A friend of mine who was an Air Force officer during the Korean conflict once told me that the saddest day in his military life was when he was promoted from second lieutenant to first lieutenant. The promotion was automatic; the first eighteen months of his life as a young officer were spent wearing the gold bars of a second lieutenant. Then, after that year and a half, came the promotion to first lieutenant, which carried with it silver bars on his shoulders. "As long as I was wearing those gold bars," he said, "everyone was tolerant of my mistakes. Those bars told everyone that I was new. Then, once the silver went on my shoulders, I didn't have any more excuses for fouling up. It was traumatic."
Every new employee is given a grace period, its length depending upon that person's experience in the workplace. It's generally accepted that newcomers will be given more time to acclimate and to get into the job than more veteran men and women, who are expected to apply their previous knowledge and experience a lot faster.
In either case, it behooves you to get started contributing to the department and company as quickly as possible. Employers like new employees who fall into the category of "self-starter," an overused but significant description of a person who doesn't wait to be led by the hand but who takes initiative and seeks out projects.
Data processing specialists in my organization urge all people they have placed to get going on the job as quickly as possible, once they have had a few days to settle in. Ed Lance, the data processing placement manager in our Milwaukee franchise, puts it this way: "Try to do something significant within the first thirty days."
What constitutes a significant contribution within the first month of employment? Lance lists these three items:
1. Fix a long-standing problem.
2. Install a new package.
3. Modify an existing program and put it into production.
This does not mean that you should forge ahead like a bull in a china shop and start delving into programs about which you have little knowledge. It does not mean that you should take on a project without permission from your supervisor. It does mean, however, that by looking for projects with which to begin contributing to the data processing department, you indicate to management that you have as much of a business sense as you do a data processing sense. The project doesn't have to be large - in fact, it should be small enough to allow you to complete it within a reasonable period of time- but it should be something that eliminates a headache that someone in the department has mentioned, or that improves on an existing program in terms of the time expended or the cost to the company.
The best way to get into the flow of your new job and department is to be a good listener and to ask questions. People tend to resent a newcomer's immediately offering opinions about how the department is run, but most people respond favorably to those who have just arrived and who demonstrate sufficient interest to be asking about the way things are done.
Pick your time for asking questions, however. Do not interrupt a meeting or bother someone deeply involved in a project. Look for those moments when there is a lull, or perhaps a social moment with someone you have befriended who can give you an indication of areas in which you might be of immediate help.
