Advice before you get started

Starting out in your first job is going to be difficult enough just coming out of college. First, you are going to have to deal with a whole new set of rules and standards that weren't present in college and are most likely unfamiliar in your new setting. Second, doing so without guidance and almost no internal business compass can be potentially damaging to your career. So how do you survive the first few months in your job without a mentor or much experience? Surprise, it doesn't come from a web site or another blog, it's a book that was written back when most of us were cracking open milk boxes in grade school.

45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy and How to Avoid Them is a great way to keep your job and out of your boss's hair. I've read it and there are dozens of things that are completely honest and innocent things that I would have done without thinking about that would have driven my boss up the wall. If anything you'll be more conscientious of how you conduct yourself at the office Christmas party, how you dress, and crying at work. While I can't say that I am guilty of any of the preceding I did become much more aware of what it was I was doing around the office once I read this book. Granted, there will be a time when you can drive your boss up the wall just for the heck of it, but personally I am a long way away from doing that.