Congratulations! You have landed yourself a fabulous new gig — you’ve got all the perks and all the glory (look how awesome you look in that employee access card!) — but what you DON’T have, is any friends on the job.
Let’s be serious, you’re going to be spending a LOT of time at work over the next 30+ years, and in that time you are going to spend a LOT of time with the people you work with. So you kind of want to start making some friends right? But how? Like this…
Ask for help
Whether or not you know the answer, there is nothing that opens people up like feeling like they are being helpful to the new person on the job. Scope out the people you’d like to get to know and then gently ask them simple things like how to work the printer, where to find the office supplies, or directions to the nearest coffee shop.
Be a keener
Yes, we actually used the word “keener”. But it works. Many organizations, whether big or small, will have some form of committee you can join or activities you can take part in. Early on in your new career sit down with your boss and enquire into things like company sports teams or volunteering opportunities. This is a great way to meet people from all over your company you might never have met otherwise.
Get around
No, not literally (trust us, that will make your name know, just NOT in a good way). But make yourself available to all different groups within the company. Office spaces are notoriously clique-y, something that is nearly unavoidable, but make sure you mix and mingle with a wide variety of people to prevent yourself from landing in a clique you don’t want to spend the next 5-10 years running in.
Always say yes
No matter if you are painfully shy you, how tight your budget is, or how many millions of things you’d rather be doing after hours, for the first few months on the job make it your mission to become the resident “yes” girl. They want to go for lunch? Say yes. They want to go for after hours drinks? Say yes. They are planning a birthday dinner for another colleague? Say yes. Always say yes.
Dish out the invites
Maybe you’ve discovered that your workplace doesn’t offer a whole lot of these “say yes” opportunities, well there is no rule book that says that you can’t change that. Don’t be afraid to be the girl who starts the trend of lunchtime or after hour plans. Nothing says popularity like becoming the resident “social queen” at the new office.
