Congratulations! You got the job! Your networking was interesting, but getting old, when you got that interview you were excited about. You interviewed well, got a great offer, and are ready to start.
Now what?
Truth is, this is just the beginning. You still need to learn your real job, make a good impression, not get laid off, get promoted, and figure out what you’ll move on to. And the "first 100 days" on the new job are when you’ll lay the foundation for everything that comes after. Here are some tips to get a good start.
Be yourself, but be your best self. They hired you because they liked you and valued your skills-be yourself. But don’t "let it all hang out." Forget about New Years-this is when you want to make those resolutions to be your best self possible.
- Be polite: Please and Thank You never go out of style.
- Dress well: Save the T-shirts and Tevas for later. Blue jeans are fine most days, but try the khaki pants and leather shoes look at least 2 or 3 days a week.
- Watch your mouth: Mine always gets me in trouble. Your opinions are valued, but try to keep it positive. Learn when you can swear and when you shouldn’t before you do.
- Don’t spend too much time on the web. Everybody spends some time doing personal things online, but it looks really bad to do it too much. If you’re going to surf, keep it work-oriented.
Meet people. Your co-workers are your best resource, so you should quickly meet as many of them as possible.
- Introduce yourself often: In the break room, say "Hi, I’m new here. My name is ___. Who are you? What group are you in?"
- Eat in the cafeteria: Great chance to meet people. Every day you can meet new people, and they can tell you all about their projects. Plus, you start picking up on the gossip this way.
Always be learning. It didn’t end when you graduated.
- Don’t be idle…learn something. You probably will have time on your hands once in a while; try to use it creatively. Read the manuals for your equipment. Learn a new programming language. Study your competitors. Talk to you co-workers about your company’s products. Read a patent. Browse the literature.
- Study the technology. This is really the same advice as "learn something," but it’s important enough to repeat. Become an expert on your company’s technology. Become an expert on your competitors’ technology.
Find your true role. You may not be handed a clearly defined job-that’s often up to you to create. You should become a proactive self-starter.
- Do your assigned job. Make sure you do the job your boss asks you to do. This must come first. However, my experience has been many or most new hires are thrown into ambiguous work duties.
- Volunteer for assignments. In meetings, task ideas will always come up. Don’t be afraid to volunteer (assuming your boss agrees).
- Ask for work. If you are under-worked, tell your boss. She’ll be more than happy to pile it on.
- Be available, but not too available. Keep regular, slightly long hours, and don’t take vacations in your first few months. However, try to avoid working 100 hour weeks either, as this will set an expectation that you may not want to keep.
Generate Intellectual Property. Patents are the bread-and-butter of technology industries.
- Meet your company’s legal staff, and learn about how they want you to capture your inventions. Usually they will want you to file Invention Disclosures internally whenever you come up with something novel.
- Get and use your lab notebook. Companies are usually very strict about issuing bound lab notebooks-its their record of your work. I use mine as scratch paper, and try to never use the "paper towel in the lab" recordkeeping method.
Keep networking. Just because you have a job doesn’t mean you can stop talking to people.
- Keep up and extend your casual network. Your company co-workers, when they quit and go elsewhere, will become some of your most valuable contacts.
- Now that you are employed, your network will become useful for establishing business contacts beyond job-seeking. Technology surveying, voice-of-customer research, business collaborations, and job candidates for you to hire are just a few of the possible fruits of your continuing network.
- If you like your job, back off on looking for a new one. You can’t simultaneously look for a new job and perform well in your current job.
Good luck in your new job. You deserve it. Now go do novel work.
