The Kubera Principle

The Book That Will Change the World

Benefits of Starting a Job

Starting a job can help you develop a variety of skills. These can be divided into two parts: hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills relate directly to what you do, such as a typist’s touch-typing or a teacher’s ability to teach children. Soft skills include the ability to get on with others and are essential in big organizations such as the Army or in customer service sectors such as retail, airlines, or banking industries.

You can learn much quicker than in a classroom. This is more practical learning straight from what you learn in the classroom to the item in practice. Many people know how to cut a piece of wood or sew cloth from a textbook, so the knowledge base is there. The employer only helps to train you in the required way of doing things. Some experts claim that work can help you make good decisions at a earlier age. For one thing, it can help you in problem solving. They are used to putting theory into practice. If you have had enough experience, it should show that your job can be executed successfully. These circumstances are when you have had the most basic knowledge and displayed that you could work successfully in a workplace where there were regulations to follow.

Job Seeking

Looking for a job for the first time is a scary endeavor. How do I start, where do I look, how do I make first contact, how do I act, how do I interview? The first thing to know is that there are no hard rules for this. Finding a job is a numbers game. Let me tell you one secret, they do not care how smart you say you are, what you say your grades are, or the special projects you’ve worked on near as much as “whether or not you can do the job” and “your loyalty as a reliable employee”. Young people come in already with a stigma that they will not be reliable, will be difficult to work with, have issues showing up to work, and/or being lazy on the job. You need to remove that stigma before talking about how great you would be. The more you can prove yourself with experience, documentation, referrals from previous jobs, or recommendations from others, the better off you will be. And for all sakes, show up nicely dressed and keep your cell phone in your pocket, turned off.

In terms of searching for a job, you will have better luck through word of mouth, and having someone that you know already working there, assuming they are a good employee. Ask your friends, ask teachers, ask your neighbors, ask school officials, and work from there. Drive or walk around your neighborhood and just walk into every place you can and simply ask. Instead of asking questions like “are you hiring” or “can I get a job application”, which is a very passive approach that hundreds of others will say, stand out by asking if they need what you have to offer. Focus on putting a vision in their mind of you being there already. What do I mean by this, let me show you some examples:
Starting your new Job

One thing to remember about your first job, it is their responsibility to train you. Make sure that they do this. You are not expected to go in knowing how to do the job, unless you have gained experience from prior jobs. Entry level job training is rarely effective, remember this. The reason being is that they do not invest much in entry level training, trainers are typically training you in addition to their own fulltime job, are usually coworkers, and when times get busy, training gets pushed aside. What this means for you is this, you have to ask questions to the point that you understand. It is not your responsibility to know everything, and those that show an interest in learning by asking questions are the ones that get ahead. This means that you may have to stop them mid-sentence to get clarification. If you do not understand, stop them, and pace them to your learning speed. They will respect you for this. The sooner you do this, the sooner you stop wasting their time. Bring and carry a notepad and pen with you. Taking notes does not stop at school. Here is an example of how to pace those training you:
Next point I want to make and listen to me well. You are there for them, not the other way around.

This last tip is very important and will truly make you stand out. Make yourself visible to your manager. Make it a point to say hi to him or her. Say bye at the end of the day. They will appreciate this. And the most impactful thing you can do is this. At the end of your first day, ask your manager how well you did and if there is anything you can improve upon. Do not be afraid to ask or for the answer. You will be immediately opening a door for them to provide good feedback and showing that you truly care about your performance. Doing this will go a long way. Enjoy your new job!