How to Succeed in Your First Job Out of College

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0:25Tori Dunlap:Hi, Harvard Business Review. My name is Tori Dunlap. I'm the founder of Her First 100K and the host of the Financial Feminist Podcast. And today I'm here with tips and tricks on how to succeed in your first job out of college. So I was in your shoes just a few short years ago. I graduated in 2016 with dual degrees, a BS in organizational communication, and a BA in theater. No, I did not study finance or business. Like most graduates, I was trying to navigate the corporate world, trying to figure out how to stand out while also hustling my butt off. But in addition, I was actually the youngest manager of a company of 5 ,000 employees.

0:56Tori Dunlap:I was the head of marketing communication for a Fortune 500 company as a 22-year-old. Here are a few of the tips and tricks I used to stand out. Number one, set expectations with your boss as soon as you can. Your first month on the job is a great time to connect with your boss to figure out what you should be doing big picture-wise. What does this role look like? How can you contribute to the company and the success of the company? Your day-to-day expectations are something that you should also figure out. Are you expected to stay as long as your boss? What meetings should you attend? These are all good ideas to figure out what your expectations are.

1:27Tori Dunlap:Number two, get to know your coworkers and figure out how you can add value to them. One of the first things I did when I started a new job is I made coffee dates with every single member of my team. I would take notes in our conversation, not just about their day-to-day tasks and what they did in their jobs, but also how I could help them out and how I could contribute and add value, not just to the overall company, but also to them as individuals. Number three, bond outside the office. Don't be afraid to ask a coworker to go to lunch with you. Getting a coffee during the day or going out for happy hours is a great way to learn more about your organization and bond with your coworkers.

1:59Tori Dunlap:Especially when you first start out, your career can be really intimidating getting to know your other coworkers. But be brave and ask them out to lunch. One of my favorite tips, ask for feedback and then act on it. In that very first meeting with your boss, you want to set up formal times to talk about your work performance as well as get feedback. The last thing you want is to feel like you're doing a good job only to get negative feedback when performance review time comes. Let your boss and other coworkers know that you're eager for feedback because you're excited to grow and learn more. And then when you actually get that feedback, act on it.

2:28Tori Dunlap:I personally have a hard time taking feedback. It's very hard to not feel like it's a personal attack on me. But feedback is just about that. It's feedback on your work performance and use it to grow and adjust and become a better employee. And last but not least, always learn something new. When I was working corporate, I set aside Friday afternoons as my learning time. both because to be honest my head was somewhere else most of the time and also because I really wanted to make sure I was incorporating active times to learn throughout my week. Whether this learning is from something like on-the-job training, reading a book about your work, or just taking again another employee out for coffee to learn more about who they are and what they do, this is a great time to strengthen your understanding of the company as well as expand on your learning.

3:16Tori Dunlap:This is also a great time to ask your boss if there's a discretionary budget specifically set aside for learning, whether that's courses, going to webinars, or maybe even attending a conference. Ultimately your first experience out of college, you're there to learn, you're there to grow. Ask a lot of really good questions. Don't be afraid of looking silly. It's good and important that you get the answers that you need in order to be as successful as possible. Although you may not have the experience on paper that a lot of your co-workers do, I promise that you have more hustle than anyone else.

3:44Tori Dunlap:And the way you can show that hustle is by constantly providing innovative ideas, getting good feedback and taking its heart, and asking always how you can provide value not just for the organization but for individual people at the company. Using these strategies is a great way to stand out as an employee even if you're in your first job out of school. If you like this content subscribe to Harvard Business Review for more.