Transition into the Workplace Training
Topic outline
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Click on the sections below to learn more about how to transition into the workplace.
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In a professional setting, you will be expected to write in an appropriate tone. Here are some pointers:
- Now and again, when communicating information, we can all slip into informal – or ‘text’ – language. In a professional environment, refrain from using informal language or abbreviations – lol or haha - even with colleagues you have a friendly relationship with.
- Re-read everything you write whether it is an email, a document or a presentation. It is easy, especially when typing over a long period of time, to make mistakes in spelling or grammar. Turning on the spellcheck function under ‘settings’ on your email provider will be useful to rectify typos: the red underscores are your best friend.
- Know your Cc’s from your Bcc’s.
-Cc means ‘copying’ someone into your email, and is useful in an office setting when the content of your email is of interest to more people than the primary recipient. All recipients can see who is Cc’d into each email.
-On the other hand, Bcc'ing or ‘blind carbon copying’ someone into an email means that other recipients can’t see that the Bcc’d person has been included. This can be particularly important when you send out an email to multiple recipients and you wish their email addresses to remain private.
- Ensure that your subject line is relevant. For example, if the content of the email is about a meeting next week, call it, meeting next week. This enables your colleagues to respond with the appropriate urgency to your email, and prioritise their own workload.
- Keep it clear. State why you are writing the email within the first few sentences.
- Sign in, and out, appropriately. As a general rule, ‘Dear’ is the appropriate term when emailing somebody for the first time. Depending on your relationship with the person, ‘Hi’ becomes appropriate after you have been in correspondence for a while. Whatever your relationship with the person, sign off; Kind regards, Many thanks or Best wishes are all fine. It is a good idea to mirror the tone the recipient uses to address you, if you are unsure.
For further clarification, this Forbes article advises how to be a better business writer: http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2015/04/27/10-tips-for-better-business-writing-3/#56d202155074
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Being able to listen and share information in a clear and concise way is very important in any professional environment. It is also crucial to be able to build relationships with colleagues and clients. Here is how to ensure your verbal communication is both appropriate and effective:
- Open communication is paramount. It is part of your supervisor’s role to offer advice and assistance. Communicating openly is important and ensures that both you and the organisation get the most out of your placement – don’t be afraid to approach them with any questions or issues you may have. You may need a day off for personal reasons, or perhaps you are having difficulty with a task. Communicate openly, and your supervisor is more likely to be flexible, seeking a compromise that works for you both.
- A few standard questions early on will go a long way. When you start a new role, be sure to ask the following:
- What method of communication do you prefer – email, face-to-face or telephone?
- What's your work schedule, and what are your expectations of mine?
- Would you prefer me to ask questions as they come up, or should we set aside a time each week to talk about these?
- Would you like me to check in with you daily to update you on the progress I'm making in my project?
- Is there a certain way you would like me to answer the telephone – e.g. introducing myself with the name of the organisation?
- What are the working hours here?
- Do you have a preferred time that you would like me to take my lunch break?
Once you understand what is expected of you, it will be easier to navigate your work.
- Use your initiative and be solutions focused. Try and find answers to any questions you may have independently first, and bring evidence of what avenues you have tried to meetings. This approach will help your supervisor help you!
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Office etiquette is tricky, as it often depends on the particular environment you are in. How you dress, behave and interact with others is going to be different in a professional environment than in university. It is a good idea to observe the behaviour of your supervisor and colleagues as an indicator of how you should behave. When do people leave the office at the end of the day? How long do they take for lunch? Do people leave the office space to take personal telephone calls? Read on for tips on office etiquette:
- This one goes without saying, but always turn up to your job or to meetings on time. If you are going to be late for any reason – delayed transport for example – notify your supervisor, or the office, in advance.
- Be respectful to everybody in the organisation, from the cleaner, to the receptionist, to the CEO.
- Dress professionally. If you are unsure what is appropriate clothing for your particular working environment, take a cue from your colleagues, or ask your supervisor for a dress code. On your first day, play it safe, and dress in smart clothing.
- Keep mobile phone and personal internet use to an absolute minimum. If you do need to use your phone or the internet for a non-work related purpose, ask your supervisor.
- Don’t over or under exaggerate the status of a project when speaking to your boss or colleagues. You need to be honest about your workload, as this affects your colleagues’ workloads.
- Whatever your privacy settings on social media, never post anything about your workplace, work-related issues, or your colleagues. If you are using LinkedIn, ensure your profile is maintained to a professional standard. For advice on using LinkedIn correctly, follow the link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2014/09/07/three-steps-to-writing-the-perfect-linkedin-summary/#6b9a4ca35b06
- Never put anything in writing that you wouldn’t want a client to read.
- If you are required to attend events as part of your role, remember to dress, behave and interact in a way that positively reflects the organisation.
- Importantly, show passion and enthusiasm for the work that you do.
For more, visit Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2014/04/07/office-etiquette-tips-to-overcome-bad-manners-at-work/#2104c7e21f4a
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From time to time, a placement won’t be what you thought. After all, there is no set syllabus in a job like there is on a university course: progression can feel slower, your role will vary day to day and problems will arise that you may have to manoeuvre with less support with tasks. Below is some feedback QM students have given us when their placement isn’t as they imagined. Some of these may articulate how you are feeling:
- 'I've been on my placement for a week now, and the work isn't as exciting as I thought it'd be.'
- ‘My role is getting really hard, and I don’t know if I can do it.’
- ‘I’m having to take on a lot of responsibility on my own. I’m not sure whether I’m ready for this.’
- ‘They use industry jargon and software that I am not familiar with.’
- ‘I thought I knew how to use Excel, but not the way they want me to.’
Here’s what we would say to these students;
- Some projects can take time to get going. The first few weeks in a new role tend to be spent familiarising yourself with the organisation and its processes and getting to grips with the project you’ll be working on. Any new starter, from an intern to a manager, is going to find this period difficult, and you shouldn’t be put off by it. The knowledge you gain during this time will help with tackling more challenging tasks further down the line.
- Challenges are a good thing; they will arise in any role. Don’t be daunted when a challenge arises. In fact, these encounters are exactly what you want, as they enable you to showcase your problem solving skills in future job applications and interviews. Make sure you bear in mind all the challenges you face, and how you overcame them (e.g. by negotiating, by using communication skills, by delegating) so that you have these ready. If it helps to keep a diary, do!
- Flexibility is important. The nature of a role or a project can often change outside your expectations. Being flexible and open minded will make you an apt problem solver in the future.
- You’ll gain independence and confidence. Although support from your supervisor is welcome, it is important to be able to work independently and with limited supervision; this is how you develop graduate level skills.
Here are some things students have said after sticking with it:
- ‘It felt like quite a daunting idea at first but I feel I have learnt a lot from it.’
- ‘It allowed me to learn a whole host of new skills and reinforced the skills I already had. It gave me a lot of confidence in terms of being aware of my own ability.’
- ‘I think the project is just about to get to its most interesting part, but the steps up until now have all been very necessary in getting me to this point. I think my degree set me up well for the patience and focus on process that this project has involved.’
- ‘It has helped clarify what I would like and what I wouldn't like out of my career, and has allowed me to gain experience in areas that were previously unknown to me.’
- ‘It has really helped me to expand my CV and given me the confidence to provide real examples of skills I felt I already had, but just couldn't prove on my CV or job applications.’
For more on sticking with it, follow Forbes:
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QM Careers & Enterprise Centre hopes that you have found this training helpful. To ensure that you have been able to take away useful knowledge and advice from this training, please take the brief quiz below. If you need any further support, please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 7882 8533 or drop by the Queens' Building, room WG 3.
