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Four Ways to Earn Respect at Your First Entry Level Job

Peter Vogt, Monster Senior Contributing Writer

When you’ve worked so hard to get that first entry-level job after college, the last thing you want is to screw it up. Sadly, new grads do it all the time.

The problem rarely stems from lack of knowledge or poor technical skills. It often goes back to something simpler: Your persona in the workplace, particularly during your first few weeks on the job.

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Remember the spot on your second-grade report card that said “works and plays well with others”? This skill is still important, because it’s shockingly easy to make an awful first impression on your new colleagues –- the kind that will taint your reputation the entire time you’re with the organization.

How do you save yourself and perhaps even your career? Here are four key attitudes and behaviors.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

“You may be a smart cookie, but as a 20-something, you’re still a relative newbie in the business world,” says Alexandra Levit, author of They Don’t Teach Corporate in College.

So tread lightly when it comes to sharing your groundbreaking ideas, especially when you’re the new person.

“Resist the temptation to jump in and take over projects or to assume that you know how things should be done,” Levit says. “Older colleagues with more experience will perceive this behavior as arrogance and will quickly dismiss your valuable input.”

A Sincere ‘Thank You’ Goes a Long Way

Isn’t it nice to hear “thank you” once in a while? Your coworkers feel the same way. So does your boss.

“Your manager is a human being who likes to feel appreciated, just as you do,” says Susan Stern, president of Stern + Associates, a public relations and marketing firm in Cranford, New Jersey. “That means that if your manager takes you to lunch, gives you a gift, bonus or raise, or even hosts a company party, you should reply with a heartfelt ‘thank you.’”

Few Go Above and Beyond

You’ll be amazed by the number of clock-watchers you’ll be working with. These workers do only what’s asked of them and put in their 40 hours a week, not a second more.

Their indifference can be your gain if you simply offer to take on additional assignments or put in extra time once in a while.

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“Happy volunteers rack up points,” says Stern. “Companies are always impressed with junior staffers who are willing to pay their dues, roll up their sleeves and pitch in to help. By exhibiting this type of can-do attitude and leaving your ego at the doorstep, you’ll show management that you’re committed to hard work, advancement and the team effort.”

Listening Is Highly Underrated

“This should be an obvious one, but many entry-level workers are anxious to prove their knowledge, and they speak without listening first,” says Mary Harris, a corporate etiquette and protocol consultant in Fort Lauderdale.

The unintended result: An image of a snotty know-it-all with no regard for more-experienced colleagues.

So above all, learn to really listen, says Marjorie Brody, head of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania-based Brody Communications and coauthor of Help! Was That a Career Limiting Move?

“When you understand what people are saying to you and need of you rather than always focusing on your own agenda, you garner respect from your colleagues as someone who is attentive and cares,” she explains.

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Should You Take a Year Off After Graduation?

                      Peter Vogt MC Career Coach

You’d like to take a few months or even a year after college to do something off the beaten career path, but you’re worried about the effect on your job prospects after your self-imposed sabbatical is over. Take heart: Such a break can often be empowering and beneficial to your career.

  “If an employer thinks you wasted a year by biking in Eastern Europe or tutoring children at a homeless shelter, then why would you want to work for that employer?” says Jerry Houser, director of the Career Development Center at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California.

Besides, says Colleen Kinder, author of Delaying the Real World: ATwentysomething’s Guide to Seeking Adventure, potential employers will just as likely respect your decision as question it.

“I gathered the stories and tips of over a hundred young adventurers for Delaying the Real World,” says Kinder, a 2003 Yale graduate who after graduation lived in Cuba, traveled throughout Latin America and volunteered with the elderly. “So many of them stressed how much their unconventional experiences have benefited their careers.”

Time Off Shouldn’t Be Just a Vacation

But unconventional shouldn’t mean unproductive. Investing your time, energy and money in traveling abroad, volunteering or otherwise expanding your horizons can pay career dividends if you learn about yourself along the way.

“Learn what makes you happy, sad, angry, hopeful; learn about your integrity, how you make decisions, how you interact with others, because [as an employer], I’m going to ask you about these,” says Steven Levy, principal of Huntington Bay, New York-based Outside-the-Box Consulting, a human resources development company.

Scott Dinsmore has plenty of answers for any interviewer. A 2004 graduate of the University of California-Santa Barbara, Dinsmore spent last year in Sevilla, Spain, where he not only taught English to native Spanish-speaking professionals but also launched and ran a business around his instructional activities. Now he’s searching for a consulting job in the San Francisco Bay Area, and his Spain experiment is only helping his cause.

“So far, the interviewers and people I’ve met with have been very impressed with what I did last year and the experience that I was able to create for myself,” says Dinsmore.

Allison Aiken shares similar sentiments. After graduating from the University of South Carolina in May 2000, she spent three months working and saving money so she could head for Edinburgh, Scotland, in September. There, through a “working holidays” program called BUNAC, Aiken served as a receptionist in a doctor’s office before traveling through Europe and the Philippines.

“Most employers have thought it was a great thing for me to do,” says Aiken, who now does media relations, event planning, media research and PR strategy/planning for clients as an assistant account executive for Tugboat Communications in Charlotte, North Carolina. “They all have come to me as a sort of international expert in work-related situations, and they’ve often told me that even though I may still be young, my experiences have proven that I’m wiser than my age.”

Manage the Career Risks

A postgraduation hiatus, as Houser calls it, does pose some career-related risks. For starters, you’ll have to work hard to reconnect with old contacts on your return, warns Krystal Temple, a 2005 Arizona State University grad who is now an account coordinator for Tempe, Arizona-based advertising and public relations firm Off Madison Ave.

“Many potential employers questioned why I didn’t have a job right away after graduating, and some were not that impressed or didn’t admire the fact that I was trying to better myself,” says Temple, who participated in a postgraduation seven-week study-abroad program in Spain. However, “some did take into consideration that traveling abroad was interesting and worthy and important.”

So while there’s always that voice telling you to take the conventional career path right after graduation, give equal time to the one saying, “Do something different, and do it now — while you still can.”

“I cannot express the importance of it enough,” Dinsmore says. “Some people see me as being a year behind compared to everyone who jumped into the grind straight out of college. But I’m confident that my experience put me leaps ahead.”