12 rules for new graduates to follow

1. 12 Rules for
New Grads
Charlie Endicott-NBCC, MCC
Associate Director , Career Services
Salisbury University

2. 1. What you learned in college is a
foundation for future learning, nothing
more.
 Do not view your degree as a destination.
 Remember what you learned is important.
 What you learned about how to learn is
essential; it's the foundation for your life-
long success.

3. 2. Be someone that your colleagues
want to work with.
 No one wants to work with someone who
is unpleasant or unreliable or self-serving.
 Position yourself to be the colleague-of-
choice and bring a positive attitude to
everything you do.
 Keep the commitments you make and
help others advance their (legitimate)
agendas. If you do, others will want to
work with you and help you to succeed.

4. 3. You're not as smart as you think you are,
even if you are as smart as you think you are.
 Err on the side of humility.
 Arrogance breeds resistance; even if you
really do have all the right answers, you need
to bring people along with you.
 Recognize when to stand by your beliefs and
when to flex in the face of good advice.

5. 4. From the very first moment, remember you
are creating an impression.
 The American humorist Will Rogers said, "You
never get a second chance to make a first
impression." This observation is backed up by
much good research on the astonishing
speed at which people form first impressions
of others, often in seconds.
 Opinions can be difficult or impossible to
change.
 People tend to seek out information that
confirms their pre-existing impressions and
block out information that doesn't.

6. 6. The harder and smarter you work,
the luckier you'll get.
 Good work discipline matters as much or
more than talent.
 Know how to prioritize, focus, and
produce on a consistent basis.
 Strive to develop strong work ethic and
good work habits, or prepare yourself for
mediocrity.

7. 5. Do what's required, from the menial to the
extraordinary, to get the job done.
 No one achieves great things without first paying
their dues.
 Be prepared to do a lot of work early on that may
seem beneath your abilities.
 Keep in mind it's more important to work in a good
organization than to start with a good position.
 Demonstrate your energy, dedication and ability -
advancement will surely follow.

8. 7. Learn to listen, listen to learn.
 The act of listening, actively and
thoroughly, is the most powerful influence
technique there is.
 Epictetus, the Greek philosopher said, "We
have two ears and one mouth so that we
can listen twice as much as we speak."
 The ability to demonstrate understanding
of others' points of view will open their
minds.

9. 8. Always do your homework.
 The discipline of being prepared is
indispensable.
 Preparation is an essential prerequisite for
innovation. For, as Blaise Pascal said,
"Chance favors the prepared mind."

10. 9. Don't learn the tricks of the
trade, learn the trade.
 There are no shortcuts to becoming
excellent.
 Find your vocation and figure out what it
will take to be outstanding in doing it.
 Keep in mind that few people mistake
appearances for reality for very long.

11. 10. Embrace your weaknesses.
 Strive too to recognize and compensate
for your weaknesses.
 Take advantage of every opportunity you
get to engage in self-assessment and
embrace good coaching wherever you
find it.

12. 11. Network your brains out.
 Think hard about the relationships you
need to build, because they require
substantial investment.
 There is an old career maxim: "It's not who
you know, it's who knows you.” Reality -
neither is sufficient!
 You need to cultivate relationships that
are founded in mutual benefit, whatever
the relevant currencies are.

13. 12. Don't lose yourself trying to be
what you think others want you to be.
 Finally, learn to appreciate the power of authenticity,
especially your own.
 Reflect on what you feel when you are in the presence of
someone who is being inauthentic: pity, disgust, but never
respect.
 Keep in mind this is what others will feel, sooner or later, if
you try to be something you fundamentally are not. This is
true even — in fact especially — if you are trying to be
what you think others want you to be.
 For as the poet e.e. cummings put it so powerfully, "To be
nobody but myself — in a world which is doing its best,
night and day, to make me somebody else — means to
fight the hardest battle any human can fight."