By Kaustov Kashyap
You have graduated, got a job and now ready to enter the professional world. When you join your first job, it always brings with it a mix of emotions like fear, enthusiasm and zeal. As you enter this phase, you don’t want to goof up; rather you want things to go just right. However, the first three months or the first 100 days of your first job are considered to be crucial one as you have to spent time more or less in understanding your job responsibilities, colleagues, their roles and above all mastering all the necessary skills.
Therefore, to handle the job-oriented stress, a 100-day survival plan is preferred which will help you to avoid glaring mistakes and alleviate communication level among your colleagues.
The beginning
Before you enter the office premises, review all the research work you have done during your interview about the organisation, their latest updates, market and other important information. From the first day onwards always stick to the rule 90/10, i.e. listen 90 per cent and talk 10 per cent. This rule will help you in acquiring as much information as possible within a short time and will also help in understanding the organisation and its culture clearly and precisely. Organise your cabin in such a way that you can perform your assigned tasks properly and freely. Collect and make a list of phone numbers of different concerned departments and people with whom you need to interact and coordinate over the next few days.
The first month
Always smile and approach co-workers in a friendly and helpful manner. This will make you feel at home in your new work place from the first month itself. Reading office journals, newsletters, brochures, product catalogues, annual book, etc. will help you in getting a crystal clear idea about the current happenings in the organisation and also about the different power equations prevailing in the organisation. But avoid getting involved in any kind of groupism or office politics at this stage. Get clarification about the standard rules and regulations to be followed and also about the performance metrics and expectations of the higher level management of the organisation. Since social media profiles like LinkedIn play an important role in modern day recruitment process, therefore, it is advisable to update your profile which will enable people to know about your new job and your role in the organisation.
The second month
By this month you may have gained a lot of information about the organisation and also a little job experience. Therefore, you can start taking more responsibility, try exploring the training relevant to your career and start following and writing blogs for the same. Paying attention to your colleagues as well as to your reporting manager will help them understand you better. Always seek a mentor in the organisation who can help you in advancing your career and can give you inputs on your assigned work when needed. Always be helpful to your colleagues as this will help them recognise your social behaviour and return the favour when you need.
The third month
This month is more or less based on how you have improved the process of learning and implementingwork culture at your organisation. With a fresh perspective and lot of inputs and guidance from your colleagues and seniors, now it’s your duty to perform your assigned work as per specified standards. This will help the management to recognize your skills and your ability to work on certain projects of importance. Try to ask as much work related questions as possible as this will help to create your learning spirit image in the eyes of your manager.
In order to know your growth, you can ask for a three month performance review report from your reporting manager and note down points that are relevant to your performance like an out-of-the box suggestion during a meeting, the achievements you have gained till date and the future projects you would like to handle. Always be ready to accept the genuine feedback of your manager and on the basis of feedback try to improve your future performance.
With these objectives duly satisfied, you can go ahead and realise your dreams in the competitive corporate world.
(The author is a career counsellor)