Every year I am asked to give a talk to the graduating seniors in our undergraduate policy program about starting their first job in Washington, DC. My first job was as a legal assistant at a busy law firm downtown and then I worked nearly full-time for the Council on Environmental Quality at the White House, while going to school full-time for my master’s degree. I do not pretend to have any deep insights but rather focus here on some practical tips for getting settled in a first job. In no particular order:
Learn how to get around- by foot, bike, bus, and train- at any time of the day or night. The Washington metro area is enormous and its traffic is no joke. I committed to always live where I could commute to work via public transportation or my own two legs. But as anyone who uses public transportation in a city knows, the system goes haywire sometimes. I’ve had to walk home from work sometimes when the trains or buses are not functioning, the city is gridlocked, and when a taxi (or Uber, today) would not get me home any faster than walking. I kept a pair of comfortable shoes in my office filing cabinet for such occasions. And I had to bust them out for real one day when we had to get a filing to the DC Court one afternoon before closing and the Metro was a mess and traffic was not moving at all in front of my office. I hoofed it the couple miles at a run to make the deadline when I could not rely on any other method to get me there. Entry-level jobs mean you sometimes have to do the grunt work, quite literally.
Related, I kept a change of clothes in my office for those occasions when I had to come into the office on the weekends unexpectedly, or pull an all-nighter when prepping for trial or an important early client meeting. Entry-level jobs mean you say yes to just about anything the boss asks, including after hours. (Important caveat below.) If they are working, you are working. It is how you build a reputation for dependability and professionalism. It is also how I earned enough overtime to pay off my student loans within a couple of years.
A law firm is a different kind of work environment than most offices. My law firm expected us to wear two-piece suits of a neutral color and conservative cut. On business casual days, we could dispense with a jacket but we were still expected to be conservatively but sharply dressed. No low cut tops, at least short sleeves (no tank tops), at or below knee-length skirts, heels preferred but not more than 3 inches, and no open-toed shoes. We could wear jewelry and makeup but not too much or too gaudy. Everything was expected to be professional and unassuming. Bright colors like red or yellow had to be used sparingly, such as in a belt or scarf. We had a 20-page clothing manual (most all of which was targeting women and reeked of patriarchy and misogyny). I still largely follow these rules whenever in Washington for meetings or conferences.
Work hard, play hard. Entry-level jobs are grueling. The hours are long, the stress may be high. It was really important for me to find outlets to burn off steam and connect with people. Going to the gym daily was a godsend for my mental health, as was hiking, biking, or paddling with my partner just about every weekend. It helped that we had a car to get out of town, but the city has so much to offer within close proximity for the car-free. My partner played soccer in a few local leagues- there are tons of pickup games around town too. I loved to browse the foods and crafts at Eastern Market or the many other farmers’ markets nearby when in-season. The city has festivals for just about everything- music, film, crafts, and culture. The museums are amazing and mostly free. If you keep your eyes peeled, you can find free food and drink events at art galleries and other random places around town most nights of the week (pre-Covid, that is, but things are coming back). Sometimes on a day off, I would just set off on foot for the Mall area downtown to see what I would find that day.
Work hard, play hard — but know how to recover quickly in a pinch. Thursday evenings were our routine happy hours at the basement bar next to the office when sometimes dozens of us would meet up to unwind. We would lose track of time and close the bar sometimes. Happy “hour” indeed. But there is still work to do on Friday and often starting early. I learned quickly from a coworker where to find good morning-after food– you know, the greasy breakfast sandwich and Gatorade combo that brings you back to the land of the living. The same goes for mornings after important and often lengthy client meetings at well-known restaurants around town. Our wine glasses were never empty and usually cigars and scotch followed after dinner. It is hard to admit publicly but I was socialized to match my bosses and clients drink for drink. Which was brutal as they usually were men and could drink a ton more than me and still be coherent. An important tip for the ladies: match every drink with at least one water. Pull aside the waitstaff discretely and ask them to help you out with sparkling waters in glasses that look like they are mixed drinks.
An important caveat to my point about doing whatever the boss asks. It should go without saying but I mean anything that the boss asks… within reason!! I remember the #metoo stories of being sexually harassed and abused by a boss or client, and I was also socialized into believing it was no big deal. It is a big deal, and you should absolutely shut that down immediately– either yourself or ask someone you trust to help. We cannot and should not remain silent to abuse of any kind. Fear of your career should not silence you. There is always another job. I did do some personal things for my bosses on occasion. I routinely would pick up lunch or coffee for them when we were busy, or meet them at their houses on our way to a client meeting. I oversaw the movers packing and loading for one of my bosses at her apartment building. But that is tame compared to the horrific stories I have heard of some young staffers. Set your boundaries and stick to them. And it does not have to be overly personal or sexual. I left one job when a colleague was blistering in his demeanor to me and others to the point that I was not comfortable working with him. My chief of staff called him “bombastic” and shrugged it off when I complained. So I left. Life is too short for that nonsense.
Do your best and always try to improve. Times are different now with so many electronic devices but I kept a small paper notebook with me at all times and wrote down everything that my bosses asked me to do, along with a clear timeline of when we had important dates such as trials or filing deadlines or new client meetings. First thing every workday, I reviewed my notebook, prioritized my tasks for the day based on the timeline, and briefed my bosses as soon as the work was done. They learned to trust that I was a hard worker and self-starter, and gave me more difficult and involved tasks to the point that I was functioning as an attorney in many respects. As Charles Feltman argues in The Thin Book of Trust, reliability is a core requirement for trust in the workplace. (The other requirements according to Feltman are care, sincerity, and competence. I agree 100%.)
One hard lesson I learned is to ask for someone knowledgeable to check your work when you are doing something important for the first time. I made a serious mistake in interpreting the filing instructions for one court. My skills were in legal research and writing so I did not often have to file documents in court. I read the instructions and did what I thought needed doing. That interpretation mistake required us to re-copy boxes of materials, re-file our papers in the court, and re-serve them to the defendant the next day, costing our client money, time, and the element of surprise. The client was furious and threatened to fire the firm. Only through the fast-talking of the senior attorneys on the case were we able to retain the client. I was horrified at my mistake, not knowing what I didn’t know or that I should have asked for help. But I sucked it up and admitted my mistake when the senior attorneys called me to task and so I was not fired. Own your mistakes, even when it is hard– especially when it is hard. That helps build your integrity, with yourself and others. Incidentally, I later learned my former boss uses this example as a cautionary tale still in his new employee training. I’m famous!
