This was my first “real world” job experience: I was working at an office job that didn’t require me to wear a name tag or uniform. Armed with my own cubicle, laptop, and office supplies, I had never felt more adult in my life.
Presentation Matters
For the first day I wasn’t aware of the dress code (my boss told me “business casual”). What the h*ll is business casual?! Am I wearing a blazer with my converse, or…? Having no experience, I decided with a simple purple shirt and blazer with black slacks. I definitely made the right call; I saw plenty of variations on the same classic outfit. Dressing as professionally as my superiors gave me a confidence boost—it felt like I was meant to be there.
My boss took notice, too. She complimented my look and it felt like I had made a strong first impression.
Connections Count
For one of my first tasks, I had to call/email various contacts in our database, get information from them and ask if our company could present at their next company forum or write something for their newsletter. Additionally, I would ask them about their interest in community giving. I was sending more emails than calls and felt like I would never actually get a human contact. However, I knew a colleague of mine worked for one of the companies that I was contacting. I gave him a call and he was able to set me up with an actual human to converse with.
My boss was surprised and impressed with my resourcefulness—however, it was all due to networking. Connections count. Sometimes it really is who you know that helps.
Punctuality
It should be an obvious statement but perhaps it goes over people’s heads. Be on time. That’s rich coming from me. I roll out of bed twenty minutes before I need to be in class somedays; I can’t help it, I like to sleep. With my internship, it is the complete opposite. I try to be at least five minutes early, ten preferably. To my surprise, my coworkers were in awe of this; apparently punctuality is not common or expected of Millennials (a stereotype that we need to diminish, immediately). This leads me to my next lesson…
Go Above and Beyond
Like I said, people were surprised by my arrival times just because I’m a Millennial. In a generation defined by instant gratification and entitlement, they were surprised when a member arrived early. That not only surprised me, but it was mildly irritating. Just because I’m young, you assume I won’t be punctual to work? I knew it wasn’t personal, just based on a stereotype. It made me want to work harder, to have more success at my tasks.
After this, I realized I needed to go above and beyond to prove to them that I am not their perceived stereotype. Honestly, it was a real motivator. In my quest to prove them wrong, they noticed the amount of work I was willing to do which really increased their trust in me, I think.