Make the Main Thing the Main Thing
I started my job at a BB this Summer as a VP and was lucky enough to start the same day as our group of summer analysts and associates. I say "lucky" because it was interesting to see the differences in our approaches to starting work.
After spending the Summer seeing them become functional interns I wanted to share a few things I shared with each of them as they were leaving.
- Be Bold - While you don't want to be a know it all you need to bring some confidence with you. When you start as a new hire or intern you really don't know very much, but you are smart or you wouldn't have the job. So be confident in your ability to learn and improve. Ask questions, show your curiosity. No one ever got fired for asking questions to try and improve. People get fired all the time for floundering around without asking for help.
- Work is THE MAIN THING - You don't have anything else you are responsible for when you are an intern or first year associate. So, your work is the main thing in your life. Make it that way. You will lose friends that are slackers, but keep friends that are just as diligent as you are. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have life outside of work. You need to put work ahead of fun stuff at least for the first couple of years. Trust me when I say you will not remember that epic night out at the bar in 20 years, but you will be glad you built a career by working hard when everyone else was playing around.
- Your work product is a reflection of you - Take an extra look at your work product before sending it on up the chain. Yes, this is a pain, but it will make you stand out. Don't send stuff with misspelled words, other typos, bad formatting, font issues, calculation errors, etc. Take the extra few seconds. Quality trumps speed EVERYTIME.
Take this into your last year of college, or for those new hires out there use this advice to get a jump start on your career. If you want some more detailed info and some tips and tricks I'll be doing a webinar soon as well as some 1 on 1 Coaching around career advancement and networking.
Hope some of you will be able to take advantage of it!
Good advice
Thanks.
good stuff
Thanks.
I cannot agree with you more
Awesome! Love when that happens!
I just finished up as a summer analyst and this is definitely some great advice, wish I had this before I started
Use it this year at school.
Wish someone had hammered point 3 into my head. Your work speaks VOLUMES about the type of person that you are. Sure you may understand what you were asked to do, but execution is key. A fellow analyst once had to re-do my work because I forgot to link tabs correctly and the whole thing got messed up. I tried to plead and ask to re-do it, but by then my credibility was shot to pieces.
What I noticed is that people will take crap from you if it looks good, rather than good work that is presented badly. The first hurdle to overcome in work is to ensure that your stuff is neat and precise. You have a much easier time and will recieve less painful criticism.
Great post. Thanks a lot!
Never too late to start!
good advice
Very nice post--especially about making work the main thing. While you don't want to have a mental breakdown or anything, it's always nice to remember that most of the time, missing a night out isn't a big deal.
Very true. Be selective.
agreed, except for the "wont remember that epic night with friends bit" if it was truly epic you would remember the story...
Meant to put the word epic in quotes. Most nights are not going to be epic...especially the ones that are described as epic before they begin.
find a different crowd mate, obviously u never lived
thanks for this!
Thanks for the great advice. I also started to recognize early in my career that missing some nights out will make you lose some friends. However, those are the guys you can never rely on anyways...
delete
we must be always select things
Making sure everything you submit is perfect, even if it takes extra time is 100% worth it. Not only does it make you look better than being fast in the end, but it gets you selected for more important projects which may need more creativity and will satisfy you more in the long run. Being the "go to guy" is the #1 criteria when it comes to many early promotions.
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