At the job#
Great, you got the job. The fun doesn’t end there though: you can still be proactive and drive your career and life in the direction you want to. Here are some thoughts on the matter in no particular order:
Schedule regular meetings with your boss, assuming they don’t already schedule meetings with you. This was one of the greatest strengths of my old boss: he genuinely wanted to know how I was doing often and would truly listen and try to change things if I felt I wasn’t doing important work or moving where I wanted to in the job. This is also a great chance to get to know your boss more depending on how extroverted they are.
Be nice to people: okay, stick with me here. You should be nice all of the time, but every once and awhile, it doesn’t hurt to be really nice. Do something nice for a coworker you like (or dislike); buy breakfast burritos for a morning meeting, or pay for someone’s lunch [1]. I’m not saying I was or am stellar at this, but I made an effort at least a few times. One coworker and good friend made consistently thoughtful efforts, and everyone in the office came to like him and he quickly got more involved in office events [2].
Get to know people: I sound like a broken record, but this is really important too. Get to know people and their motivations: they’re working toward something the same as you, whether it’s a promotion or simply something for a loved one. Remembering things about people goes a long way, especially in the never ending churn of standups where your team might try to talk about something other than work.
Keep learning: everything we’ve spoken about applies. Have a growth mindset; you don’t need to be flawless all of the time, you can and will make mistakes. Learn from them, and keep learning! You don’t know where and when some of the things you’ll learn will pop up again; sometimes they won’t show up at all, and sometimes they will be the key to your next big project.