December degrees
7 tips for mid-year graduates now filling workforce ranks
In a normal year, 31 days packed with holiday sales and Breakfasts with Santa allow no time for or interest in catering to the December college graduate. Adding to the lack of hullabaloo, most schools skip a ceremony for their first-semester grads and wait until spring before having them don their caps and gowns to ceremoniously accept their diplomas. And in 2020? Well, there was that pandemic.
Even with the job market continuing its crawl back to normalcy, there are still numerous winter graduates embarking upon the workforce for the first time. In most cases, these new graduates won’t have the group orientation sessions that are usually the norm in July of each year when companies restock their workforce with the latest crew of diploma holders. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some basic said and unsaid rules that last December’s graduates should keep in mind as they embark upon their first job.
Here are seven tips for the winter grad who has become the spring employee.
1. Mind your phone: We’ll start here because this is a big one. Most younger workers are used to spending an extraordinary amount of time texting and talking to others. But now that you’re being paid to do a job, keep texts to a minimum, whether you’re working at home or from the office — and yes, feel free to respond with an “OK, boomer” here. While it may have been second nature to always have your phone with you, it shouldn’t be an acceptable form of behavior at work. And yes, you’ll see plenty of people, including your boss and his or her boss and his or her boss, with their phones but as dismissive as this sounds, they’ve earned that right. You haven’t. Not yet. You’ll be judged by how you act and one of the things that will stick out to your older co-workers is how you handle your phone. Don’t bring it to meetings, turn off the ringer and when you have to take a call, use a voice that’s more suitable for a library than a lecture hall. And keep those phone calls brief. If your friends are used to contacting you at all hours, they’ll probably continue to text and call while you’re at work. It’s not a bad idea to change your outgoing message or send certain calls straight to voicemail.
2. Be mindful of shared space: Again, if you’re going to be working in an office setting, act accordingly. You may have left your half-eaten sandwich on the table in your apartment at school, but no one likes to see leftovers sitting on your desk or in a communal space. If you bring your lunch to work, wash out your containers and bring them back to your desk. And take it easy on the amount of items you pack into the refrigerator. You may be at work eight to 10 hours a day but that doesn’t mean it’s your second home. Bring enough food for the day. You’ll soon learn that plenty of your co-workers treat the employee refrigerator like their own personal cooler. Go ahead and put a Post-It note on that Tupperware bowl of mac and cheese in the back. Chances are when you leave for a better gig in five years, it will still be there.
3. Take care of your personal space: Don’t leave empty coffee cups and piles of papers on your desk each evening. Instead, come up with a system and keep your workspace clean and organized. Also, be cautious with what you choose to display in your own personal space. Professionalism is key. The photos of you and your roommates on spring break last year may have looked great on your apartment refrigerator but may be out of place next to your computer.
4. Use company funds wisely: Whether it’s an order from the office supply website or a new corporate credit card, don’t go nuts with the company’s cash. It’s likely your spending habits will be monitored, especially when you first begin a job so settle for the stapler you see on the desks of others, not the $79 NASA-endorsed apparatus that can staple through concrete. This restrained approach to spending goes for your corporate card as well. If you’re taking business trips, you don’t necessarily need to have a $56 lunch if you usually opt for the $5 version at home. And take it easy on the room service and bar bills. If you’re entertaining clients, some extra costs may be justified but if your company sends you to a seminar or training session, don’t view it as an opportunity to live it up on the company’s dime.
5. Watch what you drink: When companies start entertaining clients again, be cautious. Sure, your boss may order a couple of bottles of wine for the table during that initial dinner with your new accounts or you may meet up with your new co-workers at the end of a long training session at the hotel bar but again, know that you’re being watched. Maybe not in a creepy Orwellian way but in a “is this a person someone we can trust” way. And more importantly, you could damage your reputation before you even have a chance to let others see how hard you work and how dedicated you are to the job. Instead, you’ll be the guy who whacked his head on the stop-sign pole or the woman who threw up in her Uber. Practice some self-control and keep things professional.
6. Respect the privacy of others: There will be conversations where your opinion or anecdote is welcome but there will be others that don’t involve you. Learn the difference. Just because you can hear your new co-worker complaining about his 16-year-old son doesn’t mean you should interject with some advice on handling him. Work relationships can be incredibly personal but they take time to develop. Earn the trust and interest of your coworkers as the weeks and months pass. And that goes double for any romantic interest you may have in the person three cubicles over. Think twice before asking out a co-worker at any point in your career but especially before you haven’t quite memorized your email password. That’s creepy — and possibly a violation of your company’s HR policies. The same goes for stalking someone online. Be professional.
7. Be there: If you work in an office, show up early and leave a few minutes after your day is supposed to end. And if you work from home, don’t leave your laptop unattended while you grab some time on the Peloton. And unless you have a fairly flexible schedule. take it easy on the lunchtime yoga classes and mid-afternoon shopping trips. An extended break from your desk usually isn’t a good idea, especially when your co-workers are looking for you — online or in person.