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Business Basics

How To Behave At Your First Job

Tara Weiss, 06.17.09, 02:00 PM EDT

You're lucky you got one in this economy. Don't mess it up.

In Pictures: How To Behave At Your First Job

You've landed your first job out of college. That wasn't easy, in this tough time. Now you've got to make sure you keep it and succeed at it.

How? You can start even before you arrive at work. Set up a Google News Alert, so you get e-mails about any happenings at your new employer, says Danielle Leyland, a recruiter in the information technology department at Sherwin-Williams ( SHW - news - people ), the paint company. That will help prepare you to engage with co-workers when you get there--especially if there's big news--and it's also a way to find out about potential opportunities. Perhaps a new product is going to be launched, or a division is being started or shut down that will affect the entire firm. Those are things you want to know about.

In Pictures: How To Behave At Your First Job

Stay up to date not only on the company you're going to work for, but also on its competitors and the industry as a whole. That will give you perspective on where your employer is heading and why certain decisions get made. Your colleagues will take you more seriously seeing how dedicated you are to the profession.

When your first day on the job arrives, dress professionally, even if you're sure most people wear T-shirts and jeans. Men should wear slacks and a button-down shirt, women either slacks or a skirt with a top that covers their shoulders. "You can assess what everyone is wearing during the first few days and then tone it down," advises Kathryn Santers, a staffing manager for the higher-education division of the educational publishing firm Pearson ( PSO - news - people ).

Once you settle in and are given projects to work on, be sure you've got a clear understanding of what's expected. If you're not completely sure about a task, ask. "It's better to ask a question and be cautious than to do it wrong," says Santers. And when you ask, have pen and paper with you to write down all the details. Your manager will be rightly annoyed if you ask the same question more than once.

Also, don't say you'll finish a job quickly just to impress your manager. Be realistic in what you can accomplish, and keep your manager up to date on your progress. During your first week, discuss with your boss how he or she prefers to communicate. Not every question requires popping into her office, so ask if she prefers e-mail or instant messages. As you work on your first assignment, check in to update her on your progress. Ask if you're approaching it right. When you've completed it, ask for feedback. Did you get it done successfully? Was there anything you could have done to improve your work?

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This is 100% BS. If you've never had a job before graduating college, you are worthless in the real world. I started working at 12, washing produce for 50 cents an hour.(I'm 55 now.) Then I worked as....

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Don't be shy about this. Your manager has a vested interest in your success, since it's much easier for her to help you as you go along than to retrain you.

This takes balance, though. Before you run to the boss with a problem, always try to find a solution on your own. You want to be solutions-oriented, says Diane Borhani, national director of campus recruiting at Deloitte & Touche, and bosses always prefer it if people who bring them questions also bring suggested answers. So try to come up with a fix, and discuss it with the boss.

When you're in a meeting, don't sit there silently. Participate. Share your thoughts and opinions, albeit in a respectful way. That's why they hired you. When there's an opportunity to take on a new challenge or additional people are needed for a project, volunteer.

"The people who are happy to raise their hand and go above and beyond what they're doing are the people I want on my team," says John Campagnino, senior director for global recruitment at the consulting firm Accenture ( ACN - news - people ). "That's a differentiator for managers."

Also, never behave as if small tasks are beneath you. At some point everyone needs to file or make photocopies. Your goal is to make your boss's job easier. If doing clerical work accomplishes that, do it without complaining. "It may seem menial, but it's a part of a big picture," says Santers. "Not every day on your new job will be glamorous, but there's always a point to what you're doing."