Skills for New Employees

[Careers Foundations, with Dan Gorgone] 0:00 [Professional Development - Deep Dive] 0:02 It's a great feeling to get that call from a prospective employer 0:04 and hear that you got the job. 0:08 It can be a crazy mix of emotions. 0:10 Sense of success, joy, redemption, and, most of all, relief. 0:13 But now it's time to get to work. 0:18 But getting the job is just the beginning of your journey ahead. 0:21 Your career path still lies before you. 0:24 So it's important to take the right steps with your new job. 0:27 Every company is different, 0:31 requiring you to get acclimated to a whole new culture. 0:33 How you interact with other employees, other departments, 0:36 managing your tasks, and communicating with others 0:41 often determines how successful you'll be. 0:44 You may have to change some of your personal habits 0:47 or the way that you get things done, but in the end, 0:50 don't feel like you're abandoning your individuality. 0:54 Being a team player means adapting to the situation 0:57 while still bringing the best that you have to offer. 1:01 >>Professionalism is very important in any job you do, 1:04 whether it's your first or last, and the reason why is 1:08 you can be fun to work with, you can be creative, 1:12 but if you're not a professional at what you do, 1:17 no one will want to work with you. 1:20 So to me, professionalism doesn't mean wearing a suit. 1:23 Or speaking a certain way or driving a certain car. 1:26 It means are you serious about what it is you do. 1:30 >>What really matters are finding the people 1:33 with the right personality and right attitude. 1:38 So every company has its own culture. 1:41 And you need to find people that fit in with that culture. 1:46 That kind of have the same outlook on life. 1:50 Not the same types of people. You don't want everybody to be a clone of one another. 1:52 But kind of have the same attitude towards work, 1:57 the same attitude towards business, and that kind of stuff. 2:00 >>If you've done nothing but hacked code on your own, 2:02 working in teams will offer an environment full of opportunity. 2:06 Not only can you discover the skills and talents of others within your company, 2:10 but you should take the time to dust off those networking skills 2:15 and get to know your team members as well. 2:18 Networking internally can help you discover opportunities 2:21 to work on interesting projects with talented people. 2:24 And sometimes all it takes is a conversation to get things started. 2:27 Your new company may rely on specific work flows and strict deadlines. 2:32 However, working under pressure doesn't mean rushing 2:36 and doing as much as you can in the shortest amount of time. 2:40 It's about time management. 2:42 >>Well, early on in my career, I didn't have a very good work-life balance. 2:46 It was really hard to kind of nail down for me. 2:51 But early on in your career, you do have to pay your dues, 2:54 and you have to work more than maybe that's ideal. 2:57 I would go to work for nine hours, and I'd come home and do freelance 3:01 or school work or just projects to further my career. 3:05 Since then, I've kind of found a way to balance it out, 3:10 where I actually dedicate a certain amount of time per week 3:14 to work on new fun projects. 3:19 So I think it's just—you're going to work more if you want to get somewhere faster. 3:21 So you don't have to work overtime, and you don't have to work beyond the 9 to 5, 3:26 but if you want to get somewhere sooner 3:31 and quicker and faster, and be better, you're going to have to. 3:33 >>Work-life balance as a web developer can be interesting. 3:36 There is a temptation if you're really passionate about a field 3:40 to work on it after hours, too, which kind of goes back to what I said about 3:44 putting source code on GitHub. 3:48 So you find about a really cool project, and you hack on it in your spare time. 3:50 That's great to do, but it's also pretty important to maintain 3:55 a work-life balance. But as a web developer, that's something that can get kind hairy at times. 4:00 Because, depending on your job, you might be the person that 4:05 is called when the site goes down at 2 or 3 in the morning. 4:09 So it's definitely important to maintain a work-life balance, 4:12 but it can be challenging at times. 4:16 >>Understanding how workflows and other processes within your company work 4:18 will help you understand what's expected of you. 4:23 If you want to take things to the next level 4:25 and figure out how you can make your job easier, 4:28 don't just figure out the workflow. Improve upon it. 4:31 Discovering inefficiencies is an opportunity to improve a process. 4:35 But if you can learn how to offer solutions and put them in place, 4:40 you'll have a better chance of meeting all your professional goals. 4:43 Another important part of the company to understand 4:47 is the way its people communicate with each other. 4:51 What tools or platforms are used? 4:53 Some places rely on email, while others use internal chat boards 4:56 and project-management platforms. 5:01 Get yourself up to speed, so you know how these platforms work. 5:03 And follow the conversations you need to be involved with. 5:07 When you do communicate, always be professional. 5:10 Consider each internal contact like you would a paying client. 5:15 Offer help and provide all the important details. 5:19 If you have any kind of experience communicating online, 5:22 you've probably received or sent some messages that weren't taken the right way 5:27 or understood completely. 5:32 Learn from your boss or fellow coworkers' examples. 5:34 Make note of the tone and language they use in their messages, 5:37 especially to higher-ups or external clients. 5:41 Like networking, remember that speaking with others face to face 5:45 is often the easiest and most effective way 5:50 to get certain messages across. 5:53 Besides, they may only be one desk away. 5:55 There will be many ways to show off what you can do. 5:58 And it goes beyond your coding or design skills. 6:01 If you feel you have more to share, take the initiative and offer to help. 6:04 Or speak with your boss about more ways you can use your talents 6:09 on top of your regular duties. 6:12 Just be sure to get your own job done before asking for more. 6:14