Work Life Events
Knowing What to Expect When You Start Working
Do you know what to expect when you start working? Want to know what events lie ahead when you start making a living?
No one ever talks about* what really happens at work ... and what kinds of things you should expect and watch out for. But over a lifetime of making a living, you will most likely need to deal with and survive a number of ups and downs.
To be better prepared to face what lies ahead, here are a few of the events lurking in your future ...
Job Preparation
We all need training to do the work we are paid for ... from learning recipes and how a kitchen runs to how to figure square footage or run a cement mixer. From vocational schools to colleges, universities and learning on the job ... you need to be prepared to learn a new language and skills that have nothing to do with what you did in school or getting an A.
Often, the preparation takes place after you have finished the mandatory schooling and before you get your first job. But many times throughout your life, you will need to retrain or upgrade your skills to remain competitive, working and handsomely paid.
Job Hunting
Once you are done preparing, it is time to go hunting online or in person for a way to make a good living.
When you are hunting for a job ... you enter the same pattern of activities our ancestors used to hunt for wild game and food.
- Looking For Opportunities
Often this starts by starting up conversations with people who know who is hiring ... friends, colleagues at other firms, and people within the industry or company you are interested in. It means noticing who is getting the big contracts and orders, who is bringing new product lines or factories online, and where the business is booming.
- Checking The Water Holes
It may start with looking for opportunities for work in the local paper, online with job boards, at the unemployment office or on the phone with search executives (head hunters). You go where the job listings and openings are, and see what is available.
- Setting Out Hooks or Snares
Here is when you put your updated resume out in front of likely companies and hiring managers.
- Feeling For Interest
Then, we wait, and hope that there will be a tug on the end of one of the lines of interest we have set out into the workplace. Some companies seem to want to play with our bait or test the waters ... but others show strong interest in our abilities and character.
- Getting The Interview
With strong interest on both sides, it is time to meet face to face and see if there is a match between the company and you. Do your skills, experiences , judgment. work ethic and proven accomplishments -- along with your future potential ... match what the company needs or exceeds it? Does the company's stability, philosophy, values, mission and ways of doing business match your needs? Does the salary, work shift, benefits, co-workers and bosses meet or exceed your expectations?
- Getting HIred
Once there is clear and compelling interest shown by both you and the company, you can get down to the business of negotiating the details ... or offering and accepting employment.
Starting Work
Starting a new job, whether it is your first or your fiftieth ... takes courage and a sense of humor, as well as an openness to learn and contribute. And it all starts with ...
The First Day*
It is always a nervous time, walking into a new place of employment and getting to know all the new people, rules and ways of doing business. There are also lots of details to work out, forms to sign and the physical layout to navigate.
Passing Probation
Few people talk about the probationary period, but this is where you really get a chance to see what the job really entails ... and adjust to all the nuances and rules to become successful at the company and be permanently hired. If it is not a good match, here is where you start to get a sense of it. Differences in work ethics, attitudes, values and perspectives all start to rise to the surface, like bubbles on a pond, signaling something is wrong.
Surviving Six Month Ramp up
Most companies know it takes about six months for a new employee to fully understand and come up to speed in a new job. Close supervision starts to change into delegation of results, new assignments are added, new tasks are placed on your shoulders. Your potential for the work the company needs done and your ability to work with and lead others is also being assessed. All quietly in the background, although everyone there knows you are being sized up and quietly tested for where you fit in the totem pole of your group and department. Permanent employment means you need to find your place in the hierarchy and your bosses' ideas of where you fit in.
Your First Test of Responsibility
At some point in time, your boss is going to give you enough rope to see what you do with it. A project where you take the lead and show what you can do. Usually, it is a test to see how you handle responsibility, what you do when you get over your head, and how well you respond to challenges and obstacles. DO you know when to ask for help? Do you know who the best person is to go to? And have you established enough rapport and a strong reputation in the company so others are willing to help you or do they lead you astray?
YOur First Performance Review
It happens to just about anyone who works ... a sit down with the boss to get feedback about how things are going, how you are doing, and what you can do better. Sometimes it makes perfect sense. Sometimes it can make you feel like you have been living in a bubble. But regardless, many companies tie it to your paycheck, bonuses and status in the company.
Doing The Work
Once you have proven you can do the work, and do it well enough to stay on at the company, you are ready for the long haul. Getting up each day to face ...
Two Year Workout
Usually, it takes two years of hard work to prove you have become competent at all the tasks the job requires, and can be a trusted employee or someone who needs help and supervision in specific areas. If you have mastered the skills and tasks, you become a valued employee. If you also show strong potential for handling more demanding or different kinds of tasks and responsibilities ... you may earn a promotion or be moved around to gain experience and broaden your skill base and contacts within the company.
Five Year Move Up or Out
Some people are ready for more responsibility and more demanding work ... and so they seek to turn the experience , skills and mastery they have gained into a larger paycheck or more challenging and rewarding work. Others are happy in their niche, adding to their skills and experience , becoming an employee who knows the job inside and out.
Ready To Move On
Sometimes you get restless, want more responsibility, a different work philosophy, more personally meaningful work, better benefits, a larger paycheck or a more balanced lifestyle. In that case, you will be leaving the company one of two ways ...
Resigning
Better jobs come along, bringing a change of workplace, co-workers, bosses and clients. Resigning is the way you gracefully tell the company you are moving on to greener pastures. And how you do it says a whole lot about you, your character and work ethic. How the company and your bosses take it says a lot about them.
Getting Fired
Not the worst thing in the world, but it can feel like your whole world falls apart, or you have lost your identity. Feeling rejected, dejected, worthless than you thought, disrespected, denied ... all of these can come with being let go ... if you are unhappy about leaving the company, how they do it, or why. On the other hand, if you have been miserable in a job, yet unable to leave it .. after the shock and bad feelings, there can also be relief and a sense of freedom to get on with your life. How it is done and why can make all the difference in how you take it and the downstream effect it has on your life.
These are just a few of the many work life events that everyone working experiences. Some do better than others at the tests and challenges of working, but knowing what lies ahead often helps.