Entering the job market in your twenties is exhilarating, stressful and scary. Most of us will have multiple jobs in multiple industries before we turn 30 and we have really high career expectations for ourselves—we want to be successful, we want to do valuable work, we want to be challenged and we want to be happy.
With all those goals and changes comes confusion. As a liberal arts graduate, I learned so much about critical thinking, reading and writing, which have all helped me in the workplace. But what I didn’t learn was how to explicitly learn how to navigate professional work culture.
In my first couple of years in a professional setting, I have picked up a few skills that can make a difference over time. Obviously, every workplace is different, but there are some small changes you can make to keep you happy in your job and to make sure you are slowly but surely making your way toward your goals.
Ask Questions
I don’t necessarily agree with the old adage “There’s no such thing as a bad question.” There are some questions you can answer on your own with a bit of research or with careful listening and note taking. You don’t want to be that person who never figures anything out on her own. At the same time, though, don’t be afraid to ask quality questions of the people you work with. If your questions are targeted and of high quality, you will learn more than if you listened passively, and you’ll show that you take initiative over your own learning curve.
Read & Follow Experts
Some people say “Dress for the job you want.” That may be well and good, but I think better advice for most of us would be “Read for the job you want.” Reading is such an undervalued way to build your knowledge base and get ahead in your career. Books are my favorite resource. Ask your mentors or superiors at work for some recommendations, or Google booklists in your field. While books are best, the Internet has great resources, too. There are an incredible number of blogs and articles out there for all kinds of industries. At first, read for breadth. See what’s out there, and as you keep reading, you’ll start to figure out what advice is legitimate and what isn’t the best. Then, you can figure out which experts you want to follow religiously and which strategies are worth trying. If you make this a habit now, you’ll always have new information at the ready, and maybe you’ll even have a recommendation for your boss someday.
Make To-Do Lists
Find a system that works for you to keep track of all your high priority and long-term tasks. I like to write everything down for a couple reasons: I never forget what needs to be done and I find immense joy in crossing things off once they are completed. I use an action plan template and a daily planner to keep track of appointments and due dates, but different systems work for different people. Early in your career is the time to experiment, so ask around and observe others in your office. Ultimately, your goal is to establish a maintainable system that keeps you from missing deadlines or meetings.
Follow the Two Minute Rule
Going back to to-do lists, if you’re thinking about a task that will take you less than 2 minutes to complete, just do it. Whether that’s sending out a quick email, organizing your desk, scanning a file or checking your voicemail, there’s no excuse to push it off until later if you can finish it now. Plus, you’ll feel so great when you get to cross something off of your to-do list.
Watch & Learn From Everyone
Wherever you work, there are people who know more than you. Your direct boss is the most obvious resource. Pay a little more attention the next time she’s interacting with one of your coworkers or the next time he’s on a conference call. How does she regulate her voice? What kinds of questions does he ask? And don’t overlook people in different departments or new hires. That new guy in IT probably knows how to fix all kind of computer problems. Have him talk you through what he’s doing next time you have a computer glitch. Or the new girl in PR might know some ins and outs about when to post things on social media. Ask her to think out loud for a few minutes to pick up a new tip or two.
See Challenges As a Positive
Your work should be challenging, but obstacles can obviously cause stress. Instead of caving into workplace pressure, choose to see a challenge as a puzzle. Puzzles are fun and there’s usually more than one way to solve them (especially if they’re good). When you shift your frame of reference that way, you maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity, which makes you happier and more pleasant to work with.
Offer to Help*
If someone needs help, offer. Don’t wait to be asked if you have the time, energy or resources to help. If you have a good pulse on your office, you should have a basic idea of what other people are working on. And if you know the people you’re working with, you’ll know when they are stressed. A general offer of help can be beneficial, but it’s even better if you can be specific. Offer to make those copies, send out that email blast or proofread a proposal. The stressed out person will feel so happy that they got a little something taken off their plate, and they might return the favor or pass on some positive praise to people in high places.
*A caveat for this one: only offer to help if you actually have the time and ability to follow through. You do not want to make an empty promise even once, so make sure you’re aware of your own to-do list before offering assistance.
Create a Good Email Filing System
Most people get tons of work emails every day and getting lost in a sea of unsorted mail is a quick way to become overwhelmed or miss a deadline. I sort my inbox into 3 sections—unread, starred and all other. Any unread emails automatically filter to the very top of my inbox, so I see them until I respond or file. I star emails that contain information I’ll need to go back to again and again, and I delete emails that I no longer need. Whether you like multicolor flags, lots of folders, or a more basic inbox sorting system, figure out how to keep your emails organized so you can stay on top of correspondence.
Keep Your Perspective
The quote that got me through my first year in my job was, “It’s better to be at the bottom of a ladder you want to climb than at the top of one you don’t.” It’s so easy to fall into the comparison trap, whether with your friends on Facebook or with one of those “25 under 25 lists,” but that can quickly make you miserable. For most of us, we will not be the CEO or the principal or the leader of the team in our first 1-3 years on the job. If you are in an entry level position, you might be frustrated. But are you in an industry or at a company that makes you feel energized and excited? If the answer is yes, it’s worth it to keep working hard with your eyes always looking up. Making some of the small changes above and working hard consistently will get you up that ladder sooner than you think.
Feature Photo via Trouve