Summarized 10 sentences for all new communications employees

Hello everyone, I am Xiaozaojun.

A few months ago, I wrote a guidance article for college students majoring in communications ( link ). At that time, many people asked me if I could also write an article to give some advice to new employees in the communications industry .

I finished writing this article today. It’s a bit long, so I’ll share it with friends who need it.

The text is as follows:

1. The first thing to do when you start working is to tidy up your appearance.

As a newly graduated college student, the first thing to do after entering the company is to complete the identity transition as quickly as possible - from a student to a professional.

The first and easiest step in this transformation is appearance.

Marketing > Engineering Services > R&D, the requirements for image and dress for each position are roughly like this. However, because each company's culture and system are different, the requirements are also different. Not every company has mandatory regulations, for example, foreign companies seem to be more relaxed.

Even if the company does not have explicit requirements, I strongly recommend that new employees carefully examine their appearance during their employment.

You can have long hair, but please don't let it be as messy as a chicken coop; you can wear T-shirts, but please don't wear faded ones or ones with many holes; you can not wear leather shoes, but please don't wear slippers; you can not wear a suit often, but you must have one suit.

There are many online courses on image and etiquette, and I suggest that you learn them systematically. Girls should learn makeup systematically, whether they have the habit of wearing makeup or not.

In fact, most companies and customers now do not have excessive requirements for image. Clean and tidy, not exaggerated, basically it is enough. However, many young people cannot even meet the basic requirements, which leads to frequent embarrassing situations.

Nowadays, appearance is everything. A capable and energetic image will make you appear more professional and reliable, and your leaders, colleagues and clients will have a better first impression of you. If you look "superficial", people will feel that you lack trust and you will be easily taken advantage of.

2. Report regularly and provide timely feedback.

It is easier to change the appearance, but it is a bit difficult to change the inner self.

If I were assigned a new employee and asked to make requirements for him, the first request I would make would be timely reporting and feedback.

I will make sure he writes a detailed daily report every day, and then track each task using a tracking sheet and attach it to the daily report as a dedicated module.

In recent years, there have been many articles on the Internet that talk about this problem, that is, no reply to messages, no response to tasks - no matter whether it is done or not, no matter whether it is willing to do it or not, no reply.

This is a very bad habit to develop as a new employee or subordinate.

As a new employee in the team, please remember to create an impression of " I am reliable " to your leaders and colleagues .

New employees are often a team’s weak point and an uncertain factor. Team leaders and veteran employees are often concerned about whether new employees will drag the team down and affect the overall work progress and quality.

After all, new employees are novices, they are not familiar with the business, cannot adapt seamlessly, and will be rather "clumsy".

Some new employees are afraid of being criticized, so they deliberately hide their problems. Some new employees also think that the more "transparent" they are, the better, and they don't want to be "noticed".

In fact, the requirements of leaders and old employees for new employees are exactly the opposite.

Most leaders and veteran employees can understand the "clumsiness" of new employees, but cannot tolerate concealment. Because concealment is like laying a minefield. Whether you say it or not, the minefield is there and will not disappear. If concealed, a small problem may become a big problem, and finally become a disaster, causing greater losses to the team. This is what leaders and veteran employees fear the most.

Therefore, the newer the employee, the more they should actively report their work progress (e.g. detailed daily, weekly, and monthly reports). They should report unfinished work, as well as completed work. They should also report difficulties and risks that arise, and issue early warnings.

As the saying goes, "Everything has an explanation, everything has a solution, and everything has a response." Keep a low profile in life and a high profile in work, this is the correct attitude in the workplace.

3. The art of asking questions.

As a new employee, it is inevitable that you will often have questions and doubts.

Usually, old employees don't mind new employees asking questions, because they know that teaching new employees as quickly as possible can help them share their work, and it is beneficial to them to bring new employees up to speed.

However, some new employees ask questions in a way that can be very offensive or even drive people crazy:

1. Don’t think before asking a question, just open your mouth and ask.

2. There is a lack of logic when asking questions, and it is difficult to explain clearly.

3. When asking questions, do not provide any " materials ".

4. Asking questions that are too macroscopic is impossible to answer.

5. Asking similar questions repeatedly shows poor ability to apply knowledge to other situations.

Before asking questions, new employees should think carefully and form their own ideas. Regardless of whether their judgment is correct or not, they should speak out to let the other party know what they think.

While thinking carefully, you should learn to use search engines to look up all relevant information and form your own reference arguments (you can also question them).

When asking questions, please prepare sufficient materials, including the phenomenon of the problem (logs, environmental information, error screenshots, your steps), your processing ideas, explanations of online materials, methods you have tried and the results, etc.

The right way and habit of asking questions can greatly reduce the communication cost of both parties and improve the efficiency of problem solving. You should let the old employees know that you have made efforts for it and are not wasting their time. This is a kind of respect.

Remember, after the problem is solved, you must give feedback and express your gratitude. It is recommended to thank the person by email, with a copy to the leader. If possible, you can also output an experience document, or summarize and thank the person in the daily report, which would be perfect.

4. Don’t always think about doing the exercises.

When Xiaozaojun trained new employees in the past, some of them would always ask me: " Teacher, can you give us a few questions to review?"

The feeling it gives people is: if there are no questions, I don’t know how to study.

This is a typical learning concept that is still at the university level.

After working, you will find that the problems you encounter never appear in front of you in the form of questions.

These questions and difficulties are often open-ended and have no standard answers.

As a professional, you must first exercise your logical thinking ability, stay clear, rational, and rigorous, and then constantly explore and summarize your own methods and routines. When you encounter a problem, use your own methods and routines to solve it.

If you ask senior employees for advice, you should ask for this methodology rather than fixed standard answers.

Doing exercises is only suitable for exams, not for work.

5. Learning ability is more important than knowledge itself.

Many new employees complain after joining the company: "Our company is terrible. There is not even any decent training after joining the company. There is not much information. I can't find my way at all."

In fact, the lack of centralized training after joining is not necessarily the original sin of small companies. Sometimes, due to various reasons, large companies may not be able to provide decent centralized training.

All new employees have gone through more than ten years of education, from elementary school to middle school to university, and are accustomed to the mode of teachers lecturing and listening below. They always feel that course teaching is the correct way to learn.

This education model is called the Prussian education model in academia . It was invented by the Prussians in the 18th century. The original intention of the Prussians was not to educate students who could think independently, but to produce a large number of loyal and easy-to-manage laborers.

This model does not conform to the current social development trend. The Prussian model is suitable for indoctrination and replication, but it curbs the cultivation of thinking ability and creativity. It imprisons young people's thoughts and makes them more dogmatic.

After a person enters the workplace, the opportunities for systematic and concentrated learning are becoming fewer and fewer. If one relies on teachers to learn everything, then this person is basically useless. Especially in the communications industry, where technology is changing with each passing day, it is unrealistic to expect someone to teach every knowledge point.

More often than not, the company plans to develop a new product that they have never touched before (even the old employees have never touched it), and they throw some documents to you and ask you to start working on it directly. Or even say that there is no document at all, and you have to collect information online and start from scratch.

What should you do at this point? Just quit?

If you have the conditions, you should go to school. If you don't have the conditions, you should create them. Learning is like this. If you have someone to teach you, you are lucky. If you don't have anyone to teach you, you have to rely on yourself. The Internet is very developed now, and most of the knowledge can be collected from materials. Self-study is a test of a person's ability to collect, organize and absorb information quickly and efficiently.

Xiaozaojun has had a deep feeling about this in recent years. Many people ask me why I know so much and can write so many articles. In fact, I have formed my own methodology, which can absorb and digest knowledge at the fastest speed.

One thing is very important. You must build a complete knowledge system from the beginning, otherwise there is no end to learning and it is easy to get confused.

6. People who pay attention to details are most likely to stand out.

As a new employee, I also recommend that you pay attention to one point, which is to develop the ability to handle details.

Being meticulous in doing things is a very good advantage. According to years of observation, details are often one of the main reasons that make the difference between people.

Details are an extension of attitude. Others check once, you check twice. Others confirm once, you confirm twice. Others consider five steps ahead, you consider ten steps ahead. Others ask casually, you check it yourself. Different attitudes often bring completely different results.

Especially in the communications industry, the work we do requires a high level of detail, and many parameter configurations and data planning need to be checked very carefully. Even if there is a wrong letter in the command or a wrong number in the parameter, it will cause downtime and paralysis, affecting millions of people.

As I said earlier, details are related to attitude. The habit of paying attention to details is not innate, it often means a more serious attitude and greater efforts, including energy and time.

People who pay attention to details will work harder than others, but their efforts will be rewarded.

6. Be sure to cultivate self-confidence and dare to question.

Many new employees look down on themselves after entering the company, thinking that they are newcomers who know nothing and that others are very strong. Therefore, they are submissive and even have great psychological pressure.

In fact, after working for so many years, I have a feeling that all the companies that seem strong on the surface are actually not that strong, and many teams that seem powerful are not as powerful as imagined. When you first think someone is awesome, you will find that they are not that awesome after getting close to them.

Nowadays, whether it is products or people, there is a phenomenon of over-packaging. These packagings are perfect, strong and powerful , but they actually serve to sell products and people . Just like the PPTs of many companies, which are exaggerated, they serve the capital market.

Young people must open their eyes, do not believe easily, do not worship blindly. No one in this world is worthy of your worship like a god.

In most cases, when a new employee enters a company, he or she will be full of pride and complacency. However, within a year, he or she will start to find problems here and there in the company and then complain.

It feels a bit like a siege.

People without self-confidence are prone to mediocrity. People without a questioning spirit are prone to being leeks.

New employees should constantly cultivate their self-confidence and try not to say that they can't do it. If leaders or senior employees assign tasks or arrange some competitive tasks such as competitions for you, you should bravely accept them and challenge your limits.

For many so-called " experts " and " big shots " nowadays, new employees must first have a questioning spirit, and then politely approach and understand them, find out the bottom line, and personally feel the other party's strength. Don't blindly follow others, and don't trust others easily.

7. Principles for grasping team interpersonal relationships.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. Here I want to talk about the grasp of interpersonal relationships.

I personally think that new employees should follow two principles when dealing with interpersonal relationships when they enter society:

First, be a mirror. If others treat you well, you must treat them well and better. If others treat you badly, you'd better give them some color or pressure to let them know that you are not easy to mess with. Also let them know: "I will not offend others if they don't offend me ."

There are all kinds of birds in a big forest. The workplace environment in many places is still quite dangerous. There are always some bad people who have no bottom line and always want to step on others to climb up. They will use others in every possible way. For such people, we must be careful to guard against them and fight back when necessary.

Second, keep a certain distance, don't be too close, and don't be too distant. Too close contact is a problem that can easily occur. I am not against everyone making friends, but what I mean is that even if you are good friends, please maintain a certain privacy distance and leave personal space for both parties, otherwise it is easy to cause conflicts and frictions.

"Brothers should settle accounts clearly." Many people think they have a good relationship with each other, so they ask for help like "borrowing money" or "staying with their partner." However, they often end up falling out completely and can no longer even be friends.

In addition, it is a taboo to talk too much with someone you just met. New employees often make this mistake, so please be sure to avoid it.

8. Stick to your bottom line and don’t break the law

Young people are under a lot of pressure nowadays. Housing prices are so high, competition is so fierce, work is so hard, and wages are not very high. If we follow the routine, when will we be able to get through it?

Therefore, some impatient young people will be tempted by gray or even black interests and do things that violate professional ethics or even break the law.

There will also be many young people who become what we often call "sophisticated egoists" , who take their own interests and future as the starting point for everything and constantly challenge the bottom line of being a human being.

It is undeniable that many people in society are like this now, keen on " making money through illegal means" and " making quick money ". If I tell everyone to be a gentleman, it is actually a bit "sanctimonious" and a bit "hypocritical".

What I want to say is that I have done some dark things, but I regret it. If I were given another chance to choose, I would definitely refuse to do it.

There is a saying that makes a lot of sense: "All the benefits you think are ' gifts from fate ' are actually secretly marked with a price. "

Many times, what seems like pie in the sky is actually a bomb. You will pay a price for it, but the debtor will come to you later.

Once a stain is attached, it can never be washed off in a lifetime.

I have heard entrepreneurs often say: "Stick to the basics and be creative . "

The meaning is probably, don't take the crooked path, but be innovative and dare to think and act. I think this sentence is very well said, and I regard it as my motto.

Even though there are too many injustices in this world, there is no need to complain. It is enough to stick to your own values ​​and walk the path you want to walk.

A few small insights I have gained from more than ten years of social life: What determines how far a person can go is his outlook on life and values; what determines how far a company can go is its management and culture; what determines how far a country can go is its beliefs.

9. How to view the decline of communications

Regarding the direction of development. In recent years, there have been many controversies surrounding the development prospects of the communications industry, and many people believe that the communications industry has no future and should be abandoned decisively.

Therefore, some students feel conflicted after entering the communications industry, worrying that they have chosen the wrong path.

In fact, I think there is no need to be so hesitant.

The boundaries between industries are not so clear now. Entering the communications industry today does not mean you will be in the communications industry for the rest of your life.

The core network is gradually becoming IT-based and cloud-based, which is actually integrating with IT. 5G is also integrating with vertical industries. Many skills can be integrated and developed. The resources accumulated by the industry can also be reused. Even if we take a step back, the methodology and ability to do things that new employees have cultivated in the past few years are definitely applicable to various industries. These are basic abilities.

I think that the first two years after entering society are not a waste of time, and you don’t need to be too anxious about it, as it is used to familiarize yourself with and understand society . From the third year onwards, you really need to carefully choose a track , which will affect your achievements and gains in the next ten years.

In other words, if you have already entered the communications industry, there is no need to feel sorry for yourself. Learning is a lifelong process. If you learn knowledge steadily and find your direction, the initiative is in your hands. If after one or two years, you have figured out your goals, the current industry and the target industry, and find that the current industry is indeed not suitable for you, it is not too late to make adjustments.

If you want to change careers, you should start with knowledge and ability accumulation, not learning after changing careers.

Outside of work and family circles, I strongly recommend that young people expand their social circle. Participate in more interest activities, such as forums, salons , exhibitions, etc. , and meet some friends outside the circle.

Connections are so valuable that you will realize their value more and more as time goes by. Connections often become a turning point in your destiny one day.

10. Live well and be kind to yourself.

Finally, it’s health.

Without the body, everything is empty. As far as I know, there have been at least 4 cases of abnormal deaths in the ICT industry this year, all of whom were young people around 30 years old. Therefore, no matter how hard you work, you must take care of your body and not overdraw without limit.

A few small suggestions: 1. Buy yourself some commercial insurance while you are young. The younger you are, the cheaper it is. The company's insurance is just the most basic, and it is useless at the critical moment. 2. Keep exercising, play ball regularly, and try not to go to bed later than 11:30. Working overtime is very helpless, but many people go to bed late because of watching short videos. 3. You must have a physical examination every year, and spend a little money to check all the necessary additional items. Don't save money on your health.

Well, that’s all there is to it.

I still want to solemnly declare that different people have different lives and different values. My opinions are based only on my life experiences and values, and may not be correct or suitable for everyone. Please do not copy them blindly.

Thank you for your patience in reading!