How not to impress your supervisor

Okay, since I gave you the glowing letter of recommendation a little while ago, let me now tell all you young'uns how NOT to act while you are being trained at your new job:

1) DON'T CHECK YOUR PHONE.  I cannot stress this enough, as it seems to be as natural and as necessary to as breathing to the kids I see in the lab.  Anyone above 30 or so is going to find it offensive and insulting and just plain stupid to see you whipping out your phone to check whatever the heck you are checking.  Even if you have a minute of "downtime" while something is incubating or percolating or compiling, etc, DON'T TAKE OUT YOUR PHONE.   Even if your supervisor is on the phone!  If you are truly waiting for a call or text, or you have some legitimate reason to need to be on alert, let your trainer know you might need to answer your phone, then set it to vibrate or a low ring - if it rings, excuse yourself, and step away if possible to answer if BRIEFLY.  Otherwise, while you are in the office/ lab/ workfloor with the trainer, your attention should be, or at least appear to be, on the trainer and on learning the task at hand.

2) DON'T PUT IN ONLY HALF YOUR EXPECTED HOURS. Be at work when you are expected: arrive when you say you will, stay until you say you will.  Even though our lab is pretty flexible about schedules (especially for the volunteers who are only expected to come for  20hrs/wk), we need to know when the volunteers will be in, especially in the beginning, while they are still being trained.  This seems so obvious, I can't believe I need to explain, but experience has shown otherwise.  If you are late - APOLOGIZE.  Do not joke to your little friends - RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR SUPERVISOR - how you overslept because you kept pushing the snooze button!

3) DON'T MAKE STUPID REMARKS.  In general - watch you mouth!  Your supervisor / boss is not your buddy, not someone you met at a party, not even like a classmate.  It is usually fine to chat, even appreciated, but keep it professional.  Maybe you will become closer after several months - MAYBE.  But it is better to err on the side of caution.  Do I need to elaborate?  No assessment of appearences, even of a third party!  No questions about personal relationships, personal grooming, political affiliation.  This is such a wide topic, I will just reiterate - watch your mouth!

4) DON'T INTERRUPT! Don't keep finishing your supervisor's sentences, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE ALWAYS WRONG, AND SHE KEEPS SHOOTING YOU DIRTY LOOKS FOR IT.  I don't care if he/she hesitates, stutters, whatever; just let her finish her sentence!

5) DON'T PRESENT A POOR APPEARANCE.  Appearance matters.

• Dress appropriately.  Again, the lab is pretty lenient, but for just about any indoor job, cut offs and short-shorts are off limits.  Ditto outfits that expose underwear.  
• If at all possible, don't slouch, don't shuffle, don't waddle.  This is already advice for life in general, but it is sad to me to see how some of these kids just RUIN their appearance by ignoring posture.  In the context of jobs - you look lazy and sloppy.  You can argue these physical aspects shouldn't matter - but ut if you can fix it, then you ARE being lazy, ruining your back, and saying "I don't care what you think" almost as if you wore your pajamas to work.  Which makes me think I should add:
• Don't wear your pajamas to work (unless maybe you are a volunteer in a sleep study).

6) DON'T WASTE EVERYONE'S TIME.   Try to actually learn how to do something.  If you are having a really hard time, your supervisor wants to help.  I usually first understand that a volunteer is a loser when I don't get any questions from him.  Be clear about what is going well, what is going poorly, and what has you totally confused.  I often first really feel that we have a winner, when a volunteer says on his own, "Oh, I realize I made a mistake - this is what I should have done."  Maybe the main point of this job is to have something to put on your resume - but it sure ain't gonna get you a letter of recommendation unless you actually show something worthwhile.