I aspire to be an optometrist someday, so one year ago, I started my first job at an eye doctor’s office as a receptionist. It was the perfect chance to gain experience and insight into the profession. Suffice it to say, I wasn’t expecting or prepared for what I had signed up for.
Fast forward to today, and I can proudly say that I’m much more confident and happier in my position. Along the way, I learned some lessons, and here are the main ones that I wish I knew from day one.
- It will be overwhelming at the start.
After my first day on the job, I went home and cried. No one treated me poorly, and nothing bad specifically happened. I was just overwhelmed.
A new job means you’re thrown into a new environment with the hopes of learning how to swim. It’s impossible to not feel flooded with new skills that you need to learn as soon as possible. If I could talk to the person I was a year ago, I would tell her to give herself more grace and time to adjust because it’s a normal process.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Sitting in an office chair behind the front desk, I wanted to be useful. Becoming useful required asking questions and being led through the steps by my coworkers. Unfortunately, sometimes I felt bad asking questions and didn’t want to be a nuisance.
The sooner I learned that asking questions was expected and necessary, I made more progress and felt greater confidence performing tasks. It’s easy to tell yourself that everyone is busy and will be irritated by your questions, but they’re also there to help you learn and adjust.
- Find a friend.
Establishing a coworker who I felt comfortable going to with my questions made it easier for me to ask them. Luckily, I was also working with two other college students who I could talk to about work-related things as well as everyday topics.
At a certain point, I started wondering whether certain questions were no longer acceptable, and I was expected to know the answers to them. Feeling comfortable and having banter with someone made it easier to ask those questions I was embarrassed about.
- Build a relationship with everyone around you.
Even though I initially formed a relationship with the college students working with me, I also made an effort to talk to the woman who worked at the office full time. She was married and had two children, so sometimes it was difficult to relate to things, but there were still normal topics that anyone can engage in.
Being friendly and feeling amicable with everyone at work further put me at ease and created the kind of atmosphere that I felt motivated to continue improving.
- Keep track of what you earn.
This was my first time being paid regularly, and I felt more like an adult and more independent. It was also easy to start spending my money here and there, and it started to add up to more than I thought.
Now, I keep a detailed spreadsheet of all my earnings and what I spend it on. Having all my finances tracked, however modest, makes me more aware and smarter with my money.
My experience working for the first time as a college student can be described as both stressful and enriching. Through it all, I learned some valuable lessons and hopefully they’ll come in handy moving forward!