the new kid in class

And just like that, summer comes to a close.

Time to say goodbye to the rooftop sunsets, sips of rose, and tan lines. Time to pack up the bathing suits and put them into storage along with those summer Friday’s and extended vacations. Time to watch the streets change from being filled with giggling interns to intense faces going places.

It’s time to watch the season’s change, and for me, it is time for something new. And change is exciting. The excitement I feel to buckle up for the energy of fall is a good reminder that we all need change – no matter how uncomfortable and scary, like New York’s dark winter, it may feel.

The big change for me this season is a new job! After five incredible years of being in a client facing role at a large financial institution, I am moving over to the world of marketing and could not be more excited to take on the challenge. I think the most exciting part for me is to get a clean slate to not make the same mistakes I (inevitably) made in my first job. Especially as a bushy tailed first year analyst, I fell down more times than I stood up early in my career. I remember every single fall – even though there are plenty I wish I could forget – and as cheesy as it sounds, it is those falls that made me who I am today in business. As I close the first chapter in my career, I want to share some of those mistakes, although I assure anyone starting out their own career, they won’t mean much to you until you make them yourself.

1. Appreciate what you have. Millennials (including myself) tend to want to run before we even crawl let alone walk. There is value to learning from the bottom and building your way to the top. Just because you may not have your dream position today does not mean the company you’re at is not the right one for you. There were so many nights that I cried myself to sleep hating my decision to accept a job in finance. I was envious of my friends who were out of the office at 5:30 and meeting for drinks shortly after. I assure you, 99% of your friends deal with the same political nonsense, daunting tasks and office drama as you do. Every* first job out of college sucks. It took me some time to realize that it’s called work for a reason. BUT – it should get better the more you know, the quicker you become, and the more credibility you earn with your team. It did for me, dramatically.
2. There is no shortcut to hard work. And this is said from the Queen of short cuts (or efficiency, as I like to call it.) Now, to me this does not mean the hours you put in, but instead is the quality of the hours you put in. It is common sense that the longer you work at something, the more time you spend doing something, the better you will be (exhibit A – how many hours of practice did Michael Jordan put in to basketball to get to be where he is? I don’t need to tell you the answer.) However, if you are sitting at your desk late at night and the effort isn’t there, you may as well be sitting in your bed. I remember being at the office so late in my earlier days and just trying to cram out as much work as quickly as possible so I could get out. I finally picked my head up at around 3 months in and realized that I wasn’t learning anything. I was turning into a robot memorizing excel shortcuts to be faster and more accurate. And that is really all I accomplished in the earlier days – complete, fast, work. I was missing the point of what I was doing and why, I wasn’t asking the right questions, and I certainly wasn’t learning. Even though it wasn’t in my “pay grade” to be asking the challenging questions and making suggestions to our client’s portfolio’s, holding those thoughts and questions back was severely inhibiting me from engaging with my work. Once I slowed down, took a step back and figured out why people were asking me to do certain tasks, I started enjoying my job ten times more. I also started realizing that maybe I don’t LOVE being an analyst, but I could love being a client advisor. Sure, I became a bit slower at executing work and I did have to put in some additional hours – this shift in mindset made a huge difference in the opportunities I got later on in my career.
3. The relationships around you are just as important as your work product. You never know when you will cross a colleague later in life and you also never know who is helping or hurting your chances at moving on to your next position. I have to say, I’ve been so surprised (on the positive) with how many people have been so supportive of me with every new initiative I have took on. Earlier on in my career, anytime I felt like someone wasn’t treating me fairly, I responded very emotionally. The biggest lesson that I learned is that it is RARELY personal (I don’t like saying never.) Try to thicken your skin and not get so sensitive, and if you really need a good cry, find yourself a bathroom stall on another floor and let it flow! (I promise, I’ve been there.) Instead of sending that emotional e-mail, take a night to think about it. 9 times out of 10, you will read the e-mail in the morning and feel relieved that you never hit send. Appreciate the people who are good to you. Whether its an administrative assistant who stayed a little later to help you get a FedEx out, or your boss who took the time to teach you something new, try to express your appreciation – every. day. How good does it feel when someone sends you (or your manager) positive feedback on a project you worked on? Others want to hear it too.
4. Review, review, review. Even if you are in a rush, even if it is late at night, re-read that e-mail or check over the spreadsheet before you hit send. The extra 5 or 10 minutes you spend will save you weeks of having to re-build credibility if something in your work is wrong. It is inevitable that mistakes will happen, reviewing your work will minimize making the same mistake twice (which could be a career killer!) I thought I had good attention to detail prior to starting my first job, I was in for a very rude awakening and quickly learned that I had lots of room for improvement in that area. Nobody will notice if you submit something 10 minutes earlier, but they will notice if you have a mistake in your work.
5. You will make mistakes. Don’t beat yourself up.

* Unless you are Mark ZucLink Ninja kerberg and the founder of Facebook.

… and of course, always dress for the role you want and not the role you have. Which leads me to my outfit for the first day at my new job! This is feeling a whole lot like the first day of school. I posted earlier in the week about a recent trip I took to Ann Taylor. I was beyond impressed with their fall collection and this pleated skirt instantly stood out to me as a statement piece that I had to have.

Shop the look below:

Ann Taylor blouse

IRO leather jacket (old, similar Veda leather jacket or Cupcakes and Cashmere vegan leather jacket)

Ann Taylor pleated skirt (I am 5’1 and wearing a 00 petite in the skirt and it fits perfectly)

Gianvito Rossi sandals (similar Schutz sandals)