How To Have A Job
15 pieces of unsolicited advice
We recently spent some time with young adults – you know, the kind of people who can stay up all night, drink six beers, and eat three slices of pie without consequences. Youth is certainly wasted on the young. At some point, the conversation turned to interviews, first jobs, and new bosses, and we realized we actually had some insights!
Noodling on our somewhat unsolicited advice, we’ve summarized our thoughts as informed by our experience as both employers and employees.
When interviewing, prepare questions ahead of time. Do your research on the company. Check out their website, read news articles, and listen to any available podcasts. If you know who you’re meeting with, look them up so you can ask thoughtful, personal questions. You won’t win an interview with your questions, but you can definitely lose it.
After interviewing, send thank-yous. Minus points if everyone gets the exact same note. Bonus points for handwritten notes – provided they’re sent immediately.
Don’t take rejection personally. You have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. Maybe the company is doing poorly. Maybe the class is just full. Maybe you’re just not the right person for the job. Maybe the hiring manager slept poorly the night before. Ask for candid feedback and take it to heart. If you really want the job, work on your weaknesses and reapply. Everybody loves a comeback story.
Respond to emails within 24 hours. This is always the standard, including on the weekends. If you can’t, apologize and acknowledge your tardiness.
Pick a job based on the people, not the money. Life is too short to work with bad people.
Pick a job based on the experience, not the money. Money follows experience. If money is someting you care about, trust that it will come.
Once you have a job, be the first to show up and the last to leave. The easiest thing you can do as a new employee is to figure out what time the first person gets to the office. Then show up 15 minutes before that person. Stay until the last person leaves. It might feel like you’re just logging face time, but senior people are much more likely to have a casual conversation at the start or end of the day, without the pressure of back-to-back meetings. That’s when you form relationships, which is what business is all about. At the very least, even if you suck at your job, people will see that you are a hard worker. It’s hard to fire a hard worker.
Be quiet until you have an informed opinion. Then, share it. First, listen, learn, ask questions, and do the work. Then, force yourself to have an opinion. Share the opinion tactfully. That sort of thing gets noticed.
Don’t be cynical. It’s really easy to be a pessimist. It’s a lot harder to trust in the process. Challenge yourself to ask “what happens if this goes right”?
Don’t drink too much at company events. Even if it’s a drinking culture, don’t get drunk. Don’t be “that intern”.
Participate in the 401(k). Assuming there’s a match, it’s free money.
Be nice. When starting your career, it can be hard to understand that the world is small. You never know who you might run into down the road. Don’t gossip. Be nice to everybody, and we don’t mean just the bosses and your peers. We mean everybody, regardless of status or position.
Have the guts to talk to the boss. You might not realize this, but most people don’t talk to executives; they are too afraid. Don’t be a brown-noser; ask them genuine questions. Senior people love an interested junior employee.
Be useful. Have some self-reliance. Volunteer to help with problems. Don’t be a complainer. Have some agency and be part of the solution.
If you have to quit, do it gracefully. Thank the employer for the opportunity, even if you hated every day. Don’t make up a story about why you are leaving to avoid a hard conversation. Your employer is not dumb and will find out the truth. At that point, all goodwill will be gone.
There are clearly other lessons, but this is a start. Consider this an unofficial “career start” onboarding packet – minus the awkward icebreakers and mandatory HR video.
Have a great week,
Your Chenmark Team
