Learn how to give constructive feedback. If a coworker comes to you for assistance and you reply similar to some of the negative comments in this thread, then that's probably the last time they come to you for anything.
Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job
111–120 of 179 posts
Re: Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job
#112> And whats your best tip for life in general? 1) Take copious notes (in whatever format works for you). 2) Confirm managers decisions with a recap email (especially when you disagree with them). 3) Understand that while you may not like politics (I don't) knowing how the game is played allows you to mostly stay out of it. 4) Work time is work time, learn to be productive and then go home and switch off . 5) Work fri…
> 5) Work friends are NOT friends. I have made some extremely good friends through work, including the individual who, outside my family, is the person who I still see that I have known the longest in my life (we started our new jobs at the same company on the same day, approx 35 years ago). The mistake is when your colleagues become your only friends. Changing jobs can see you lose your entire 'support network'. Alw…
As a general rule it works. Work friends are not friends. There are exceptions but don't expect anything.
Re: Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Boy are these good advice. > Work friends are NOT friends. This is very hard for people to learn, including me, but it will make you much happier. And, I'd add something that someone else said: 8) The most important determiner of how happy you are is your choice of life partner.
strong disagree, mostly because my life partner of 20+ years is someone who I worked with at my first job out of uni. When you are young and in your first real job my experience is your best friends often are work friends. It's pretty natural to do things outside of work with the same people you really enjoy working with.
I think the main advice given is that work friends can be real friends, but not all friends should be work friends. It's about "diversifying" who you spend time with because your relationship with your employer is not the same as with your friends.
Re: Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job
#114create a text file, and write down every piece of information you hear. server names, where documentation is, who knows what, etc...
I simply call mine "life.md" .
This will be invaluable because you won't have to ask twice about a piece of information that you've learned because you'll already have it written down.
Re: Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job
#115- Don't try to get it 100% right on the first time, it's an iterative process.
- Communication is key, be 100 focused when getting the specs.
- If you get lost, if it's too much, it's time to refresh your mind. Whatever it is you can outgrow it with less effort if your mind is fresh.
- If you don't get a good treatment, maybe it's not the right place for you.
Re: Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job
#116I’ve only recently learned this but letting go of your ego and being easy to work with rather than constantly believing you are “right” is going to get you extremely far and you’ll be able to learn how people think and be able to judge if you want to model them (or absolutely not). So basically if you think your boss knows nothing, got there by luck and you are finding everything they do irritates you; it’s you not t…
One of the best experiences of my career was making a friend who always admits to not knowing something. I've never thought less of him for it at the time and the accumulation of knowledge from just asking people is staggering.
Also, it's much nicer to work with someone without an ego. Keeps the whole team happy.
Re: Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job
#117> And whats your best tip for life in general? 1) Take copious notes (in whatever format works for you). 2) Confirm managers decisions with a recap email (especially when you disagree with them). 3) Understand that while you may not like politics (I don't) knowing how the game is played allows you to mostly stay out of it. 4) Work time is work time, learn to be productive and then go home and switch off . 5) Work fri…
> 5) Work friends are NOT friends. I have made some extremely good friends through work, including the individual who, outside my family, is the person who I still see that I have known the longest in my life (we started our new jobs at the same company on the same day, approx 35 years ago). The mistake is when your colleagues become your only friends. Changing jobs can see you lose your entire 'support network'. Alw…
I totally agree and your point reminds of a guy named noah glass who started twitter but got betrayed by his own so called work friend
Re: Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job
#118” Showing up is 80 percent of life.” attributed to Woody Allen
Re: Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job
#119Up until now, educators have been required to be clear about expectations (rubrics, curricula, syllabi) and outcomes (grades, certificates, report cards).
It varies a bit by profession, but that sort of structure goes away very suddenly once your career starts. In some ways, that structure is already an illusion because many professions utterly ignore grades after only a few years of experience are added to a resume.
Initially, it is very liberating to not have another quiz, test, dissertation, or other deadline looming. Enjoy that reprieve.
People canny about doing excellent work and advancing their careers will soon notice that they have a relatively open feedback loop. They deliver work, someone accepts the work with little constructive criticism, and then they move on to the next bit of work. But was it 'A' work? We're there mistakes to be corrected? Was the work below average in quality? Was it overproduced?
Will your work get you the raises and promotions you want? The next job you want? Will it advance the goals of your team? Does it even give you decent job security? Typical companies will have annual or semiannual feedback processes, but that is like turning in all the homework, quizzes, tests, papers, etc., then only getting a semester report card for feedback. And only then finding out that your grader ignored homework and valued office hour participation highly this whole time.
What to do? Understand that it's your job to seek high quality feedback from whoever you can find. Peer reviews, mentors, your boss, your boss's boss, people who have the kinds of jobs you want, and so on. You might have to get out and network professionally to grow a set of people to help you in this way.
That means, to be excellent at your job and career, do not exclusively take direction from your immediate supervisor. Certainly be an excellent team member and keep your boss proud of you, but if you are only waiting around for the next assignment from the boss, you'll likely stunt your growth.
There is no set program for you to follow anymore. If you don't want to be wandering around blind, you need to do your own research and get your own feedback.
ADDENDUM: I guess I didn't say this explicitly. For the same reasons, it's also your job to make sure expectations are clear before starting an assignment, project, or other goal. Good bosses are good at this, but everyone has flaws and you want to thrive even under mediocre or poor management.
Re: Ask HN: Tips for students before starting their first job
#120> And whats your best tip for life in general? 1) Take copious notes (in whatever format works for you). 2) Confirm managers decisions with a recap email (especially when you disagree with them). 3) Understand that while you may not like politics (I don't) knowing how the game is played allows you to mostly stay out of it. 4) Work time is work time, learn to be productive and then go home and switch off . 5) Work fri…
> 5) Work friends are NOT friends. I have made some extremely good friends through work, including the individual who, outside my family, is the person who I still see that I have known the longest in my life (we started our new jobs at the same company on the same day, approx 35 years ago). The mistake is when your colleagues become your only friends. Changing jobs can see you lose your entire 'support network'. Alw…
>Changing jobs can see you lose your entire 'support network'
I have a wild tinfoil hat conspiracy theory that all corporate social events and activities are designed to foster this kind of 'support network' to discourage employees from leaving. I wondered why so many people stayed away from those when I started my first job.