Start next job on the right foot
Q My first job after graduation this year was a disaster. I quit before I was fired. I’ve found a second job that starts in two weeks. Do you have any tips on making good this time? (My mom wants to know; smiley face.) — M.D.R.
A Would you believe career success starts with anything so simple as a positive, optimistic attitude and hard work?
It’s true. Here are a half-dozen riffs on that theme:
•Show up a bit early and don’t fly out the door at the end of the day. Achieving a hearty work record early on embosses your image as a person to be taken seriously.
• Stow your interactive smart phone and MP3 player at home, and cool it on personal e-mail at the office until you’ve been at the new job long enough to get your pulse on the company culture and its limits of tolerance.
• Be friendly toward the administrative support staff. Gatekeeper admins can seriously help or hinder your approval ratings during your first year. Don’t be too proud to make coffee or figure out why the printer isn’t working. When the support staff likes you, they’ll talk you up to their bosses.
• Exhibit enthusiasm when the company wants you to learn new technologies. Somebody has to be the first, and the boss may be very grateful that it’s not her.
• Learn a little patience. An employer may not reward A-quality performance as quickly as a professor might. When, after a few months, you fear you’re on a road to nowhere, volunteer to take on extra tasks and projects.
• Dress appropriately for your workplace. Look like most of the other people or a little better.
At the moment, the appetite for young graduates continues to be voracious, but who knows what’s ahead? Consider your last experience a wake-up call to amend your workplace commitment in ways that allow your next move to happen on your own timetable.
Q I am 45 and considering returning to college to get a degree in law. At my age, am I wasting my time or money? — S.L.
A The politically correct answer is: “Forget age; go for it.” The practical answer is: “Do plenty of research first to avoid becoming a better-educated unemployed person.”
No matter what professional field you’re considering that requires education investment, the process is essentially the same. As an experienced over-40 individual hoping to find the nexus of your authentic self and attractive work for which someone will pay you, use the same basic career-choice analysis that young people are offered.
But, inescapably, you must also factor in the fact that fewer years will be available to reach your goals, as well as the probability of encountering ageism.
Based on lots of letters from other readers who’ve experienced an uphill battle after an expensive education later in life, I urge you to do adequate informational interviewing. For example, when law school is on your radar, seek advice from any attorney you can reach through personal contacts, the local bar association and LinkedIn.com. Especially try to speak with lawyers who were over 50 at graduation; ask the law school alumni office for referrals to older grads.
E-mail career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at jlk@sunfeatures.com; use “Reader Question” for subject line. Or mail her at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007.