5 WAYS TO STAND OUT AS A NEWBIE

Happy New Month Blog Bestie, It has been an amazing journey so far, and if you have been reading and following all my weekly blog posts. I just want to say thank you.

This month makes it five months since I joined the working force and it has truly been amazing, of course, they were up and downs but God dey for me (laughing emoji)

In today’s blog post have a guest writer by the name of Emediong, she is a very good friend of mine, someone I knew last year and it seems like we have known each other for a long time.

Before I start writing about her, let me jump into today’s lessons. As a newbie in the workforce, I would be sharing with you 5 ways to stand out and give value as a newbie in the sector you find yourself.

As I earlier mentioned, my friend shared with me 3 lessons on ways to stand out and give value as a newbie, isn’t that lovely (smiling emoji)

Let’s Dive in:

1. Be Observant: When I first started working, I just wanted to work. I hated the fact of not doing anything significant. I wanted a big task that I wasn’t prepared for. I felt guilty that I was being paid for not doing anything significant. My desire to just work, I forgot to observe how things are done and this led to me making errors in the tasks I was given because I didn’t take out time to properly observe how things were done. So if you are just starting and you are like me who likes to work, please relax, task will come, just take the time to understand the system of the organization you would be working with. My boss gave me a break and told me to observe and I improved after the short period of just doing little tasks, I also saw that even what I was doing at that was relevant. Now my boss praises me for the work I do. Therefore, to stand out and give value, first observe and understand your environment.

2. Focus on why you were hired: Every employer’s goal is to hire people who will provide value and proffer solutions for the organization. Thus, every employee is presumed to be a value adder and solution provider. As a new employee, one way to stand out is to understand why you were hired and work toward that goal. Most new employees struggle to offer value because they are preoccupied with other activities such as getting to know people or being everyone’s favorites rather than focusing on what they were employed to do. When you focus on the reasons why you were hired, you produce results quickly and that will make you stand out.

3. Be Open to Learning: Your mind should be open to learning. I ask a lot of questions at work because I genuinely want to know why it was done that way. My boss usually says, my protocols are too much (laughing emoji). So to stand out as a newbie be open to learning. By learning, you get a better understanding of your job description even when it is your first experience of that type of job. Learn from your line manager and also from your colleague. We had a lot of work this past week and my colleague has a report she needs to prepare before this coming Monday, but she also has invoices to raise. She called me to help her with the invoice so she can focus on completing the report. If I had not learned about it, I would have not been able to help her out. Learning is not restricted to your environment alone, take courses online that can help you with producing better value. The same colleague does Data analysis and she said, she is going to take out to time to get a course on it so she can be better in her presentation of reports. So my dear blog bestie, be open to learning. Sometimes, what you may learn may not be directly needed for this job role, it could be for the next job you take.

4. Seeing feedback as an opportunity to improve: I mentioned that I had made errors at the beginning of my work but with the feedback I got from my boss and colleague, I was able to improve. You have indeed been hired because you were the best fit for the job. However, one thing every employer values is an employee who is open to learning. Feedback is a learning methodology whose aim is not to make you feel bad, but to help you understand that there is a better way to do the work. As a newbie who wants to stand out in an organization, you must be willing to accept feedback from both your employer and your coworkers. You can also ask for feedback. Taking feedback and acting on them will make people perceive you as a valuable person and it will distinguish you from other employees.

5. Knowing when and how to take initiative: This is another thing employers look out for in every new hire. You do not always need to wait until you are told what to do. Employers value people who take initiative. They admire people who can take action without being told. As a newbie, the next time you encounter a problem in your line of work you have a solution to it, take action right away. If your boss has to remind you what to do all the time, he or she may become tired of it and will start seeking a replacement sooner or later.

I hope you love the writing of my dear friend (she gave out 3 points for today’s post), try to guess which of them and tell me in the comment section.

It was lovely writing this, initially, I was blank on what to write for this week’s post but the God that I serve brought a wonderful friend called Emediong to boost my inspiration. Thank you, my dear friend. Thank you to all my blog besties and finally thank you, my savior.

I hope you don’t just read but, put this into practice, and even if you are still in school, you can apply all these lessons to your role as a financial secretary, president, class rep, chapel worker, and whatever position you find yourself in school.

Till I write again…

Your Blog Bestie,

Omoye