Now that I have moved from the serving business to a full-time office job, it is definitely a culture shock. After serving tables for over 7 years, I knew what was expected out of me. Most of the time, I was never allowed on my phone, there is absolutely no computers to check email and Facebook, not allowed to eat (for the most part) during a shift and I was constantly on my feet.
Now, I’m sitting at a desk, 9 to 4 everyday and when there is no filing, no phone calls, or scheduling to be done, I’m reading my favorite blogs, checking email, and of course, Facebook.
It just makes me wonder though, is it really professional? It can be sort of uncomfortable looking through party pictures and writing on a friend’s wall about how great last weekend was when your boss is present. At the same time though, it does uplift me a bit to keep in contact with friends and reminiscing the good times when your stuck inside working all day.
I know that when I was at my internship at IIDA, I tried my best to keep my Facebook checking to a minimum. To be honest, I was barely on it unless I was updating IIDA fan page. Yet, I know a lot of my friends have or had internships or jobs where Facebook was totally okay, as long as you get your work done and not abuse the privileges.
So when do you know when it’s aloud or not? It seems wrong to just ask the first week of a job about the Facebook/Blogging/Twitter, etc rules. In my opinion, the best thing to do would be to observe the actions of other employees and how employers respond to certain behavior. What is your suggestion? What’s the best way to approach what’s aloud and what’s not at a new job??
Oh! And since your sitting at your office desk reading this, don’t forget to add me on Facebook