Full of energy and enthusiasm , the graduates join the office after they get a job. There are some things which you need to be aware of if you are a fresher in this software industry. Based on my experience and the mistakes I made during the starting years, below are the 14 points which will help you to sail through easily to your success destiny. Especially the last three !!
1. You are being observed!
This is the first thing which you need to keep in mind, is that you are being observed!! Even if you think that nobody is monitoring what you are doing , you might not know if someone has a eye on you. Freshers need to beware that they are no more in the graduation school but it is an office where they are getting paid for the work they do. Just keep in mind that you are being observed and proceed with your work sincerely.
2. Utilise free time for skill enhancement
When you just start your career, you may have a lot of bandwidth due to less work. It is good to utilise this time for enhancing your skills and learning. You need to remember that you may not get this free time again in your career, once you get busy with more work as you grow. I have seen people regret after 3 to 4 years when they think they should have learnt something when they had time.
3. Be on time!
Be on time not only in the office but also in every meeting! It creates a very bad impression if you are frequently late for the meetings and it appears that you have a casual attitude, especially at the start of the career. In case you really have an emergency , do not forget to notify the people with whom the meeting is scheduled. It shows your professional behaviour and will help you in the long run for your career.
4. Hold the door for others
If you are walking with someone in the office space and you both need to pass through a door, it is good if you open the door and hold it and let the other person pass through. It will surely create a good impression about you. No matter who is the person and what is his /her designation, whether you know him/her or not, it is good to show respect to all the people. This act won’t let your respect down but will in fact increase it ! Especially when you are a fresher, when you follow this you will be looked upon as a newbie with good etiquette.
5. Don’t try to impress too much
Usually I have observed that the freshers have a tendency to impress the seniors too much. But you need to be cautious here. Perhaps , the other person to whom you are trying to impress is trying to exploit you by making you work more. I have seen cases where the freshers are manipulated into thinking that they are not doing enough although they are, and this pressurises them to work even more in order to impress their leads. But please analyse if your extra efforts will really be counted and if it is really necessary and urgent or is it just a false alert to exploit you. Also, if it is not possible for you, be assertive and let them know. Also you need to take into account that your seniors should not see you as a threat to their Job, else you might soon become a victim of their politics.
6. Focus on learning new things and gaining experience
As a fresher, you need to remember one thing that this is the best phase to learn new things and gain experience. The earlier you learn, the better it will be for you. I have seen many freshers have a tendency to have a relaxed office life and to avoid work. But this attitude might be hazardous for your career. Initially you might feel nice in the comfort zone, but you won’t be able to learn quickly with this attitude. Consider an example of a Bird who has just took off from the ground. Initially , he has to struggle more in order to achieve the height, but once it gets there it doesn’t have to work very hard for maintaining that height. Always remember this example and try to learn as much as you can.
7. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes
I have seen some freshers who don’t take any initiative because they fear that they might commit some mistakes and it will hamper their impression. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes at-least at the start of your career where you are amongst the least costly employees. This is the best time to make mistakes! Yes, you read it well! This is the best time for learning and gaining experience. With every mistake , you will grow more. There is a saying that if you make mistakes , it means that you are working. But don’t do them deliberately to prove it 🙂 . But remember one thing that mistakes done at the early stage of a career are less costly that those made at the later stages.
8. Admit your mistakes
I have seen people very reluctant in admitting their mistakes, thinking that it will be bad for their career. But please remember that accepting mistakes on time is way better than getting caught by someone else later. When you confess about a mistake, you unknowingly increase the trust levels people have on you. This will in turn help you when someone puts false allegations on you and you will be able to defend yourself in a better way as the people will have more trust on you.
9. Be assertive!
When you speak, people should feel that you are confident about what your are speaking! Avoid using filler words (“aaaaa” , “mmmmm” ) and speak to the point. This will help you gain the people’s trust easily and will help you in the long run. Also pay attention to your body language. Don’t be shy to speak!
10. Don’t tolerate bullying
Freshers need to understand that most of the times, the boss is also an employee of the organisation and not its owner. If a senior is trying to bully you (it also includes mental torture) please speak up. First you can tell that person that you are not comfortable with his/her behaviour and ask the reason for it. Most of the times, the one who is bullying you will stop it looking at your bravery to speak up, as most of the people who try to harass someone is just because they think that particular person is a soft target. In case you don’t get any appropriate response, do not hesitate to raise your concern to the other persons in the organisation. Continuing to suffer should be the last resort on you list.
11. Be patient
Rome was not built in a day and so will be your career. When we start our career we come across hearing salaries of various colleagues and think of getting a raise quickly either by switching the organisation, or asking a raise in the same organisation. As per my experience, for few initial years , money should not be you primary aim, but learning and getting experience. Once you start acquiring knowledge and experience, money will follow you! Also it is recommended to spend at least 2 to 3 years in your first company unless there is really a need to switch.
12. Don’t bluff!
First impression is the Lasting impression! At the start of the career, don’t damage your reputation by bluffing. If you get caught bluffing once, all what you say will be questionable, and people might not trust it. Let me tell you one experience. A tester was supposed to validate his test cases by visiting the link of an application provided by the developers. He had some other personal work to do and hence he replied saying that the tests are in progress, in order to show that the work has been started already, but in reality, it wasn’t. 3 hours later , the developers sent a correction mail saying that the URL provided was wrong, was not working, and they provided the new URL. Note that the manager was in copy of that mail. The situation was like, the tester had already said that the tests are in progress and 3 hours later he was informed that the URL was wrong and lead to “The site can’t be reached”. Imagine the embarrassment which he may have faced due to bluffing. So, even in small things we need to be careful and refrain ourselves from bluffing.
13. Read your emails thoroughly
Not reading the emails thoroughly is a mistake made by many freshers. The main reason of this is that freshers are not used to such things during graduation. It is good to make a habit to read all your mails without skipping any content. It will not only give you the updates but will also avoid any surprises later. Also, as you grow, the amount of mails you will receive will keep on increasing. So, the sooner you inculcate this habit, the better it will be for you in future.
14. Start Saving money right from the start
One of the biggest mistakes made by the corporate people is Not starting to save early. When people start earning, they tend to go on a shopping spree each month after the payday and in the end of the month end up saving little or end up on Credit! Many financial advisors recommend that we should not save from what is left after spending, but we should spend from what remains after saving. They also recommend to save minimum 20 to 30 % each month in order to live without fear in the corporate. After all, a person having an year of salary as a saving in his bank account will be less worried than a person who is totally dependent on the pay day!
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