Blow your temporary job! That caught your eye, didn’t it. Like a nuclear reaction, getting your first day wrong is likely irreversible. Here are some things to avoid.
Some of these are obvious, some are funny, others are sad. Unfortunately, these have all happened.
You can bet this list is not exhaustive. I’ve saved some of the more “I can’t believe that really happened” items for another blog.
If you are an applicant that is trying to land a career move through a temporary staffing position, reverse these and ensure they don’t happen to you.
10 ways to blow your temporary job on the first day follow:
- Don’t show up. Typically, not showing up on your first day is considered “voluntarily quitting” your job. Don’t expect to have the job on the second day.
- Show up late. The company that you have been assigned to is going to put you through orientation, and being late means you aren’t interested in learning.
- Forget your safety equipment, PPE. Before you are assigned, you will be given safety instructions, and PPE required. If you forget it on day one, that shows you can’t follow instructions.
- Dress inappropriately. Every image you can conjure up about what “inappropriate” means, is something to avoid. Wear clothes that make the statement that you are there to work.
- Lollygag or drag your feet. Day one is the day you are being assessed as the right choice, or not. Dragging your feet shows you lack interest in working.
- Fail to ask questions. Your first day should be full of questions. Make a mistake, damage a machine, create scrap and waste is not acceptable if you can avoid it by asking questions.
- Take too many breaks. Supervisors want you to keep up and not fall behind. If you take too many breaks, you ensure you fall behind, and won’t be asked to come back.
- Horseplay and risky activity. The workplace is no place for horseplay. Towel snapping, pushing, shoving, and other locker-room goofing around is inappropriate in the workplace.
- Sell stuff out of the trunk of your car. You can’t sell soft-drinks, cigarettes, make-up, personal hygiene products, or any other items on the property before, after and during work.
- Show up drunk or under the influence of drugs. You just passed the mandatory drug testing. Save the celebration for the weekend, or after you have been on the job a few weeks.
These sound like common sense, but every one of these examples has happened. Every example typically breaks a policy of your temporary staffing employer’s rules and regulations for employment, and are grounds for immediate dismissal.
The tragedy is that in today’s transparent and social-media prevalent workplace, your record as an employee will be reflected through references and across big data HR information resources that other future employers may likely see. One simple mistake can have a long-term set of consequences on your work opportunities.
Take every temporary job seriously like it’s the most important step in your career. It is.
Barton Staffing Solutions screens applicants carefully looking for behavior that suggests these examples of poor workplace behavior might happen. We coach qualified applicants that become our temporary employees how they should behave to avoid these fatal mistakes. Every once in a while, something slips by, but we do our best. If you are a temporary employee and want to work for a company like Barton Staffing Solutions, look online for our job openings. Be sure you avoid these things that are common sense as your first day approaches.