10 Things to Get You Started at Your New Job or Internship

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If you’ve landed a new job or internship there are a few things you need to know to start your job on the right foot.  You want to come off as professional as possible and even if you’ve never worked a “real job” before, you want to make it seem like you have.  This way, your management won’t regret hiring you on day two mumbling the words, “But they were so great in the interview…”

1. Answering the phone: Your work phone and your personal phone are two very different monsters.  “What’s up?” and “Hey” are not the verbal welcome your office will want to convey.  If you haven’t been directed on how to answer the company phone then the safest answer for a ringing telephone would be stating the company name and then your name.  For Example..[ringing telephone] “Campus Confidant, this is Vanesa.”

2. Outgoing message setup: You will want to make sure that all of your outgoing message responses are setup.  Make sure your voicemail and your email signature now have all of your information and not the person who held the position before you.

3. Signing emails: Many companies are different on how they write emails.  In general always make sure you have a signature to your messages.  ALWAYS sign off with a “Sincerely”, “Best”, or “Warm Regards”.  Since you are an entry level employee it sometimes can come off as rude or arrogant not to have a signature line.

4. Email signature: Make sure that after you sign off your email that you have an email signature.  That signature should include your name and contact information for work.  DO NOT put your personal contact information or social networking sites such as your Twitter or AIM handle, especially if it is not work related and you have some crazy name like “Sweetcheeks143″.

5. Writing professional emails: Yes this is the electronic age but in the business world you can come off flaky and immature if you treat your emails as a Facebook comment.  Write complete sentences, and well organized thoughts.  Do not overload your email with LOLs and emoticons.  This is business, not an RSVP to an Evite.  Make sure that you are writing in a manner that you can be taken seriously.

6. Attire: I’m surprised I even have to write this but people just do not get it…especially our demographic of young women.  At the office, cleavage is distracting, short skirts are distracting, Gwen Stefani acrylic nails are distracting, sloppiness is distracting, stripper shoes are distracting, and peek-a-boo underwear is distracting.  If there is any place in the world that you want people to take you seriously and respect you it is at your job!  You want a career right?  (If not, you’re on the wrong blog.  You can head to that Investment Banker’s Girlfriends Anonymous site.)  Even if your peers joke around with you for your outfits, you should always dress for the position you want not the position that you are.  If you want the corner office part of it is making the hire-ups believe you belong there.  While the girl flashing her leopard bra and slit up her ass may get attention she certainly is not getting promoted.  Save the sexy getups for the clubs where you can actually do something about it and not get in a lawsuit.

7. Analyze the environment. If your office is quiet, don’t be a loudmouth.  If everyone on your team is staying till 6pm, don’t leave at 5 pm.  Make sure that you survey the scene and are flexible enough to ease into the culture.

8. Diligence, Diligence, Diligence. One of the very first times I had to “manage” someone was during an internship in college.  The other intern I managed always had 300 questions, only completed 50% of her projects, and then would come to me and tell me how she couldn’t finish her work.  It’s not that the other intern didn’t have as much knowledge as me or that I had easier projects, it was that she wasn’t diligent.  When she got to an issue she didn’t know the answer she would just ask me.  Before asking me she should have searched through previous emails, used Google, or went through her notes from our meetings to see if she could find the answer on her own first.  If she would have taken 5 extra minutes to try and get as many details as possible on her own she would have saved us both more time and made herself more of an asset than a liability. In the end, I got hired full time, and she was back to being unemployed.

9. Show up. I mean this in so many ways.  If you are going to take a job then show up for it.  Be on time, be prepared, turn in your work, spell check, go through your work with a fine tooth comb before submitting, wait to take days off or a vacation until you’ve really put in your time with the company, engage 100% of your mind and body to your job when you are there. Show your commitment, show that you can be trusted, SHOW UP! You will without a doubt make mistakes but if you are constantly trying to put your best foot forward those mistakes will serve as lessons and not points toward firing someone who always half-asses everything anyways.

10. Check your attitude. Your job is not an episode of “The Hills”.  Put your big girl panties on and act like one.  I say this over and over, but you need to be the person that people will want to deal with first thing in the morning at 9 am, even before they’ve gotten a latte.  On the other hand, don’t be a kiss ass.  No one likes a kiss ass and if you start building your career on this practice at the beginning you’ll have nothing left of yourself by the time you’re 30.

xoxo, Vanesa