New at work

A sense of belonging is what everyone yearns for, while kicking off a new stage of life. You can become really cautious about settling into a new environment — especially at college or a new workplace, where you come in from a different world altogether. Thankfully, it can be made easy, if you just keep your head on your shoulders and are not too eager to judge people around you. Here's how you can do it.

Most first-timers at a job make the mistake of expecting too much out of the workplace. If you picture your seniors/colleagues to be of a certain character and prepare yourself for interacting with them, most of the times you will be disappointed. My friend, whose first job started a few months back at an agency called KPIT Communications, explains, "I consciously approached the job with an open mind, without any expectations - and it helped immensely. Secondly, many companies today, like mine, are youth-friendly. So the atmosphere itself has to work for you naturally - for socialising with others."

Also many of you might have started working soon after passing out of college. You may miss the freedom of campus and behave awkwardly in the first few weeks. This happened to someone even at Google, (one of the 'coolest' places to work at; according to The Google Story).