How to Build Credibility in Your First Job After College: Digital Habits to Ditch

You did it! After years of hard work, you’ve graduated from college and landed your first job in your dream career. Congratulations! Your first job after college is crucial because it sets the foundation for your career credibility, network, base salary, and experience. But as a fresh graduate, you are inevitably going to work alongside extremely experienced colleagues. Therefore, it is important to show your authority and make sure that you are taken seriously in the workplace. One area that you should focus on is your digital habits. What made sense in college may no longer be the best way to operate at work. Here are a few digital habits that you should ditch quickly if you want to establish your credibility in your first job after college.

1. Pinging Co-Workers After Working Hours or When Their Status is Set to “Do Not Disturb” or “Unavailable”

Intra-office chat programs, such as Slack, Teams, or Skype, are ubiquitous in most workplaces nowadays. They are a great way to reach out to your colleagues who are online but in another geographical area or office location in real-time. However, initiating a chat session with your boss or teammates after hours for anything that is not urgent is a big no-no. If people in your time zone are online before or after work, it’s probably because they have work they need to get done. If their status is set to “do not disturb” or “unavailable,” they may be presenting at a meeting or trying to finish up something that requires their full concentration. They’re not looking to chat or engage with you, and instant messaging them during these times when there isn’t an emergency can make you look juvenile and inexperienced.

Just don’t do it. Try another less intrusive mode of communication, such as email, if you need to reach out right then. If it’s not urgent, wait until the next day or your next shift to communicate with your colleagues.

2. Sending Long and/or Emotional Emails

In most offices, email is a primary mode of communication, and writing an effective email is an essential skill. One way to increase your authority immediately is to write short emails. In fact, if you can’t make your point in fewer than three to four sentences, consider replying with: “Let’s discuss.”

Study the way your boss responds to email and copy it. Don’t feel you need to over-explain your decision-making processes. In fact, a concrete “no,” “I’ll pass,” or a simple “I agree” is enough to show you’re engaged and sure of your decisions. If someone wants to know why, they’ll ask you.

If you’re worried or concerned about something that happened in the office, don’t send an emotional email to your manager. It’s hard to control tone and perception in email, and the last thing you want is for your boss to read an email and think that you are a stress case (or worse, a nut case). In such situations, wait for your next one-on-one meeting and have a discussion with your manager where you can provide context and reflect on your concerns.

3. Sharing Everything on Social Media

Social media is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, but it’s not a platform to share everything that goes on in your life. Had the best date of your life? Called in sick last Friday to start the weekend early? Drank a little too much at the bar with your girlfriends last night? These sorts of things may have been fun to share on Facebook and Twitter when you were in college, but now that you are employed, you may want to think twice.

Do you really want your boss to know every last detail of your life outside of work? While we’d all like to think that the assessment of our professional performance and worthiness for advancement is purely based on merit, the truth is perception is reality, and what happens on the weekends may end up influencing your image at work if you share every last detail on social media.

It’s best to keep your personal life separate from your professional life. If you want to share things with your friends, use a private account where you can control who has access to your posts.

4. Text Speak, Stickers, and Emoticons in Office Communications

We all are guilty of using slang terms, abbreviations, and emoticons when texting friends and family. However, these same habits should not carry over to your professional communication. If your emails and presentations are filled with text speak terms like “coz,” “l8r,” or “dat,” the higher-ups are going to question your maturity level. The same goes for stickers or emoticons. A thumbs-up or smiley face may make sense as an affirmation after a quick instant message exchange, but stickers littered throughout all your communication can be a huge red flag and mark you as a novice in the workplace.

Communicating succinctly, eloquently, and professionally with words is one way to showcase your potential without highlighting your lack of experience.

In conclusion, your first job after college is an essential step towards building your career. To establish your credibility in the workplace, you should pay attention to your digital habits. These habits can significantly impact how you are perceived at work, and it is crucial to make a good impression on your colleagues and supervisors. Ditching these four habits quickly can help you establish yourself as a competent and confident employee worthy of recognition. Remember, work is different from college, and your digital communication norms should reflect that. Be mindful of your digital habits, and you will be on your way to building a successful career.