10 Ways To Be Sensationally Successful At Your New Job

(Article written by Dharmesh Shah and originally posted on Linkedin.com here)

You just got a shiny new job, at a great company. Congrats! Your first day at a new job can either be the first day of the rest of your life… or the first of a series of endless “Groundhog Day” experiences, where every day feels the same and your new job quickly seems just like the old job.

To make sure that doesn't happen, here are ten things to do differently and help you stand-out:

1. Behave as if you’re still being interviewed.

Once you’re hired it’s natural to feel a sense of accomplishment. It’s easy to assume you belong.

After all, they hired you, right? You’re awesome! And the company is brilliant for having recognized your awesomeness. High five!

Not so fast. Sure, you got hired, and in fact you may be awesome, but you haven’t actually done anything for your new company yet. All you've really shown is that you can get the great new gig.

Now you need to prove you deserve it.

Think of your first thirty to ninety days as an extended interview. Show up every day thinking you need to prove you deserved to be hired. You'll work harder, work smarter, won’t take anything for granted… and in short order you will prove you belong.

2. See your manager as a person you help, not a person who tells you what to do.

Yes, in theory, your manager gets to tell you what to do. In practice, that's probably not why she hired you.

Here’s a better approach: Your manager has things she needs to get done. See your job as helping her get those things done. The more you help her achieve her goals and targets the more highly you will be valued.

Plus you’ll find it’s a lot easier to work hard when you feel you’re helping someone instead of obeying them. And you’ll enjoy your work more too – it’s a lot more fun and an infinitely more rewarding to help than to comply.

3. Build relationships based on performance, not conversation.

Great companies with great cultures welcome new employees to the fold. Other employees go out of their way to meet and get to know you.

That’s awesome, but work still involves work, not just conversation. Be nice, be friendly, be yourself – but always remember that the best working relationships are based on respect and trust, and respect and trust are based on actions and performance, not just on words.

Prove yourself. Pitch in. Help out. Follow through. Meet every commitment. Earn the respect and trust of others and you will build truly great professional relationships.

And you’ll build some great friendships, too.

4. Go the extra mile early – and often.

Early on you probably don’t have all the skills you need. You probably don’t have all the experience. You probably don’t have all the contacts and connections.

But you can have the willingness to work extremely hard.

Work hard and everyone around you will forgive a certain lack of skill and experience. They’ll know you’re trying – and sometimes, at least for a while, that’s all that matters.

5. Spot the high performers and mimic them.

Every organization is different, which means the key attributes of top performers in those organizations are different, too.

Maybe the top performers work more – or different – hours. Maybe relationship building is more important than transactional selling. Maybe flexibility is more important than methodology.

Pick out the top performers and study them. Figure out what makes them tick. How they approach problems. How they make decisions. There’s no need to reinvent the high performance wheel; save that for when you are a top performer and want to go an even higher level.

6. Think three moves ahead.

Great chess players think many moves ahead. The current move builds a base for future moves.

You can do the same at work. Think about where a task might lead you. Think about how you can leverage your current responsibilities. Think about what skills you can learn, visibility you can gain, connections you can build… every task, every project, and every job can lead to a number of great possibilities.

Think of your current duties as one piece in a puzzle, a puzzle that you get to put together and ultimately build.

7. Find a way to stand out.

We have remarkable employees at HubSpot. We feel they have a super-power that makes them stand out in some way. Maybe they’re remarkably smart, or remarkably creative, or remarkably resourceful, or remarkably successful... each of our employees stands out in some special and unique way.

Work hard to be known for something specific. Be known for responding more quickly or following up first or always offering to help before you’re asked. Be the leader known for turning around struggling employees or creating the biggest pool of promotable talent or building bridges between different departments.

Pick a worthwhile mission – one that truly benefits the company and other employees – and work to excel at that mission. Then you’ll stand out in the best possible way.

8. Create your own project.

Succeeding and even excelling at the projects you’re assigned is expected. Excelling at a project you create yourself is exceptional.

The key is to take personal risk with a new project (while making sure the company and your colleagues shoulder most of the risk).

For example, we had a member of our sales team believe passionately in building a partner channel. It wasn't an area that anyone on the exec team was particularly excited about. But, he did it anyway. He did it on his own time, working late, trying different things… and ultimately figured it out. He is now running one of the fastest growing and productive teams in the company. He has also helped create the model for how experiments are run and managed at HubSpot.

I know what you’re thinking: “Wait. He did it on his own time?” Yes, he did. He decided to prove himself. If he had failed, there was little cost to the company so really there was nothing to lose.

But for him – and the company – there was a lot to possibly be gained.

You don’t have to wait to be asked. You don’t have to wait to be assigned. Pick a side project where, if you fail, there’s no harm and no foul, and take your shot. You never know how it will turn out… and what it will do for your career.

9. Find people to help.

You’re new. People are supposed to help you, right?

Right. And wrong.

You can start helping people now. If you see someone struggling and you don’t know what to do, say, “I’m new so you may have to tell me what to do… but I would love to help you.” If you’re in a meeting and someone else was assigned a seemingly overwhelming project, stop by later and ask if you can help. Even if you’re not taken up on it, the offer will likely be appreciated.

Or volunteer to help in an area you’d like to know more about. Work in sales? You could volunteer to help your marketing team create a new piece of content. Work in marketing? You could help your engineering team do some user testing on a new product.

Just make sure you don’t become the guy who helps others but doesn't get his own stuff done.

No one likes that guy.

10. Never forget why you were hired.

Yes, you want to learn and grow. Yes, you want to build a career. Yes, you want to feel happy and fulfilled.

And yes, you were hired to help advance the goals and mission of the company.

It’s possible to fulfill your goals and the company’s goals. Make sure you do. That way you and the company win – and isn't that what the employer/employee relationship should be all about?

7 Reasons I’ll Turn Down a Job After Interviewing With You

By: RRachel Dotson  |  March 5, 2013  |

Interviewing is an art-form for both the job seeker and the hiring manager. A simple mistake by either party
can raise enough doubt to leave the other looking elsewhere. After much reflection on what’s turned me off to a job in the past, I’ve come up with seven interview red flags that will leave me saying, “Thanks, but no thanks” to your job offer.
1. You’re Negative
If you’re bad-mouthing the company, other employees, your workload, or even yourself, then chances are slim that I’ll come on board as your newest employee. Why? Because negativity is toxic. It tells me that morale is low and that you don’t enjoy your job. I recognize it’s possible that you’re just having a bad day, but it’s just too big of a risk to take.
2. You Asked Me Obscure Questions Just for the Sake of Doing It
Yes, I know why manholes are round; what I don’t know is why you are asking me this question. Is it because Google asks it? Is it because you want to see if I can think on my feet? Or is it some other reason that neither you nor I am aware of? Rather than waste our time with such a silly and off-putting question, ask me a situational question that’s relevant to my prospective job.
3. You Talk Too Much
I’m delighted that you’re enjoying our time together, really, I am. But I’m a bit worried that I haven’t been able to get a word in edgewise. You see, if I haven’t done any of the talking, then you can’t possibly know if I’ll be a good fit for this position. That makes me nervous. How can I believe in my own ability to excel at this position if you haven’t properly assessed my abilities and fit?
4. You Talk Too Little
Let’s look at the opposite side of the point above. If you don’t tell me enough about the job, the company, and so on, then I cannot, in good faith, agree to devote years of my life to you. When I ask you questions about why the position is vacant, what a typical day is like, and what the goals of the company are, I expect solid, well-thought-out answers. It’s these answers that will help me determine whether our values and goals align.
5. You Don’t Tell Me About Your Company Culture
If I’m going to be spending more time with you than with my friends and family, I want to know I’m going to be in a fun and positive working environment. You don’t have to provide organic lunches or have a company bar to show me you’re a great company to be at. While these perks would be nice, I’d much rather know about the people and the culture. How do employees interact with each other? How are employees recognized for a job well done? Do colleagues go to lunch together or see each other outside of the office? If so, do they do this because it’s mandated or because they genuinely enjoy spending time together?
6. You’re Unprepared
I’m busy, you’re busy, we’re all busy. I get it. People are spread too thin. But when I spend hours preparing for my interview and take time out of my day to attend said interview, I expect you to show me the same level of professionalism and respect that I show you. So please, don’t make me wait in the lobby for half an hour, don’t take five minutes to review my job application in front of me, and don’t make up the interview questions as you go along.
6. Your Interview Practices Are Illegal
So you want to know if and when I’m planning on getting married and you feel it necessary to let me know that you typically hire from a certain age group. The fact that you’re bringing these items up tells me one of two things: 1) you haven’t taken the time as a hiring manager to educate yourself on employment law, or 2) you’re discriminatory. The best case scenario here is that you don’t know how to do your job (and your company hasn’t bothered to train you how), and the worst is that the organization is sexist, ageist, or some other “ist” that I don’t care to be around.

Interviewing: A Rational Way to Make a Gut Decision

Hiring is too important to leave to chance.

Over the past few months I’ve written about the Most Important Interview Question of All Time and The Complete Two-Question Interview. These were developed as countermeasures for managers who quickly dismissed strong candidates using flawed or biased information. As you’ll discover, facts can often pierce the veneer of superficiality and fiction. Some examples:
I remember the CFO of a Southern California public company telling me that my candidate for a cost manager’s position had less cost accounting background than his 16 year-old son. This was after a 15-minute interview. I then asked if he was aware that the candidate was selected to lead the implementation of an international state-of-the art cost system at one of the world’s largest manufacturing companies. He re-interviewed the candidate, hired him the next day, and personally apologized. Over the next two years the CFO assigned us eight critical senior positions to fill.
I remember the VP Finance of a major business unit at one of the largest entertainment companies in the world telling me my candidate for a Director of Accounting wasn’t aggressive enough. The candidate wasn’t hired, but went on to become the #2 financial executive of a major competitor in the entertainment industry. He’s still soft-spoken, but has a backbone of steel. I met the candidate when he was a young manager at one of the major accounting firms. I presented him to my client since he was given the most challenging assignments every year in public accounting, far above what would be expected for someone at that level.
I remember a senior recruiter questioning my judgment about presenting a young woman for a director-level HR position when the person was only a manager who didn’t have the requisite 10 years experience. When I mentioned that the person was leading a companywide initiative reporting directly to the CEO of a Fortune 150 company she reconsidered. I also mentioned that prior to this project she successfully handled a struggling union negotiation without any experience, and earlier, was assigned to take a lead role in an international compensation project as a learning opportunity.
When reviewing a candidate’s resume it’s important to read between the lines for facts and evidence of exceptional performance. Here are some ideas on how to improve your own powers of observation:
1) Being assigned the toughest projects in the candidate’s peer group. The best people are always assigned the most difficult technical projects, the hardest customers to sell to, and the most important business problems to handle. When interviewing candidates find out if they’re doing work above their expected experience level. They ask how they got assigned the project. Find out what happened next to validate the initial success or failure.
2) Being assigned to important teams. To assess team skills, ask the person to put together a 360° team chart for each position held, then track the growth and make-up of these teams over time. A 360° team chart includes everyone the candidate works with or is exposed to on typical projects. Consider bosses, subordinates, peers, external vendors and customers, executives and those in other functions. The best team-oriented people are typically assigned by their managers to participate in these types of projects early in their careers. If they’re successful the assignments continue and the scope and size of these teams expand.
3) Continuous exposure to senior management. During the interview ask candidates if they were ever involved in important business matters with top company executives. Strong managers want to give their most promising staff members this type of exposure. Ask about the focus of the interactions, the frequency of any contact, and if any advice was sought and if it was acted upon. It’s great when this type of exposure is typical rather than the exception. Find out the topics of discussion and you’ll typically uncover the candidate’s critical strengths.
4) Being promoted faster than normal. The common theme of the above, and my favorite overall assessment technique, is figuring out the candidate’s current level of responsibility vs. total years of experience. Part of this is getting promoted into bigger jobs or taking on bigger projects faster than normal. It’s even better if this growth occurred at different companies, in different industries, and with different leaders.
5) Receiving important recognition. There are a host of ways companies recognize their best employees. Seek this out during the interview. It’s not hard to spot. For sales it’s getting into Club or taking the annual trip. For everyone else there are fellowships, unusual training opportunities, honors, awards, special bonuses, prizes and letters of commendation. Some companies give these away too liberally, diminishing the value for those who are truly exceptional, so it’s important to benchmark whatever recognition is received.
There is more science to interviewing than most managers imagine. Part of this is understanding how other leaders who worked with the candidate rewarded or recognized the person for doing outstanding work. Since we reward and promote people internally based on their performance, we should look for these same signs when interviewing candidates from the outside. This is a rational way to make a gut decision.
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Article by (Brought by a Rss feed from Linkedin.com) Lou Adler (@LouA) is the Amazon best-selling author of Hire With Your Head (Wiley, 2007) and the award-winning Nightingale-Conant audio program, Talent Rules! His latest book, The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired, is now available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.