[New Grad Survival series]: The Accelerators - 3 best things I did in my first year of work
The importance of project diversity, a Calendar trick, and making friends at work
My previous post made it seem like my first year of work was all failing and learning things the hard way. Well, in a way, it is true, but not most of the time. The thing about doing difficult things, such as navigating my first year of work, is that I was constantly finding ways to make things better. By the end of my first year, while I had many mistakes to learn from, I also harvested many tactics and achievements that I am immensely proud of.
I think sharing what worked well for me is just as helpful as sharing the mistakes I learned along the way. So here are 3 things that helped me grow my confidence in my first year!
Note: For context, I am a Product Manager working in tech. These are my personal experiences only. Please take my advice and apply as you see fit :D
1. To keep my learning dynamic: Working on multiple small projects, and one big project.
In my first year, I worked on 6, 7 tiny, foundational features of our product. They are so unnoticeable that if I show you the original product, and the version that I iterated on, 90% chance that you won’t see the differences.
Until the second half of the year, I got to work on a huge project alongside a Senior Manager. This product feature is “in your face.” It alters the product appearance, user experience, and if there is any error, millions of users will notice it.
This combination of small and big projects, is the best thing that happened to me in my first year.
Working on small projects is like working on a puzzle: I tried to assemble different pieces together, one by one. Fixing any mistake was easy as it was just a small piece, and wouldn't affect anything gravely.
Small projects are those that help me learn. A space to make mistakes and break things. Focusing on execution and details.
In contrast, working on big projects is like working on a map: I looked at things from a bird's-eye view, and then went into details.
Big projects are those that help me stretch. High impacts, and high visibility. Focusing on strategy and vision.
Working on both gives me the best of both worlds: Long term planning & short term execution, independence & mentorship, detailed planning & ambitious goal
If you can, I highly recommend working on projects with different scopes and sizes. If you only work on small projects, you will miss that chance to take risks and be outside of your comfort zone. If you only work on big projects, you will lose the foundational knowledge and skills. Only by experiencing different challenges, will you be in a sweet spot of well-rounded learning.
And if it is not a big project, working alongside a Senior mentor also does the trick. Whatever you do, make sure you are never in a space where you are too comfortable. Then you will see the growth.
2. To make work life fulfilling: Recording your Win
Every Friday, I put an event on my calendar titled "Win of the Week." I wrote briefly the "Win" in the title, and expanded more on the impacts in the description box.
Bam! The week ends on a good note.
Doesn't matter whether the win is a small lesson learned from my manager, or a true achievement of getting positive user experiences, I tried to make sure at the end of the week, I can look back and appreciate the work I have put in. It also generates more energy for the upcoming week, that I will keep things up, and will make it better.
Pro tip: This is also very helpful when it comes to performance reviews or promotions. All you have to do is search in your calendar “Win of the Week,” and you will have the whole list of what you accomplished over time! I also leveraged this to document “Win of the Month.”
3. To make work life more manageable: Find a work bestie
Better to learn from friends than from teachers
The one who understands my struggle the most, AND can teach me the most, is M., who joins the company just 1 month ahead of me. Because of similarities in background and experiences, we became close right away. Still, the one thing that made us “besties” is that we could empathize with the “newbie feeling” and fill in the knowledge for each other, something more Senior employees could not.
“Explain it to me like I am a new employee”
We always joke that our manager needs to “dumb it down” for us every time he explains something. With 17 years of experience, it is sometimes difficult for my senior manager to explain a concept to someone who knows 0 (me). It is like teaching someone a language you are fluent in. He knows the grammar, the vocabulary, and the tones, but he has forgotten what struggle he had when starting out.
On the other hand, M. understands my struggle and the gaps in my knowledge right away, and he can explain it in a language that I understand. Learning along with someone who is on or just above your level is a great thing. Work becomes more manageable because I know that I can always ping M. for questions, and of course, for support if his answer is “Dude I don’t know the answer either.”
To find a work "bestie" is not easy, but spotting one is not very tricky either! M. is the one who reached out to me first, and what he did was simple:
Find someone who just joined recently as you. If not, someone just a little above your level
Give them an introductory call
Keep in touch and keep it casual! M. set up a monthly call for us, and in the call we chat about work 50%, and the rest we shared about our lives
To summarize, here are the 3 things that make my work life more dynamic, fulfilling, and manageable:
Work on both big (the Map) and small projects (the Puzzle)
Record my “Win” every week. Leverage it to monthly, quarterly, yearly
Find a Work bestie, who is both your teacher and your moral support
What is your “Win” in your 1st year of work? Or your 2nd year? 3rd? Doesn’t matter. Share with me your “Win” in the comment!
Love your “Win of the week”! 🥰