10 crucial pieces of advice from seasoned professionals for people starting their first jobs

Best tips for new professionals

Landing a job for the first time can be an exhilarating yet nervous experience. You are in a new environment where you are about to meet new people and work in tandem with them. There will be expectations and responsibilities on your back. You'll feel like you are messing up your duties at every waking hour. But the key to surviving the days of hustle culture is, not trying to achieve perfectionism, learning from your mistakes and continuing your professional and personal growth. u/CampDreamy asked the Reddit community to share their best advice for people who had just scored the first job in their lives. Here are some of the expert advice from professionals who have been employed for a long time now and hopefully this advice will come in handy for freshers at their first job.

1. Eat homemade lunch

Pack a lunch! Eating out can put a huge dent in your paycheck! u/awileycat. Also on top of this, meal prep for the week. A thing of meat is around $4-$6(beef and chicken prices vary) and rice and veggies are a few dollars. So you can have lunch every day for under $10(about $2 a day). Another plus is that you don't have to pack your lunch every day, as you'll do it all on one day of the week, giving you a few extra minutes every day to do something else. u/_PM_ME_YOUR_TIS_PLS

2. Always be on time

95% of success is showing up on time and not having a bad attitude. I'm at a humongous Swedish conglomerate, and I agree with you. I have what I call the 2-year rule. If you suck at your job and are genuinely in over your head, it will take about 2 years for you to either quit or be fired. I mean it takes time to train, then retrain, then figure out what is wrong, etc. u/Firebolt164. If I'm being real, don't overextend yourself. Make sure they see you're picking it up, but you don't wanna be that all-star because then you're that "go-to" person, or that is what they will come to expect from you, to be going 110% all the time, and they'll notice more when you're not feeling it, or just can't give the same. For me, work is a 65% max, but it's up to you. I still need energy for the remainder of my day. u/Public-Serve-2568

3. Everybody messes up

Don't worry about screwing up. You're going to screw up. We all screw up. Constantly. Learn from it when you screw it up so you do it better next time and you'll be the best employee in any job. u/MaximumZer0. Someone more experienced will inevitably catch it and know it's you, so yeah best to immediately fess up and do what you can to fix it. Your colleagues will appreciate it much more hearing that you messed up and want to fix it than you trying to hide it and they have to then totally undo your mistake. u/SpaceGoat88

4. Don't spread rumors

Listen to gossip if you want, but never spread it. u/GamerMomLife. Yep. I worked in a private pool snack bar kitchen last summer, and nearly all of my coworkers were high school girls. The amount of bad stuff they talked about each other was insane, but I just tried my best to not get involved. It never became anything other than trash talking but it's just a good idea in general to keep your head down. u/super5aj123

5. Not every co-worker is your friend

HR is not your friend or there to protect you. Never say anything to anyone that you're not fine with everyone else knowing. u/Chandysauce. HR is not there to protect the company. This is an idealized Reddit trope that repeats itself over and over again. HR people are self-interested people. They focus on doing what their own management or department leaders ask for. No HR person has ever worked for the interest of the company when it is against the interest of the management. u/birdy1494

6. First job isn't the end of the line

Your first job doesn’t define the rest of your life. Remember everything good and why you thought it was. Remember everything bad and why. Learn and grow. And unfortunately, if income matters to you, no matter how good your work environment is, know that after 2 years you can make insanely more money just by leaving. The company you work for will base your raises on your current salary. But moving to a new company, you can get compensation based on your experience. So advice number two would be: after you’ve proven yourself (not by working insane hours and all. I just mean once you’ve proven you are employable for 2 years, you have leverage you probably don’t know about if you play it right) u/Arynn

7. Set your boundaries

Set boundaries with your off time and stick to them like glue. Don't give them an inch or they'll feel entitled to a mile, unless you're provided a work phone or work is chipping in for your phone bill, you are not obligated to answer calls or messages from work off the clock. Act your wage. unless you're paid based on how much you get done in a shift, there's no need to be constantly busy the whole time. u/kbyyru. Repeat to yourself you’re not paid to work during your free time. Your boss doesn’t care. The company doesn’t care. So you shouldn’t care. Your mental health is precious, young one. Protect it with draconian zealousness. u/MerakDubhe

8. Become valuable to the company

A few corporate pointers from a VP at a mid-sized firm. Learn Microsoft Excel. Set up a LinkedIn profile and start building a network. Acquire skills and certifications related to your job and interests. Build a healthy rapport with your team and supervisor - that’s how people get promoted and raised. Dedicate 30 mins a week to research the market, competitors, and prospects (you never know when you might get laid off and need a new job). Keep your resume updated. Build trust and credibility with your employer to earn perks. Get so good at what you do that replacing you becomes expensive for them (I was offered a 20% raise this year because it’s cheaper to pay me more than hire a replacement and train them). u/Witty-Ant-6225

9. Prioritize your paycheck over everything

Don’t work too hard. Keep work and private life separate. Know your rights. Don’t be afraid to quit. I’ll add the most important thing I learned. You're just there to earn a paycheck. u/dr-dog69. An employer can't fire you for any reason in an at-will state. They have more freedom to terminate your employment, but they still have to respect anti-discrimination laws, anti-retaliation laws, and so on. The courts aren't stupid. If you go to HR and file a formal complaint about inappropriate behavior from a coworker or boss, and then you are fired a week later for "no reason", the courts are likely to recognize it for the retaliation it was. u/lifelongfreshman

10. Don't cut all ties

Don’t burn bridges if you quit or get fired. u/kbrown423. I live in a good-sized city and I would be considered a mid-career professional at this point. At every single place I've worked, I can draw lines to every other employer I've worked at in my career. No matter how disparate the industry/workplace, there has always been some overlap. The Venn diagram is never two solidly separate circles. If you make problems in one place, that will always get around to your new employer. u/tah4349