Advice You Won’t Hear at Commencement

At graduation time and scores of commencement speakers will be giving out advice – some good, some not so good. If your frame of reference for the workplace is “The Office” – here are some other realities for you to consider.

- First, attitude counts for far more than you have been led to believe. I know HR
people who say “Hire For Attitude, Train the Skill.”

- Next, you are bringing a fresh perspective and a youngish attitude to your first job. There will be people who love it…and those who do not. Don’t fret about it. Don’t think everyone is out to get you. Don’t change your personality or your willingness to take chances. But, and this is important: Understand that we have seen fresh ideas before – yours is not the first. And you may well be wrong.

- Stay out of office politics. Every offi ce has some internal policies, but avoid being
known as a gossip.

- Find a mentor. This does not mean you need to suck up to someone who is above you. But be on the lookout for someone who can help you, who can teach you.

- Over-deliver. This is the one thing that will make or break you, IMHO. What does this mean? Simple: do the job better than ‘they’ are expecting.

- And lastly – remember that every job is bigger than you believe. It is up to you to set
a new standard for your own job.

- Last minute tip to gain extra recognition: Be a clean freak at your workplace. I just
saw our company microwave and nearly lost it. Your co-workers are not your mother.
Clean up your own mess.

The internet, being an extremely popular source, makes competition for getting that job highly competitive. Get started with your My Online Career Space and let that prospective employer know you are the primary candidate for them. With your own personalized career space you will rise above the rest of the job seekers on the internet.

If you would like to get up-to-date information, join us on Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook and MySpace.

Job and Career Books are available here and get Online Career Coaching here.

Want to read more articles check these out:

How to Network
Video Resumes
5 Interview Questions You May Be Asked
I’m Perfect for the Position, Why’d I Get Screened Out?
How to Shoot Yourself in the Foot While Job Searching
Job Search Tips from the Experts

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 11:00 am and is filed under Career. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.