Normally I talk about looking for and securing a job, but today I want to take a moment to give a gentle reminder of a few things you should not say after you land that job.
“That’s not how we did it at ______” (fill in the blank with your old company)
Guess what – you aren’t there any more and no one here cares how they did it there. This is a clear sign that you are not willing to learn or be part of a new team. Say this and you will create your own little island isolating yourself from everyone in the new company.
Instead, try saying “This is completely different than what I was used to; I’m excited to learn a new way.”
“That’s not my job”
Get over yourself. You are on a new team and sometimes you have to do things outside of the scope of your “job description”. Let’s take this back a step – how often does the job description match 100% of what the real job duties actually are…..exactly.
Suck it up cupcake and stop brooding and take this as an opportunity to see if you can learn something new, meet new team members or get a glimpse of something outside of your job scope. By the way, nothing is beneath you. I’ve served coffee, run errands and done dishes and had people tell me that I shouldn’t be doing that because I was the manager. I was also a team member and if that is what needed to be done and I was available then I had no problem helping where I could.
Instead try saying, “I would be happy to help.”
“I don’t know, you will have to ask someone else.”
Way to be a supportive team player! Why not just add on the end of that “and I don’t care”? Whether it is how to run the copier to how to utilize systems or protocols it is an opportunity to do two things: help someone and learn something.
Instead try saying, “I’m sorry, I don’t know but that is a great question, however (a) great question, let’s see if we can ask Mary/find someone who knows so we can both learn (b) I can help you find someone who knows more about this than I do: or (c) I don’t know but I will find out for you and get back to you.”
If it is running some contraption at work, you never know when you might need to know how to do that task one day. If someone is coming to you as a resource answer (c) makes you even more of a valuable resource. No matter what the situation you will build good working relationships with your team members by being available.
Starting a new job can be a little intimidating and scary and sometimes our natural reaction is to drawn within ourselves, not admit we don’t know something or are afraid to look foolish by not having the same skill set.
Give yourself a break and remain open. Instead of looking at everything as a challenge or task, try looking at it as an opportunity. There are opportunities abound to learn, grow and be a more valuable team member. They just might be the things that take you from the start within a new company to the next level within that company.
Lisa K. McDonald, CPRW
Career Coach-Strategist
Certified Professional Resume Writer
Career Polish, Inc.