyday office tasks. This tends to take a toll on new joiners because they are used to handling noteworthy assignments in college but are crestfallen at the thought of performing regular, low-profile jobs. People should not give up hope at this stage because learning the basics of an office cannot be bypassed. All employees go through this, even the CEOs at the time of their joining. The mantra is to stick to the fight and not lose heart.

3. Being Hesitant In Asking For Help:

Despite one’s educational background, one does require the help of others at some point of time or the other. Asking for help is inevitable because new employees are not well versed with all the aspects of work. Getting stuck and making mistakes are, hence, unavoidable. Not approaching one’s peers and seniors in cases of confusion or mistakes is a major error on the part of an employee. Asking for help from experienced employees is not a matter of shame and should not be perceived so by new employees. Asking for help only projects trust in people and has got nothing to do with less intelligence.

4. Not Monitoring Your Updates And Posts:

In this tech savvy world, social networking sites are just a click away. New age phones have made it even easier to connect with our friends at any given time of the day. Hence, posts and tweets have become an integral part of our lives. Our daily lives exist online like an open book. Even if one does not have one’s boss in the friends list, it is still advisable to not post anything derogatory regarding office atmosphere or people on one’s profile. Posts might not be read by one’s boss but it might be read by people of other companies. So, it is always better to be cautious in this regard than repent later on.

5) Missing Out On Networking:

People are undoubtedly the true assets of an organization. So, it becomes even more important to socialize with one’s colleagues. One cannot refrain from interacting with one’s co-workers. Doing so will only isolate a person, which can have negative effects on one’s work. One can always remain competitive, yet maintain a healthy professional relationship with one’s peers. Networking, apart from being a craze these days, is a crucial factor in one’s life because this helps in making new friends and acquaintances. After all, socializing has been handed down to us by our ancestors.

6) Missing The Big Picture:

Sometimes people are so pre-occupied with their own work that they tend to forget the larger issue. Being near-sighted in work won’t help because all careers revolve around future goals. Doing things that are not a part of the job-description is a good way of show-casing one’s hidden talents and skills to one’s superiors. This also adds some zing to one’s CV, again indicating diversity. This, however, is a tricky area and one needs to exercise caution here as this can sometimes throw people off-track. It is also important to learn to say ‘no’ because too much work load has never done any person good.

7) Not Covering Your Back: 

Office Politics is another entity from which no employee can escape. The degree of it, however, differs from office to office. It exists at all levels and must be clearly understood by all employees. Owning up one’s mistakes, taking a slap on the wrist, correcting them and moving ahead is always the better option than being someone’s scapegoat. Having a backup for all sorts of data is always a good thing. An employee must also steer clear of water-cooler conversations and the grapevine because the truth is almost always distorted in these cases. So, it is better to never believe in hearsay.

8) Being Off-handed: 

Employees often tend to take their first job in a light manner because they usually don’t intend to stay for a long time. This, however, is not an excuse for poor quality of work being generated by employees. One must always plan for the future but one mustn’t forego one’s current duties and responsibilities. Knowing and improving upon one’s grey areas will only add to one’s strengths. One’s first job might not be all that great but it surely provides a platform to the person and gives that person his/ her first corporate exposure. The skills learnt only help in moulding an employee for future jobs.

9) Not Completing Assignments:

In a world where time is everything, not being able to complete a task on time can scar one’s morale. Making excuses for not completing one’s task on time never helps. There are genuine cases where completing a tough task requires time and an employee is not able finish it on time. One should always let his/ her superiors know about the troublesome task beforehand so that a proper protocol can be constituted to tackle such cases. Prioritizing and delegating tasks help in such cases but sometimes one has to meet a deadline by one means or the other. Putting in extra hours at work will surely be appreciated by superiors. After all, quality of work should never suffer because of time constraints.

10) Expecting Instantaneous Success:

New joiners must understand that success is a journey and not a destination. Hence, it takes time to reach there. There is also no short-cut to success and it is always better to take the longer route to it because the experiences gained along the way reap very sweet fruits. There is no instant recipe for success and the road to it is not pretty either. Being patient with oneself and also opportunities are the keys to success. Having realistic expectations also help in goal setting.  One must also remember that failure is a part of success and should not be seen as the end of the world.