What should you not do when you get a new job? Taboos at work: what you shouldn’t do to avoid getting fired What you shouldn’t do at work

Well, you got the job. Now you can relax, put your feet up on your new desktop and start writing letters to your friends from your new email address. In reality, your first day on the job isn't the most best time to rest on your laurels. Yes, you've gone through all the interviews and selection process, but you still have a lot to do to prove to the employer what you've done right choice. The British newspaper Times cites stories of disappointed employers whose new employees did not live up to their first impressions of them.

Sissy

"A couple of weeks ago new employee suddenly showed up to work with his mother, says Donna Miller, head of human resources for a car rental company. “We had to explain to him that it was he, and not his mother, who was hired by us.” The young man, 22 years old, managed to get rid of excessive parental care and, according to Miller, now he does not have such difficulties. Specialist According to HR, this incident was attributed to the phenomenon of “overprotective parents,” but it is important to understand what is an acceptable form of behavior in the workplace.

Racer

Avoid driving aggressively on your first commute - you never know whose car you might cut off. “I heard a story about a guy who was cut off by a rude guy while driving to work and made an obscene gesture,” says Jonathan Rose, lead manager at WH Marks Stattin, responsible for recruiting new employees in the accounting department. and finance. Quite a normal event during rush hour, but it turned out that the reckless driver was in a hurry to be on time for the start of his first working day, and the victim of his rudeness was his immediate superior. Not the best best start careers.

There was an error

Jackie Maynard, Recruitment Business Partner at Mouchel, recounts a funny story that happened at her previous job. At 9 o'clock in the morning a guy came into the reception room and told the secretary what his first day of work was happening today. The secretary knew nothing about the new employee, all the managers conducting the interviews were busy, and the manager was not there. In order not to seem like an unprofessional worker, the secretary offered the guy a cup of coffee.

About an hour passed before we managed to contact the manager, who was extremely surprised by the appearance of a new employee, since no such employees were planned for that day. It turned out that the newcomer was in the wrong office; in fact, he needed to go to the company located two floors above. The embarrassment was also unpleasant because the guy was more than an hour late for his new job. The lesson to take away from this story is to carefully study the instructions about the location of your new job and remember that your first day of work may not start in the same place as where you interviewed.

Special breakfast

Newcomers to Enterprise who are about to go through their induction course often stay in a hotel, which can cause problems. “Nine new employees were supposed to show up in the lobby at 7:45 a.m.,” Miller continues to say. “However, only five showed up. The recruiter went in search and discovered the “missing thing” while having a leisurely breakfast in the restaurant.” The induction has to happen no matter how good the croissants are.

Judgment Day

Employers are especially worried about the situation when new employees begin to constantly compare their new workplace with an old job. Jackie Maynard advises against saying "On my old job they did it like this." “Now you work in a design organization and it’s unlikely that anyone is interested in what and how you did while working at an ice cream factory,” warns Jackie. Surely everything will be somewhat different, and some time will pass "There are a couple of times in my experience where people just don't show up the next day," adds Jonathan Rose, who advises being more open to change.

Beaver, breathe out!

Relax. “No one expects you to perform hard on your first day at a new job,” says Maynard. “Don’t take on an unbearable burden. It usually takes up to three months before you can more or less wrap your head around everything that’s happening in the new company.” . Miller, in turn, advises not to force events, let everything take its course. There is no need to show excessive initiative, which can scare away new colleagues from you.

Why

It's okay to ask questions about the company's performance, but when asking them, consider what impression they might leave. Here are some of the most inappropriate questions new employees have asked on their first day: “Why is there a notice period for dismissal? own wishes so long?”, “Can I expect to be able to take a long vacation at my own expense?”, and finally: “How quickly will I be promoted?” The “best” question is undoubtedly “What is the amount of my sick pay? "Recruitment specialists recommend not asking the employer questions that would cast doubt on your interest in the job.

The life of an office worker sometimes seems regulated to the smallest detail. Do not wear jeans to work, do not discuss personal matters on the phone during working hours, don't be familiar

with clients, do not take sick leave during the reporting period... Official taboos
and unofficial... What do employers most often prohibit their employees from? According to the Research Center of the recruiting portal Superjob.ru, in 63% Russian companies

a ban has been introduced on visiting social networks such as Odnoklassniki.ru, VKontakte, Facebook, etc.

There are also so-called unwritten, unofficial taboos. These most often include disapproval of office romances, friendly relations with employees of competing companies (even if these are your old university friends), as well as all sorts of household restrictions (for example, in some companies you cannot drink tea at the computer or leave food products in the common refrigerator in the kitchen). strong odor).

...logical and absurd
How to survive in harsh corporate conditions? Is it really necessary to follow all the rules for professionals who want career growth?

On the one hand, by prohibiting, for example, smoking in the office or visiting social networks, the employer is most often guided by the interests of the business. Not every client will like a manager who lights a cigarette during negotiations. Not every employee is so self-organized that he will not spend work time for correspondence and viewing photos in Odnoklassniki. A company owner who wants to secure his company from industrial spying may well prohibit employees from logging into their personal mailbox from a work computer or using ICQ. All this can be understood if you take the position of an employer.

On the other hand, sometimes there are too many restrictions or they look wild. According to Superjob.ru, every fifth economically active Russian (21%) complains about completely absurd prohibitions - for example, you can’t laugh during working hours, congratulate colleagues on their birthday, write in blue ink, go to the toilet too often, and the number of meatballs in free "corporate" soup is strictly limited.

Experts warn that this employer behavior has a negative impact on employee motivation. Even a high salary is not encouraging when human dignity suffers. It is not surprising that in companies that are overly keen on regulating the behavior of employees, there is often a turnover of staff; for many, the feeling of internal freedom is more valuable than a workplace.

Schedule, social networks, dress code
What prohibitions should a career-oriented person definitely respect?

So, even if all the tasks for today are completed, and there are still two hours until the end of the working day, you cannot leave the office: your working time belongs to the employer, and there is no point in lamenting the restriction of freedom. It is better for a career-oriented specialist to be guided by the principle “If you’ve done something, do another one.” Surprisingly, this simple truth, judging by the comments of applicants on Superjob.ru, is not obvious to everyone.

Smoking in the workplace or socializing with classmates in the same name social network It’s also probably not worth it - the employer has the right to expect that during working hours you devote yourself entirely to work and do not smoke the room.

The need to adhere to the dress code should also be taken for granted.

This is not only in the interests of the employer (clients are more loyal to a company whose employees look businesslike), but also in your personal interests - a properly dressed specialist is adequately perceived by others and thereby earns himself a couple of extra points without much difficulty.

Be respectful of activities related to maintaining trade secrets. No matter how surprising the requirement not to use mobile phones in the office building may seem, try to understand why the company's management was forced to resort to such measures.
You set boundaries too.

But is it worth observing rules and prohibitions that clearly limit your personal freedom? In some matters, boundaries are set not only by the employer, but also by you. For example, if the schedule of collective smoking breaks suits you, you can easily do without unnecessary conflicts with your superiors and accept the situation as a given. If the body requires nicotine outside of the schedule, discuss this with direct

leader. Explain that you understand the company’s desire to rationally use working time, but such detailed regulation deprives you of inspiration and demotivates you.

Whether or not to work for a company that restricts its employees too harshly is up to you in any case. However, it is worth remembering that sometimes it is easier to change your attitude towards a situation than the situation itself.

The British newspaper Times cites stories of disappointed employers whose new employees did not live up to their first impressions of them. What should you not do when you get a new job? How to prove to the employer that he made the right choice?

Sissy

“A couple of weeks ago, a new employee suddenly showed up to work with his mother,” says Donna Miller, head of human resources for a car rental company. “We had to explain to him that it was he, and not his mother, who was hired by us.” The young man, 22 years old, managed to get rid of excessive parental care and, according to Miller, now he does not have such difficulties. The HR professional chalked up the incident to the phenomenon of “overprotective parents,” but it is important to understand what constitutes acceptable behavior in the workplace.

Racer

There was an error

Jackie Maynard, HR Business Partner at Mouchel, recounts a funny story that happened at her previous job. At 9 o'clock in the morning a guy came into the reception room and told the secretary what his first day of work was happening today. The secretary knew nothing about the new employee, all the managers conducting the interviews were busy, and the manager was not there. In order not to seem like an unprofessional worker, the secretary offered the guy a cup of coffee.

About an hour passed before we managed to contact the manager, who was extremely surprised by the appearance of a new employee, since no such employees were planned for that day. It turned out that the newcomer ended up in the wrong office; in fact, he needed to go to the campaign, located two floors above. The embarrassment was also unpleasant because the guy was more than an hour late for his new job. The lesson to take away from this story is to carefully study the instructions about the location of your new job and remember that your first day of work may not start in the same place as where you interviewed.

Special breakfast

Newcomers to Enterprise who are about to go through their induction course often stay in a hotel, which can cause problems. “Nine new employees had to show up in the lobby at 7:45 a.m.,” Miller continues. - However, only five showed up. The recruiter went searching and discovered the “missing” item while having a leisurely breakfast in a restaurant.” The induction has to happen no matter how good the croissants are.

Judgment Day

Employers are especially stressed when new employees begin to constantly compare their new workplace with their old job. Jackie Maynard advises against saying things like, “At my old job they did it like this.” “Now you work in a design organization and it’s unlikely that anyone is interested in what and how you did while working at an ice cream factory,” warns Jackie. Surely everything will be somewhat different, and it will take some time until you get used to it. “I've had a couple of cases where people just haven't shown up the next day,” adds Jonathan Rose, who advises being more open to change.

Beaver, breathe out!

Relax. “No one expects you to perform hard on your first day at a new job,” says Maynard. - Don’t take on an unbearable burden. It usually takes up to three months before everything that’s happening in the new company more or less fits into your head.” Miller, in turn, advises not to force events, let everything take its course. There is no need to show excessive initiative, which can scare away new colleagues from you.

Why

It's okay to ask questions about the company's performance, but when asking them, consider what impression they might leave. Here are some of the most inappropriate questions new employees have asked on their first day: “Why is the notice period for voluntary resignation so long?”, “Can I count on the opportunity to take an extended vacation at my own expense?”, and finally: “How quickly will I be promoted?” The “best” question is undoubtedly “How much is my sick pay?” Recruitment specialists recommend not asking the employer questions that would cast doubt on your interest in the job.

How to behave correctly at work and still feel comfortable enough? There are rules and recommendations on what mistakes you should not make in the workplace, adherence to which can help you adapt to a new place and help you start a successful career.

Often, the direct employer, when accepting a new employee into the team, observes his behavior, correct and incorrect movements for the first month. And yet, what are the taboos at work?

Don't break the rules and you'll be rewarded

There are the so-called “7 commandments of what not to do in an office job.”

Do not steal. No matter how strange it may sound, this point is very important for an office employee. You cannot take his paper, pen, notepad, or disk without your co-worker’s knowledge. It is either his thing or the property of the company. Upon learning of such an innocent-looking prank, the reaction of both the employee and the manager can be unpredictable.
Don't blame others for your personal mistakes. Often one employee shifts the blame onto another in order to appear bad to the manager. better light. This is actually dishonest and stupid. It’s easier to blame another person for a mistake and not admit that your mistake negatively affected the overall result of the work. But in fact, it’s mean and base to lie and throw mud at a colleague just to protect yourself from shame. Having learned the truth, the boss will probably think about how to urgently find an employee who is more decent and honest.
Don't talk too much and don't gossip. At work, as they say, you should keep your mouth shut, not discuss management and under no circumstances pass on gossip. Participation in intrigues and discussions may end sadly for you. Especially if, as a result, the authorities find out that it was you who started the rumor, or you are an active part of this unpleasant matter.
Don't give off illness. Being sick at work, especially often, is an indicator of the employee’s low productivity and ability to work. Employees who have high level performance and efficiency. If you are simply tired of the work process, the team, or a career crisis has overtaken you, take an honest day off at your own expense and rest the way you want.
If you are sick, get treatment at home. We recommend that you do not go to work if you are really sick. Excessive zeal for work, enthusiasm and responsibility can sometimes harm not only you, but your colleagues. If you are actually sick with something, then you cannot go to work; infecting your co-workers is a bad way to gain their favor and respect. Be sure to take sick leave and recover at home. It’s unlikely that anyone will appreciate the patient’s crazy feat, but it’s easy to screw up in such a state.
Do not discuss or speak in a group about purely personal topics. Your problems family life Don’t discuss it too heatedly in the work team. If something in your personal life does not allow you to work effectively, this is simply a reason for leave or even dismissal. Pointless discussions and arguments on the topic of family difficulties and problems do not present you as a professional.
Don't dress sloppily. Carelessness and negligence is a very bad indicator and negative quality of a person. It doesn’t matter your social status, your age, the position you hold at the company, what your relationship is with your superiors, or how you got to work even in the hot season, you need to decide. Your appearance should be on the level, it’s not about the brand of your things, but about cleanliness, neatness and compliance with the office style.

Although your first day on the job can be stressful, it is important to channel your energy and produce good impression.

1. Prepare and ask questions

Mark Strong, a career and personal development consultant, believes that the first day of work should be more about listening. “Overall, you must demonstrate interest, curiosity and a desire to learn. However, beware of asking too many questions on the first day. You have plenty of time ahead to learn the job.” Lynn Taylor, a work organization expert and author of Tame Your Formidable Office Tyrant and Manage Your Boss Like a Child and Thrive at Work, advises writing down general and specific questions that will help you be more successful in your role. “You have a lot of knowledge about the company that you can deepen with specific questions in the first meeting with the manager. Have a list of things you want to ask your manager handy. Make sure you have an HR contact who can handle basic issues before you start your workday.”

2. Prepare a short story about yourself

Be prepared to talk for 30 seconds about yourself and where you worked before, as many colleagues will want to know more about you, says Taylor. Also be prepared to explain what you will do in your new location. Some may have little idea of your responsibilities (or may just want to strike up a conversation).

3. Arrive early

Arrive at your new job at least 15 minutes early, says Teri Hocket, executive director of What's for work, a career development site for women. “If you've never been to this part of town, try getting here a couple of times during rush hour. This way you will know what to prepare for and there will be no surprises for you.”

4. Study the situation

The two most important factors that determine success at work are getting along with colleagues and maintaining relationships with the right ones, says David Parnell, legal consultant and communications coach. “In any organization of any size you will find people who get along with their bosses better than others. If you want to advance and gain a better position in the company, you need to build relationships with the right people.”

5. Relax

When solving strategic problems, do not forget to relax on your first day of work. This will help you improve your performance. Make sure you are rested the night before, prepared, and able to get to work on time. This is a clear indicator of your desire to be your best self, so be your best.

6. Smile

“Obviously, you spent some effort looking for a job, getting an interview. And now that you've settled into your desk chair, remember to have fun and enjoy the moment,” says Hockett. Strong agrees, adding, “We all know how important first impressions are. Smile when you meet new people and shake hands. Get to know everyone and show how happy and enthusiastic you are to be here. Your colleagues will remember you.”

7. Get into character and play it.

“This is not the best time to be complacent and stroll around the office with a cup of coffee, nor is it a good time to make witty jokes or discuss breaking news,” says Taylor. If you are in doubt about how to behave, take a conservative approach in dress and manner of communication. Behave the same way you would during an interview. Hockett advises deciding on a dress code in advance to avoid looking out of place on the first day: “This is important because the way we dress can turn people off instead of winning them over.” Ideally, you need to achieve harmony between yourself and your environment so that you and they feel comfortable. If you have any concerns about the dress code, call HR and ask questions.

8. Don't be embarrassed

Be sure to shake hands and introduce yourself to the team.

9. Don't overdo it

Too much desire making an impression can backfire, so remember that you've already been accepted and don't need to overwhelm your new colleagues, says Taylor. Every new employee dreams that others will appreciate how talented and unique he is; or noted how quickly and how effectively he got a new position. But this may be a waste of effort. Behave naturally - this way you will get used to it faster.

10. Don't skip lunch

“If new colleagues or your boss invite you to have lunch together, don’t refuse,” says Hocket. “It is important to show that you are ready to join the team and become part of a new team - this way you will save the sandwiches you brought from home.”

11. ListenAndwatch

The best thing you can do in your first few days at a new job is listen, listen, listen, Strong says. “It’s not time to formulate your own opinion yet. Be friendly, get to know people, smile and listen.” This is an excellent opportunity to learn about the goals of your manager and other team members, departments and major projects. This is a chance to understand the big picture and priorities. Be prepared to take in a lot of information, Taylor advises.

12. Pay attention to how decisions are made

By listening and observing, it's worth paying attention to how decisions are made, Parnell says. “Regardless of the size of the company, it is characterized by one or another decision-making culture: ad hoc, when decisions are made after the event has occurred; or ex ante, when the event has not yet occurred. This is necessary to know how to act.” If you need rigid boundaries and support, you will have to activate your own potential to know how to act in unexpected situations. But if you want freedom and space to make your own decisions, you may have to accept control and prediction.

13. Communicate with colleagues

You can get the most valuable information about the work of your department from your colleagues. If you establish a friendly and open relationship right away, you have a chance to get off to a good start in an environment of trust. Show enthusiasm. You'll be under scrutiny, Taylor says. Your attitude to work and work discipline are the most obvious criteria for assessing you as an employee, especially since at first you will not have the opportunity to demonstrate professional skills. Everyone wants to work with people who exude enthusiasm and optimism. So show that this is exactly what can be expected of you.

14. Know your responsibilities

On your first day, your manager will tell you about your responsibilities, either verbally or in writing. This is what will help you be successful at work. “Typically, there's always a gap between what you're told to do and what actually happens,” Parnell notes. – You must not neglect either those responsibilities that are expressly formulated, or those that are simply expected of you. The sooner you find out, the better."

15. Mute mobile phone

You must be 100% immersed in your work. Especially on the first day.

16. Show interest

You will meet a lot of people, and when they try to find out something about you, try to find out something about them. It's not just flattery, it will help you do a better job, Taylor says.

17. Pay attention to body language

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