How Work Works

If you've never had a formal job before, you might be wondering: How does work actually work?

Here's a quick summary of how formal employment works:

• Employment Structure: In professional employment, you'll work for an employer who hires you to perform specific tasks or roles within their organization. This relationship is typically governed by a contract or agreement outlining your responsibilities, compensation, benefits, and other terms of employment. Depending on the industry and employer, positions may have regular full-time hours (e.g., 9 to 5), part-time hours, or alternative schedules such as shift work, flextime, or remote work arrangements.

• Expectations and Conduct: You are expected to adhere to your agreed-upon work schedule and be punctual and reliable. You are expected to perform your job duties to the best of your ability, meeting quality and productivity standards set by your employer. You are also expected to conduct yourself in a manner that reflects positively on your employer and the profession as a whole. This includes treating colleagues, clients, and stakeholders with respect, maintaining confidentiality when appropriate, and adhering to ethical standards and codes of conduct relevant to your field.

• Expectation of Continuous Learning: Learning doesn't stop once you obtain your degree and secure your job. You're expected to stay current with developments in your field, update your skills and knowledge as needed, and pursue opportunities for professional development and continuing education. This may involve attending workshops, conferences, or training programs, earning certifications or advanced degrees, or seeking mentorship from more experienced professionals.

• Performance Management: Your performance will be regularly evaluated by your supervisor or manager through performance reviews, assessments, or feedback sessions. Your employer will assess factors such as your job performance, productivity, teamwork, communication skills, and adherence to company policies and procedures. Constructive feedback will be provided to help you improve and grow in your role.

• Opportunities for Career Advancement: Professional employment offers opportunities for career advancement and growth. This may involve taking on additional responsibilities, pursuing leadership roles, transitioning to higher-level positions within your organization, or seeking opportunities with other employers. Advancement often requires a combination of experience, skills development, networking, and a track record of success in your field.

❓ Review the following behaviors that a typical software engineering intern may exhibit. For each scenario, evaluate if the intern is meeting professional expectations or not.

Scenario 1: An intern consistently seeks feedback on their code from senior engineers and incorporates suggestions to improve their programming skills.

Scenario 2: An intern regularly takes extended breaks during work hours to browse social media, neglecting their assigned tasks.

Scenario 3: An intern takes the initiative to document their code thoroughly, including comments and explanations for future reference by themselves and their colleagues.

Scenario 4: An intern misses team meetings and fails to communicate their absence or provide updates on their progress to their supervisor, but ultimately accomplishes assigned tasks by their deadlines.

Scenario 5: An intern repeatedly makes the same coding mistakes, despite receiving feedback from their supervisor.

Scenario 6: An intern consistently arrives late to work but stays late to complete tasks, often exceeding expectations in terms of quality of work.

Scenario 7: An intern consistently submits documents with minor errors that require correction by their supervisor before distribution.

Scenario 8: Despite facing challenges in completing a project, an intern reaches out to their supervisor for guidance and collaborates with team members to find solutions.

Scenario 9: Due to a local power outage, an intern is unable to submit an assigned task by an agreed-upon deadline.

Scenario 10: During a team retrospective meeting, an intern provides thoughtful reflections on what went well, what could be improved, and actionable steps for enhancing team performance in future projects.

Scenario 11: When facing criticism on their code during a code review, an intern becomes defensive, arguing that the task instructions were unclear.

Scenario 12: Despite lacking experience in a particular programming language, an intern proactively learns it to contribute effectively to a project requiring that language.

🪞 Reflect on the intern behaviors provided above. Is there one that you were surprised to learn met or did not meet expectations? Share your thoughts in the padlet below, along with an explanation of why you were surprised.

An interesting thing to note is that none of the behaviors above would be described as "exceeding expectations." If you avoided doing the things that "don't meet expectations" and did all the things that "did meet expectations," you would probably still just be an average intern. In the tech industry, just being "not bad" often isn't enough to keep your job or grow your career. As you think about how to approach your role, your goal should be to strive for excellence in your performance and development.

📺 Watch the following video for a summary of how to succeed in a new job.

From the video, we learned that success in a new job can be built through:

• Competence: Showing people that you can do your job by "showing your homework" and giving others something to react to.

• Commitment: Showing people that you are dedicated by staying curious and asking questions.

• Compatibility: Understanding the team and company culture, and showing people that they can work with you to accomplish their goals.