It’s the time of year when recent college grads are setting out on their first real jobs and diving headfirst into adulthood. Parents try as best they can to prepare their kids for what’s next, but some things they need to learn on their own.
One of the moms in a Facebook group I belong to messaged me with an update on her son’s first week on his new job and I wanted to share some of the info here. I thought what this company did was fantastic and would love to see something like this for more recent grads.
For perspective, this is an engineering firm and they hire a recent grad every two years. They have career path projections for them, so they look at it as a long-term hire.
Before the new hire started, the company created a “what to know when you start your career” notebook. In it, everyone wrote down suggestions, ideas and must-do’s for the new hire. It included things like “max out your 401k” and “take all your vacation time” as well as things like “listen and ask questions to make sure you understand” and “you don’t know everything, heck, you really don’t know anything yet” and “always pack your lunch to save money but if someone asks you to go to lunch, go, there is probably a reason they are asking.” One of the mom’s favorites was “live with your parents and save money for as long as you can stand it.”
The validity of the advice aside, it really made her son feel welcomed, cared about and glad he accepted their offer. What a great way to start that relationship!
The notebook wasn’t about the advice in it. It was about the fact that before that young man ever walked through the door, a group of people sat down and thought about him. They thought about his future, his success, and what they wanted for him. That’s a culture. And that culture started long before his first day. When a company puts that kind of thought into welcoming someone, you have to wonder, did they put that same thought into finding the right person in the first place? The best hires I’ve seen over the years didn’t happen by accident. Someone, somewhere, made a deliberate decision to do it right.