5 Tips That Will Put You Ahead of Your Peers in Your First Job
As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, your first job will require a completely different skillset from the one you need in college.
For some of you, that will come as a pleasant surprise because you’ve never been one for pleasing crusty professors in tweed jackets. But if you’re a student like I was — obsessed with grades — you’ll realize that graduating means starting from scratch. After you walk across that (virtual) podium, your top-notch grades will be good for nothing beyond the grit you’ve hopefully acquired pursuing them.
I’ve now been working for 10 years. I’ve worked in retail, software, and financial services. I’ve been an individual contributor, and I’ve also managed teams of 5, 12, 50, and 160 people.
In each of these roles, I’ve gotten the chance to learn more about what it takes to succeed in the workplace. These are the five tips I wish I knew when I began my first job after college those 10 years ago.
1. Find a way to add value from day one
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
When you walk through the doors of any job on your first day, you’ll feel a palpable sensation that you have no fucking clue what you’re doing. The better the job you land starting out, the more you’ll experience this feeling.
You’ll realize that you don’t know the protocol for when and how to speak up in meetings. Your coworkers will joke about the things you don’t know. And you’ll inevitably run into problems that require you to ask for help WAY more times than you’re comfortable with.
But despite all of these consequences of being the newbie, you’ll find that you have one superpower that no one else has: You have fresh eyes to see things in a new way.
After any employee has worked in a job for three or four months, they stop noticing the little things. The two hours of time they spend every month manually filling out a spreadsheet that could be automated. The unnecessary extra steps they take to run a sales proposal. The weekly meetings that could instead be handled over email. They’ve gotten used to this stuff, and they don’t notice the ridiculousness of their normal processes.
You’re going to notice a million little things that could be improved. Most new hires would keep their mouths shut because they’re scared to speak out of turn, but if you want to succeed, you need to speak up.
Find your unique way to contribute to the team from the start. Add value from day one.
2. Get in over your head
“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” - T. S. Eliot
Five years ago, my boss Scott told me something I’ll never forget. He was talking about how to move up the ranks of the company, and he said the best way to succeed was to solve the gnarliest problems: “If you solve tough problems, you’ll inevitably be given more responsibility and move into a higher position. And you know what you’ll be rewarded with in that next position? Even tougher problems to solve.”
I realized that in college, I had taken the safe route. I often chose easier classes because I knew I could get an A. I didn’t want to take the courses that could tarnish my precious GPA.
Scott helped me understand that the best way to succeed in my career was to do the opposite of what I had done in college. I needed to run toward the fire and take on the biggest challenges. And if I could handle those, the company would notice.
Sure enough, they did. I started running toward the biggest fires, got my butt kicked multiple times, learned a ton, and became known as someone who could solve tough challenges. The company rewarded me by promoting me twice in one year and doubling my pay. (Oh yeah, and giving me even tougher problems to solve.)
3. Strive to be good at everything and great at one or two things
“When you decide to become an expert in your field, any number of opportunities to learn will present themselves.” -Ron Price and Randy Lisk
Succeeding in a career is like studying for a liberal arts degree. You’ll need to have a cursory understanding of many topics, and you’ll need to pick one or two majors.
In most knowledge economy jobs, there are far too many systems and processes for anyone to become an expert at everything. So employees develop specialized knowledge in a couple of key areas, and they become known for their aptitude in those areas.
Some of my closest friends have been excellent with technical skills. They could write SQL queries, Python scripts, Excel macros, and software code. I realized that it would take a lot of work for me to become excellent at those things, but I could get by with learning a few of the basics in programs like SQL and Excel. My passing knowledge of those areas was good enough to keep me employed and productive.
But even though my technical skills weren’t great, I realized that I was already recognized as a skilled communicator. People came to me for help writing emails to difficult clients, simplifying complex ideas, and sharing company-wide messages. So I embraced communication as my area of expertise. To this day, people still come to me for help with crafting messages, and I go to them for help with intense technical problems.
You can’t be great at everything. However, you can and should pick one or two skills that truly interest you — topics that you could eventually know better than anyone else at the company.
4. Ask for what you want
“At the end of the day we are accountable to ourselves — our success is a result of what we do.” -Catherine Pulsifer
After four months in my last job, I realized that I wasn’t passionate about my current role on the finance team. I instead wanted to run training for our company.
Earlier in my career, I would have assumed that just needed to pay my dues and keep trucking in my current role until another position was posted at the company. But this time I tried a new approach. I partnered with a few other employees to launch a company training program and passed out surveys after the trainings to get feedback.
The training feedback was compelling: Employees loved the training and wanted more. So I wrote a job description for the role I wanted to have, drafted a document with the metrics from our initial trainings, and pitched to several of the higher-ups that we needed a Head of Learning & Development. (And I knew the perfect person for the role!)
The company leaders were much more accommodating than I expected. They told me they loved the idea and asked me to run a few more trainings to prove the program was sustainable. They also asked for my 30/60/90-day plan for what I would do in this new role.
Two months later, I became the company’s Head of Learning & Development — a position I never would have had if I had just paid my dues and kept my head down.
Once you realize what you want, ask for it. Your employer may have never considered the idea, and they may be open to you taking on more responsibility. Whether that means creating your own role, asking for more pay, or moving into a management position, exhibit the courage and spunk to ask for what you want.
5. Become a lifelong learner
“A degree on a wall means you’re educated as much as shoes on your feet meaning you’re walking. It’s a start, but hardly sufficient.” -Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
It’s no coincidence that nearly every successful person in the world swears by their reading habit (Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, the list goes on.). Reading is rocket-fuel for your career.
Since graduating college, I’ve read ten times more books than I was ever assigned in classes. Why? Because it’s given me proven results. I’ve used ideas from books to answer interview questions, give better feedback to my boss and peers, run efficient meetings with senior executives, and communicate better with customers.
Although I’m clearly biased toward reading, there are a zillion other ways to continue learning in your career. Watch TED talks and MasterClasses. Seek out a mentor. Take notes at every meeting. Ask others for feedback on how to improve. Enroll in community courses from your local college. Form a mastermind group with a few friends.
You will never hit a place where it’s okay to stop learning. Always be a student. If you are serious about your career, you must begin to view personal development as a core tenet of your daily work.
