335. Expert Interview: Congratulations, you’ve landed your first job! Now what?
Kathleen Brady
Kathleen Brady is a certified career/life management coach, author and educator with 25-plus years of experience helping students and professionals identify and integrate their personal and professional goals. Kathleen inspires individuals to embrace their dreams and develop a comprehensive strategy to achieve career success and live happy, joyful lives. She is on the adjunct faculty and serves as Executive Director of Career Services at Georgian Court University while maintaining a private practice through CareerPlanners, LLC. Her latest book GET A JOB! 10 Steps to Career Success and her weekly blog, The Art of Success, provide tactical strategies as well as inspiration.
You’ve landed your first job! Now what?
“Each year at graduation, students are leaving one world, which they are incredibly familiar with, and they’re heading into a new world that’s already functioning. And so, the thing they need to begin to understand is, the rules and the behaviors that were completely acceptable in college may not be so acceptable in this new job. Little things, like, you know, you used to wake up in the morning and decide not to go to class that day. And you don’t go the class! Right? Even the way you dress, and the email protocols, all of those things – you’ve got to learn all these new behaviors when you come into the world of work.”
Why Is This Important?
“Even for those of us who are older and starting new jobs, there are new norms. You’ve got to be mindful of the norms in this organization that are new to you. And you don’t want to be that person who constantly says, ‘Well, at my last organization, this is how we did it.’ You’ve got to learn what the new norms are, if you want to fit in. You also have to know the difference between what the written policy is and what the actual practice is.”
What Are the Key Lessons Learned Here?
“You want to think in terms of starting off on the right foot, and making a good first impression. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. So you want to think about everything—all of your behaviors—before you walk in the door. Ask yourself, ‘How do I want to be perceived at this new place? What would I like these people to be saying about me behind my back?’ Then, make sure every action and interaction you have with everybody, from the guy who cleans the toilets all the way up to the CEO, reflects that behavior. Oftentimes people don’t think about those things.”
Connecting With Kathleen Brady
Website: careerplanners.net
Twitter: @KBCareerPlanner
Facebook: facebook.com/KBCareerplanners
