Life as the New Employee!

MY TOPIC for this column is being the New Employee. As a person who has started a new job fairly recently, I have a few ideas. One item is when you get hired at your lovely new job, please plot out where to park. This can be so problematic. You don't want a parking ticket and it's so easy to park in a two-hour spot by accident or in a tow away zone. You simply don't know the quirks of the area yet.

Also, you sure don't want to be late. Making sure that you're parking close enough is key. As far as taking the bus, if you're starting out on a Tuesday, take it the Monday before because buses can have quite the margin for error.

When you're thinking about how you want to dress, be careful not to overdress. On the days after you just get started, to be frank, you're  going to sweat more. You're not sure where you're going, it's stressful to meet new people, etc. Do not get too fancy. If you decide that you need to wear this outfit, and it's a little tight and froofy, you are going to hate yourself by the end of the day.

A key point to being the New Person is to figure out who is the co-worker to know. Maybe it's the receptionist. Maybe it's the person who runs your department. There's is no way to quantify how much they will help you. They have all the answers, they know what's going on, they know where everything is, they know how to get places. It's not necessarily your supervisor. Oftentimes it's the person who's worked there a very long time, although they can also pull the seniority card. There's no real marker, but you can often tell. They have a light shining on them. This may be just a skill of mine because I'm so outgoing, but it's indispensable if you can hunt them down.

AN OFTEN overlooked rule is, don't be overly helpful. For the first few weeks, just do the task you were hired for and get in a groove. They hired you to do that task, not to be their fix-all, and trying to be everything to everyone will distract you from what they originally wanted you to do.

OK, I have finally made it to lunch time. Please figure out early on if you're going out to lunch, if you'll have enough time. You do not want to come back late. If you have 45 minutes, that's probably not enough time, and if it's something really yummy and smells like McDonald's french fries, eat it in your car. You don't want them to hate you in the first few weeks. In fourth grade when your friend would have her flippin' birthday and her mom would bring in french fries, a burger and a shake, you and everyone else loathed her --and I don't think it ended that day. It went on until at least sixth grade. Don't repeat that here.

Also related to food: Don't bring a lunch that has items you can name by smell from two rooms away, such as fish, garlic or curry. They are arguably delicious, but refrain. Also, don't bring in a Diet Coke, Greek yogurt and an orange in an attempt to look like you're super fit and health conscious. At about 1:30 you're going to want to eat your arm.

I have a lot of anecodotes related to work and being the newbie. If you have any thoughts pipe in!!