5 Surefire Ways To Hack Your First Job Out Of College
By: Rachel Gideon
Tags: Entry Level Jobs, Post Grad Life, Jobs, Career Advice, Money

5 Surefire Ways To Hack Your First Job Out Of College Rachel Gideon Follow Aug 25 · 5 min read

Whether you’ve found the ideal gig right out of school, or you’re struggling to find meaning in your first 9–5, these steps will help you get the most out of any entry-level position.

Take Risks

When I started my first job last year, I allowed my fear of making mistakes to utterly paralyze me. It wasn’t until a few months into the job that I began to think about my first foray into full-time work as a golden opportunity to hone my skills in a relatively low-stakes environment.

Once I shifted my focus away from avoiding mistakes and toward learning as much as possible in my first year, I started to exercise more creativity in my day-to-day assignments. Rather than following my boss’s instructions to a tee and then calling my projects done, I began applying the programs I’d been learning after hours to my current work.

Not only did going beyond my boss’s requests make a strong impression on my team, but it also opened my work up to more actionable feedback. In time, my boss also noticed the initiative and assigned me more challenging projects.

Seek Feedback Consistently

I realized several months into my job that my fear of making mistakes stemmed largely from my not knowing where I stood with my boss. At the same time, however, I’d avoided asking for feedback because I was afraid that he would confirm my worst fear: that I was terrible at my job and that he planned to fire me on the spot.

Ironically, once I worked up the courage to get my boss’s thoughts on my performance, my nervousness at work gradually disappeared. Instead of viewing the occasional bad mood from my boss or the passive-aggressive comment from a coworker as a sign that my job might be in danger, I began to focus only on improving upon the direct feedback I’d received.

Receiving feedback provided me so much reassurance of my performance and position on the team that I held myself to asking for it in each one of my weekly meetings with my boss. Opening that direct line of communication with my boss not only helped me to keep my work anxiety at bay, but it also allowed me to build a much more trusting relationship with my boss.

Perhaps most importantly, allowing myself to normalize constructive feedback fundamentally shifted my view of receiving it. Instead of viewing any criticism as a referendum on me as an employee, I began to think of it as an invaluable opportunity to shed light on, and then address, my professional blind spots one by one.

Consider Your Boss’s Perspective

Whether you’re asking for a raise or feeling unsupported due to a perceived lack of guidance or appreciation, understanding your boss’s struggles and motivations is key to nurturing an effective working relationship.

When I first joined my team, I felt completely out of my depth and found myself resenting my boss for not providing much in the way of onboarding or guidance. However, I quickly realized that while my being thrown into the deep end without much training may be frustrating, my boss also had a full calendar and managed several other teams within the department.

Once I came to the rather obvious realization that my boss has a demanding job, I shifted my focus to how I could provide him more value through my work. In addition to anticipating and answering any further questions he may have on my work, I pre-prepared analyses for him to present in any particularly important meetings that I saw on his Outlook calendar.

Additionally, instead of using my weekly 1:1s to present problems to my boss, I dedicated that time to asking him about his vision for the team and presenting my ideas on how I could advance departmental goals. And finally, I prioritized getting to know him as a person.

Remember That It’s Not Personal

A large portion of my job involves answering requests from various leaders throughout the organization, all with their own unique communication styles. At times, not finding their emails and calls to be clipped can be easier said than done. However, I’ve become a pro at not letting their tones bother me by considering the high-stress nature of their respective jobs. Further, when I’m tempted to take their moods as directed at me, meeting their words with kindness often softens them immediately, challenging the validity of my initial assumption.

If you struggle with taking your others’ words at work personally, I suggest assuming that others are under stress and responding to them with kindness.

Invest in Yourself Outside of Work

While it can be tempting to grow complacent once you’ve found your sea legs at work, keeping an eye on industry trends can provide you with much-needed professional guidance, and it can help you to identify more lucrative opportunities down the road.

This step is especially important if you’re feeling underutilized at work or do not have a mentor that can help you focus your career.

Once I got my job down and began to take on a higher volume of work each week, I started to prioritize career exploration in my time off. While I enjoy what I do, I work in a rather broad field in which there’s no shortage of more specialized career tracks.

Doing a bit of research allowed me to identify two industry certifications that I now pursue for two hours each morning before heading into the office. Completion of them will not only allow me to add value to my current role, but it will also allow me to be a much stronger candidate for a pure IT role should I choose to pursue one in the next few years.

If the idea of two hours of daily coursework in addition to your day job seems daunting, a great place to start is by setting aside 2–4 hours a week to research what’s going on in your industry. Staying up to date will give you more and better information as you consider opportunities to grow your career.