Have you ever been told that ‘you are so different from the way I thought of you when I first met you? Do you strive to make a good impression when you first meet people and especially on your first days on the job as an apprentice? Well many people do and I can tell you, leaving the right impression can be a tough job sometimes. Here’s a hint you all should know: people do make judgements based on first impressions.
If people misjudge you during your apprenticeship this means what you presented wasn’t the real you. Somebody who doesn’t know you, fills out their own information (most of the time unconsciously) with their own interpretations and impressions made through their observation of you.
Everybody does it. If you see and talk to a new colleague your brain categorises all the information that comes in, verbal and even non verbal.
These interpretations can get really personal for some people. They can decide for instance which car you drive, what kind of house you live in, what your family looks like, your educational level and even what kind of person you are dating. Based on this information your brain decides if this is someone you want to hang out with or not. So by knowing this, it’s logical to think that after leaving a first impression it is hard to go back. Here are seven points of advice to help you leaving the right impression at the start and throughout your apprenticeship:
- Think about the things you ‘think’ you know about unfamiliar colleagues or apprentices for instance.
- Check with those unfamiliar apprentices what they ‘think’ to know about you that they actually don’t know. See how it works now.
- Be well aware of the impression you want to leave at your apprenticeship and the person you are.
- Make sure your appearance supports who you are as a person.
- Look decent and make sure you always arrive on time.
- Make sure you communicate well with your co-workers during you apprenticeship and let your personality come out.
- Try to show your best every day at your apprenticeship.
Image by oooh.oooh
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