How to Make your First Job a Success

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OFFICE ATTIRE

• DO err on the side of smart rather than casual, especially for your first day. It’s always better to look a little over-groomed than look like you’ve walked straight out of the gym
• Avoid any low-cut tops or belt-sized skirts. It may be the ‘in-look’ at the local nightclub but it’s not going to pull you any winners in the workplace
• Do get your footwear right. Although it may be tempting to slip on your new 5-inch heels as they match your trousers perfectly, you’ll end up regretting it come 5.30 pm when your ankles have caved it.
• Stick to tidy hair and sensible make-up but don’t feel you have to forgo cosmetics altogether. One of my colleagues once kindly pointed out that I may have taken the ‘sober’ make-up approach one step too far and could in fact do with a bit of mascara and blusher to make myself look vaguely human again- nice!
  

THE LITTLE THINGS

What to bring, what not to bring:
Should you stick that extra set of light bulbs in your bag just in case there’s a power cut and leave out the emergency post-it pack? Hopefully your company should supply you with everything you’ll need to get your job done and if not, will send out a list prior to your start date detailing any extra bits and pieces you may require. My tip being- you can’t go wrong with one too many pens and paper for random jotting down moments.

Passwords galore:
We’re not all blessed with a built-in Blackberry memory capability so you’ll be forgiven for forgetting which login details you need to get onto the email in the morning. Aha, you may think it’s the same as the logging-in details you use for your personal online agenda but no no no, that’s a completely different set of letters entirely. My most blonde moments arrive anytime I have to ring up our IT department.
Dumb Blonde:“Hi, yeah, I’ve locked myself out of my PC”.
IT Chap: “Right, when you logged onto your mainframe and typed in your Outlook password, which server were you in?”
DB: “Err, pardon, mainframe? Is that bit with the letters I push on or the bit I plonk the CDs in?”
IT Chap: Sound of muffled laughter. “I’ll be right down. Stay away from any plugs ok, infact, just back away from the monitor all together.”
DB: “Um, monitor?”
My advice? Write EVERYTHING down somewhere safe and keep it nearby at all time, to avoiding locking yourself out of your computer just as you’re asked to print off 50 copies of that very important agenda for the meeting that starts in 10 minute’s time. Gulp.

No-one got anywhere without asking:
My prime worry when I started my first job was being scared of asking questions. No matter how many people said to me “If you’re unsure of what to do, all you need to do is ask”, I was convinced I would be set upon with a searchlight and alarms would penetrate the building as the company fraud police uncovered me for admitting to not knowing what I was doing. Needless to say, I was wrong. There’s nothing worse than sitting in silence desperately trying to solve a problem by yourself as the seconds on the clock tick louder and louder. Everyone needs to learn somehow and you’re more likely to earn brownie points for having the guts to ask upfront how to go about a task you’re not 100% on rather than waste half the morning hoping everyone will forget you’re there. Not once have I ever encountered a frosty retort to me asking for help, even from my boss direct, and you never know, he may be coming to you one day when he can’t replace the paper in his printer (scarily more common than it sounds).

Ring ring a no-no:
It may be ok for the Vice-President of the company to pick up the phone to his wife asking for approval on the colour of the new china set in the middle of a board meeting; but it’s just not good practice to leave your mobile phone on during work time. If you’re awaiting an important call it’s best to turn your phone onto silent and then take the call away from your workmates. In more liberal companies it can be perfectly acceptable after a while to take personal calls at work, but it’s generally a non-spoken rule that mobile calls should be confined to lunch breaks instead.

Cup of Tea?:
I don’t drink tea or coffee so it’s generally acknowledged that I make the worst cups of both in my department (tea out of the machine and coffee with way too much milk) - don’t feel undermined by being asked to make the tea though. If you offer to make a round you can’t help but cheer people up and hopefully if they have any manners, they’ll return the favour.