My First Job Offer
Getting your first job offer is a rite of passage, and everyone remembers their first!
No matter your education career to date - you could be an Ivy League Grad or someone who’s left high school with their eyes on joining the workforce - traversing the job application environment and snaring your first job is vindication of your applicability, interview prowess, eagerness to learn and hard working values.
On average, American’s have 12 main jobs over their working life. Your first job will by no means be the best, or most defining, and it most certainly won’t be your best paid, but it will be a huge learning curve and a memorable experience.
It’s also a time where you make mistakes, learn your craft, adapt and overcome challenges and discover truly where your heart lies in regard to your career. So it’s best not to take your first job as emblematic of your path and future: it’s merely one step closer to where you want to be!
However, it is essential you prepare for your first job like you’ll prepare for every job: with diligent administration and planning.
There are a few crucial steps you need to take once you’ve accepted your first job offer to make sure you’re prepared and ready to step into your new workplace, that you’re ready for day 1, and that you’re giving your employer the right information they need to get you on the books, looked after and paid!
Your application history and recruitment journey to date
- Once you’ve accepted your new job, it’s time to close the loop on other applications, graduate outreach and networking approaches. However, how you go about this will set you up for the future.
- Make sure you close any outstanding recruitment relationships or active applications immediately, but give the recruiters, graduate handlers or HR staff a personalized message thanking them for their hard work, telling them about your new job and making sure they know your inbox is always open.
- Networking for graduates is a lesson in humility and placement - you want to make sure every available avenue that can be opened will be opened for future opportunity. Keep a positive relationship with your recruiters and you never know what will happen in future.
Thank your new Boss
- Parallel to our advice on interview preparation, a Thank You letter is essential in any job application, but it’s more acute when it's your first: not only does it solidify your eagerness for the job, it shows respect and deference to their position and the opportunity.
Budget!
- Time to talk money! Your first job is where you get to see the results of your hard labour in the form of cold hard cash. However, living isn’t cheap and, despite the envy-inducing salaries in some unique industries most young workers will have to take a diligent eye to monthly and weekly budgets to make sure your ends are being met and you’re able to live a life of purpose and happiness.
- Consider: post-pandemic commute; retirement funds; insurance, food, bills and utilities, student loan repayments, payment plans on cars, tax and pre-tax contributions and, where possible, savings.
Consider your career...seriously.
- Although it’s early days in your career, the time to start thinking about short, medium and long terms goals is now. Thanks to in-work mentoring, the internet, glassdoor and a multitude of other channels, it’s easier than ever to see how the ladder of opportunity opens up in front of you.
- It may be that what you’ve decided to do is your dream job - so make networking both in your work and in your industry an absolute priority. Where possible ask for mentors or access to L&D (learning and development) programmes. Ask about how your performance will be monitored and once you’re comfortable, be open about your plans and drive going forward. No employer is going to look down at a young worker keen to learn and grow.
- On the flip side are those who realise the first job they’ve chosen isn’t for them. It’s important to remember you are far from being alone! Many millions of people change career paths completely, multiple times in their career. The point is you have to be able to exit this role having learned everything you can about the role, know your worth and value within it, and know what transferable skills are applicable to other industries you do want to learn in.
- Job Acceptance Hack! Make a vision board! Physically write down, design or display a 3 month, 6 month, 1 year, 3 year and 5 year plan on a whiteboard, word document, even a notes file on your phone. Actualize what you want from this job, and use this document as a kind of personal career mission statement. This document will remind you every time you look at it that you’re working towards a goal, whatever it is!