First Days at Work:

Have you ever started your first day on the job unsure of yourself? Have you ever felt like you were going to screw up everything? Made mistakes on your first day at work? Maybe, you caused the fax machine to explode (I hope you really didn’t do that); lost files or directed people to the wrong place? Okay, well I have never done any of those things (doesn’t mean that I won’t in the future) If you have, fine. Mistakes happen all the time inside and outside of work. It’s how you handle those mistakes afterward that make all the difference. My personal rules for any mistakes in three easy steps: 1) you own up to it, 2) fix it and 3) move on from it. Making mistakes are a part of life. Don’t leave your mess for someone else to cleanup. I think that approaching a new job should be the same way that you approach life. You need to be proactive and positive. When you have your first day, think about how you felt after graduating high school, college or whatever that draws positive and happy feelings from you. Those feelings will take you through the worst of first days. When something goes wrong on your first day, relax and breathe, because guess what? It is nerve wracking for everyone, honestly. Everyone has had a bad first day. You need to have confidence in yourself. If not, then your first day will feel like a mountain crushing you. You will most likely try to makeup for your mistakes for the rest of your time in that position. Think about this instead: you have the position for a reason. Employers don’t expect that there won’t be an adjustment period. So relax, breathe or whatever it is that you need to do, because quite frankly, it is just a job. It is not the end of the world. So do what I do. Go in with confidence and leave with some grace.

How to describe my first day at my internship in one word? Weird; Imagine walking into a room to see a group of people in jeans, t-shirts and sneakers. This is a hope and a dream for interns at other jobs. The normal attire at a job or internship tends to be suits anddress shoes. Guess I lucked outJ. The best part of it all was that I will get to do things that I actually like to do. I get to work with different people (yah!!!). I work on everything from marketing, doing research, blogging, browsing the internet and making plans. For those that know me, I’m a planner (No. Seriously); I will plan any and everything, including vacations, parties, shopping trips etc. This internship is new, different and fun- well, for me anyway. Honestly, I needed the change that this internship brings. No more working in jobs that don’t excite me. No more unhappy coworkers. It is April 27, 2010 and my new year didn’t start on January 1, but when I was ready for a change. I didn’t have exploding fax machines; nonetheless I did make some mistakes on my first day. I’m human. I simply followed my own rules: I owned up to my mistakes; fixed them and then I move on to other tasks, making positive change in this intern’s life, with a mistake or two in the background.

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The word diligence means persistent and hardworking.  I believe everyone represents the meaning of diligence in some way in their life.  Many students are persistent when taking an exam in order to graduate.  Many are persistent when they want their children to have what they did not have when they were growing up.  Many are persistent to follow New Years’ resolutions to improve or change something about them.  Searching for employment by contacting employment agencies, applying on job posting sites, and reading employment  articles are all forms of persistence when you’re doing this mostly every day.

Being persistent when job hunting is no different than any other circumstances written below.      I was told by a career advisor that finding a job is a full-time job.  You’re searching, asking questions, talking on the phone, etc. Finding employment is hard work.  Many people are persistent when trying to find jobs, but those who lack it can practice. Those who do not lack it can continue to find ways to succeed on what they want to accomplish. You have to use your mental, emotional, and physical self to become balance. Below is what I have learned from job hunting. I hope what I have written is helpful to you.

Health is essential

You have to eat right and exercise.  Talk it out when you are a little frustrated.  Find ways to not get stressed.   Always take a break if you can.  You have to have a plan each week.  Try to keep your mind, emotions, and physical body balance.   

You Need To Make Temporary Sacrifices

It is easy to feel that you have time to find jobs.  So many people are not working, so you may feel you have time because things are slow? NO!  You have to decide if you need to eliminate an enjoyment or restrict an enjoyment to certain days.  You want to be called for many interviews than waiting in front of a favorite TV for many interviews.  Companies usually closes around 5 or 6pm.  You should be working around that time.  It is easy to take a mouse and click from LinkedIn to a social site that you do not use to net work for a job. 

Pick Your Battles

You are one of thousands of unemployed people in the U.S.  That should not scare you.  It should make you braver.  When I heard of so many people losing their jobs in this recession, I freaked out.  I did not know how I can get an interview or a job with this amount of un- employers.  There are other people freaking out.  You don’t have to be one of them.  The ones that get a job are persistent.   They may have a little fear (there only human), but they push and push to get in the door.  They are the ones that get the jobs first, because they chose this as a battle.  They are leaders and you can be to.  Then, you can help those who are in fear.  This will be a form of networking.

What Are You Worth

You are valuable to yourself. You need to show recruiters, human resources, and anyone who you connect with, and show them how valuable you are.  Positive people need to be in your life.  You need to have people who want to help you.  You can judge when someone is wasting your time or talking and never make sense.  There are a lot of scams and people trying to take advantage of people desperate for a job.  Trust your instincts.  Stay close to positive people who remind you how much you are worth when doors closes several times when you try.  My self confidence, family, professors, and Millennium Personnel (They gave me an internship) helped me go further.  I know how valuable I am and how much I am worth.

Time Counts

Every second and every minute count when you’re finding a job.  Time counts throughout every aspect in your life.  This is last, because it ties in with your health, sacrifices, choosing your battles, and your worth of self. Your time is valuable.  For example, when Monday comes, every one wakes up to go to work, because their employers’ time is valuable to make the company continue to succeed.  For the unemployed, if you wake up after a weekend break, and nothing is done for 5 hours, you lost the time.  You will never get back the 5 hours you lost.  In the meantime, another unemployed person used the 5 hours on Monday (let’s say 10-2pm) to call recruiters, apply online, and use professional sites to network.  They received no answers even though they were persistent.  They continued to use the same hours five days a week to find new ways as well as the previous ways to find jobs.  In two weeks, they received a call to come for a temporary job.  It may not be permanent, but the work experience can build a resume as well as give you new skills.  If the employer likes your work, you may have a permanent job.  I used these similar hours and days a week, and received an internship.

I have now completed my second month at Millennium Personnel. I am surprised that it has been two months already. The internship has been going great for me so far in these last couple of weeks. I have a better understanding of social media marketing with websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Twitter. Yes I am now an expert at Twitter believe it or not, hahahaha. I had no idea how to use twitter when I first started the internship but after tweeting on a daily basis, I made the jump from beginner to expert. My manager also created a new and improved resume for me which has been very beneficial to my job search. I posted my resume on Monster, Career builder, and Indeed. I have gotten back great feedback and also been invited to several interviews at this moment. Millennium has a great reputation regarding their resume services and many of the interns before me have found work whiling interning. I am really excited to see what the future holds and what job opportunities await me.

Today is my first day as an intern at Millennium Personnel. I am really excited about it. I am hoping to gain valuable experience and learn new things that will help me land the job that I want, which is as a administrative assistant, and help me in my future career goals in business administration. I have read a few blog posts from other interns and began to feel more comfortable and confident in the company. I am also learning basic receptionist duties, such as answering the phones and conducting courtesy interviews. I am looking forward to gaining skills and experience that will help me in the long run while I’m having fun in the process.

Lainie Bennett, CEO of Millennium Personnel Corp., has been invited to be a guest speaker on the online radio show, “The Divorce Hour with Larry Bloom”, tomorrow, April 16, 2010 from 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. Don’t miss your chance to call in live and get her expert advice about the best ways to re-enter the workforce after an extended absence! Listen to us at http://www.talkingalternative.com/?p=438; the phone number is 1877-480-4120. Remember to call between 1p.m. – 2p.m. tomorrow

First impressions are important that is why I hope I gave a good impression my first day as an intern.  I’m not certain if I did, usually I feel people generally like me but sometimes I know I can give the wrong impression.  This internship took me by surprise because I was initially looking for at least a part time job.  But, when Lainie told me that it would involve social media, marketing, and a bit of PR that definitely caught my attention.  It’s ironic because before college I got the impression that once I get my degree it would be relatively easy to find a decent job based on that degree and the contacts that I would meet throughout my undergraduate career.  Now that I am a month away from graduation I can clearly see that is not the case.  I spent a lot of money going to school in London thinking that it would make me stand out and perhaps it still will but as of late I am very humbled because I realize that I’m really not that special and even though I have had nine or more jobs…so what.  The fact that I am struggling to even get a temporary job at the moment (even though I have had several in the past) tells me two things; The economy is so bad that I am now in competition with veterans in the industry and second I am going to have to work that much harder to stand out and find my niche.

Every since, this recession started things have definitely been harder for me.  I’ve never struggled to find work and although I have had ups in the last 18 months there have been much more downs financially which affects the rest of my life.  But it has also helped me understand what I want to do and what I want out of a job because I have worked a few jobs that just aren’t for me.

I was happy to see on my first day that everyone was pretty nice and polite.  I wasn’t sure when I first walked in if that would be the case.  I also appreciated the open office lay out and that I could speak to anyone if I needed any help or even had a general comment about something.  That certainly makes me more comfortable and personally more productive.  The feeling of working in a cubicle with little or no communication from the rest of the world and having a boss look down on me is very uncomfortable.  First days are sometimes a glimpse of what is to come and if that is the case I think I will be fairly happy here.  On our company’s LinkedIn profile there are a number of groups that write articles and contribute to blogs and eventually I hope that I can contribute myself.   Furthermore, I would love to write some press releases and do things involved with marketing and advertising the company.  Often times, my generation thinks were very sophisticated in social media and market research but when you have to tune those skills to work efficiently and multitask it definitely can be challenging so I look forward to improving.

I was overworked at a dead end job in retail before I started as an intern here at Millennium Personnel Corporation.  In desperate need of a career change, I began to reach out to recruiters and staffing agencies in New York City for temp or permanent jobs.  However, most of my work experience was limited to retail so it was difficult to break into a new field, hence more of the same.

The internship program at Millennium Personnel Corp. offers an opportunity to learn social marketing and spice up my resume with a new, and very in demand, set of job skills.  The staff is friendly and I’m gaining a lot of new job experience.  Not to mention, being an intern is a great catalyst for a career change, which is just what I’m looking for.  These days I’m a lot more optimistic about my chances at a better career.  I’m excited about the doors this will open for me and I face this challenging job market with a new confidence.

What experiences that I wish to gain while interning at Millennium Personnel Corporation specializing in staffing employment for administrative assistants.

“Wish is such a dreamy word.” What experiences I will gain from Millennium Personnel Corporation while interning there: is time management, the building blocks of running a company, and leadership skills.

Time management is very important because if one person is late everyone is late. In the corporate world associates and managers work together to make that company a success on the market.

Organization, modern technology, leadership, team player, and learning are some of the building blocks of a company. Organization is important because planning adds order to the company. The corporate world is competitive, therefore keeping up with modern technology is mandatory. Being an excellent leader means knowing when to lead. “In the corporate world; everyone should be a team player because it’s important.” Running a company is a learning process. “So always be prepared to learn while running a company.”   Knowing the building blocks of running a company is the main job as an employee because you may get that opportunity to run that company.  Last but not least, there are so many different types of leaders within a company that help make the decisions that best suit that company’s needs. An excellent leader knows how to delegate and learn from other associates. Research is the most important thing to do before leading a team.

“Hands on experience is the best experience to have.” This will prepare me for Corporate America. The competition is endless. So does everybody have what it take to become a CEO in Corporate America?

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