{"id":75913,"date":"2014-07-03T11:30:40","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T16:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=75913"},"modified":"2014-07-03T12:34:44","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T17:34:44","slug":"the-second-time-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=75913","title":{"rendered":"The Second Time Around"},"content":{"rendered":"

Angela J.A. Kent, Head Editor,\u00a0<\/span>INALJ-Virtual Work<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Second Time Around<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"angela.kent\"<\/a>I recently returned from a conference that I attended for the first time last year and was very glad to\u00a0have the opportunity to attend again this year. Last year, everything and practically everyone was new\u00a0to me. I didn\u2019t know exactly what to expect, and, although there were first-timer tips and meetups to\u00a0help me prepare, no one can ever quite know what to expect the first time around.<\/p>\n

The same can be said for the workplace. Before your very first interview you can\u2019t quite know\u00a0exactly what to expect. Or your first day at your first job you likely experienced the same feelings of\u00a0anticipation. On your first day at work, you don\u2019t know where to put your lunch or what the dress code\u00a0is really like, all while trying to understand office dynamics or finding the best way to approach your\u00a0new boss with a question or idea. And, while this can remain true for the first day on any job, the very\u00a0first time you encounter this may also mean not really knowing to expect these kinds of apprehensions.<\/p>\n

It does get easier the second time around. While every interview can be different and every workplace\u00a0has its own culture, there are still perennial events that the brain — once it has been experienced for the\u00a0first time — can draw on to help understand the current situation. It\u2019s why the memories of the first time\u00a0we interview or start our first job can be far more vivid and memorable than the ones that follow. When\u00a0we place ourselves in a situation we\u2019ve never been in before, the brain is taking in both the small and\u00a0insignificant, as well as the big and overall.<\/p>\n

After that first interview, you know to anticipate that you should give yourself extra time to park or\u00a0freshen up, you know that there will be small talk, or that you may be repeating yourself and your\u00a0background to several different people. And it\u2019s certainly one thing to read about how to prepare for an\u00a0interview or even to do mock interviews, but you can\u2019t ever really know what to expect until you\u2019ve\u00a0gone and done an interview. The same is true for work. If you start to remember your very first job (or\u00a0maybe your very first full-time job or office job), those memories – particularly your very first day -are probably more vivid than others. Now, whenever you enter a new workplace, there are things you\u00a0know to look out for or questions you should be trying to answer.<\/p>\n

The first time around can be an exhilarating experience. But, the second time around can bring a lot\u00a0of confidence to a situation. For me, this past conference allowed me to be a better \u201csession crawler\u201d\u00a0(sitting in on parts of multiple concurrent sessions); a better conversationalist (particularly with\u00a0meeting new people); and better at putting my ideas into action. Those same traits – multitasking,\u00a0interacting with co-workers and clients, being a self-starter – carry over to the world of work. So, while\u00a0the first day is one to remember, don\u2019t take for granted the second time around.<\/p>\n

This will be my last post as Head Editor for INALJ-Virtual Work. As with those before me, a new(ish)\u00a0job and greater responsibilities at that job are taking away from time to volunteer. But as many of you\u00a0who follow INALJ already come to expect, the site will continue to provide great job leads and read-\u00a0worthy articles. I am grateful to have been a part of that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Angela J.A. Kent, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ-Virtual Work The Second Time Around I recently returned from a conference that I attended for the first time last year and was very glad to\u00a0have the opportunity to attend again this year. Last year, everything and practically everyone was new\u00a0to me. I didn\u2019t know exactly what to expect, and, although…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":70716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[5895,69,3592,5963,293,4757,5894,3953,6321],"class_list":["post-75913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-angela-kent","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-conference-first-timers","tag-experience","tag-first-day","tag-inalj-virtual","tag-learning","tag-the-second-time-around"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/angela.kent_.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-jKp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}