Words of advice to my intern, who is leaping into the big city for her first job after college: These things will help you succeed:
- Arrive on time; don’t leave early
- Bring a notepad with you at all times
- Never say “I don’t know” but “I will find out for you”
- Don’t let an email sit in your in box without a reply for more than 24 hours; follow up, even if it’s to say, “I’m working on it;”
- Ask “What else can I do for you?”
- Learn how to criticize tactfully – surround it with compliments
- When you make a mistake, apologize, then quickly do whatever it takes to fix it – and learn from it
- Shake hands firmly and look in the other person’s eyes
- Don’t get involved in office gossip
- Ask “How am I doing?” well before your annual review
- Don’t kiss ass, but if you have to, do it with sincerity
- Be as transparent as possible while remaining professional – you want to establish credibility, and you can’t do that if you are not upfront and honest about your own performance
- Check email on the weekend – your boss is!
- Do what’s asked of you even if it’s not in your job description because you will be known as a problem-solver
- Own each project
- Your opinion will not always matter; your opinion always matters
- Don’t say “I feel” or “I think” without backing it up with facts
- Make sure your head can still fit through the door
- Don’t settle
- Family is the top priority, and they will forgive you if you can’t be there 100% of the time – just make sure you are there 99% of the time
- Exercise
- Don’t ask about your boss’ personal life
- Don’t talk about shoes … no, wait, definitely compliment your boss’ shoes!
- When someone asks what you did this weekend, be vague but say you had a good weekend
- Don’t play hooky
- No task is below you
- Smile and say hello to everyone from the janitor to the CEO
- BE YOU!
