Memo to new hires. A bit of advice to those starting new jobs.

Both of my lovely young ones will be starting jobs this summer (well one already has - see lovely hard hat photo below) so now is a good time to pass along a bit of advice to them and any other recent graduate doing the same...

INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM

TO: New Hire/College Graduate

FROM: Old Grizzled Vet

SUBJECT: How to do well at your first job and jumpstart your career

DATE: May 2021

As you prepare to take the first steps into the real world as a newly employed hire for the company of your dreams (hopefully), here are a few words of advice that should help you jumpstart your career. Know that any job you take will inevitably have its share of ups and downs, not all will be perfect, but if you follow some (or possibly even all) of these steps, you will help increase your chances that it will be a success. Without further ado, here goes:

• Go above and beyond what is asked for: Those first few months/years should be spent locked in on your job and what you can do to help those around you. Focus number one should be on taking care of business and completing those tasks that are required of you to the best of your abilities. A close second however should be to look around, see who might need or want some additional help, and ask if you can be of help. Nothing is too small to turn down, and who knows, a little acorn may eventually grow into a strong oak tree.
• Pay attention to details: You may have beaten out a number of other highly qualified people to land this position. That's great. But know that those people are still there and ready to take your job should it one day become available. The most successful companies don't rely on one individual to make it work (that's call key man risk in business parlance). Therefore don't rest on your laurels. What will set you apart is making sure that you minimize mistakes and one way of doing so is paying attention to details. Re-read instructions, memos, your emails, etc... A little investment of extra time up front can save a lot of grief later on.
• Try to learn as much as you can: This can take on multiple forms. There is on the job training of course, i.e., learning by doing. There are also formal training courses that can help you gain more in-depth, or even new, skills. Books, magazines, youtube are all great equalizers and can help you gain additional knowledge that may not come into play immediately but could help down the line. The ultimate example of this could be a return to graduate school, but know that there are many other (less expensive) options out there and can be very effective at helping to keep your knowledge sharp and up to date.
• Take a break once in a while: This obviously goes a bit against the first three points (isn't any good advice always a bit contradictory?), but nobody is a machine and able to go on forever. So every once in a while you need to unplug and recharge the batteries. That can be either through physical exercise or through some other form of R&R. Just make sure to return to the first 3 bullet-points sooner rather than later.

and finally...

• Network and leave on good terms: There is an old saying that goes, it's not what you know, but who you know that makes all of the difference. That might be a slight exaggeration, but overall there is quite a bit of truth to that statement. The more work you do for various people around your firm, the more networking you will inevitably end up doing. However there are other opportunities to do so, be it during the working day, or sometimes after hours. If you end up staying in one industry for a long period of time you will end up crossing paths with the same people over and over again. Therefore if you leave a full time job or an internship make sure to do so on good terms. Warren Buffett summed it up best here:

I hope everything goes well and best of luck in these endeavors and beyond!