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Starting my first associate job tomorrow, and I've always been bad about using superiors first names. I keep calling and referring to them in email as Mr x. Is this a bad habit? At what point do I start using first names?

yeah it's really weird to call coworkers mr. / ms.

I'm bad about this too, especially with calling people sir and ma'am. Someone told me recently that, if you want to be treated like their colleague, you have to address them as if they are a colleague. Colleagues use first names.

Using it in e-mail communication before you get the job is a different thing that shouldn't stop you from using first names now that you've been hired.

Make them call you sir and assert your dominance as soon as possible.

We have some terrible first year that drink 5 diet cokes and 3 coffees a day and wears a suit every day and calls people Mr and Ms. Nobody likes him.

When I talk to partners about other partners I refer to those partners by their first names. When I talk directly to a partner I never see the need to use their name, not even sir or mam. Trust me, you can have conversations without using names, etc.

When can you start using pet names for coworkers, though? And should you start with names already generally accepted around the office or take the initiative to make up your own?

If you want to be even halfway respected in the workplace, you refer to your co-workers by their first names, both in emails and in direct conversation. You aren't there to fetch them coffee, so avoid the urge to use Mr. or Ms. That goes for everyone from mailroom clerk to the firm's managing partner.

Alright. So here is how this works.

1) You are a professional, not a servant. You are not expected to call anyone Mr/Mrs. Ever

2) Since you are new, its more likely people will be looking to introduce themselves to you. They will usually only give you their first name/nickname. After that, you never call them by another name.

3) If they are socially weird, and give you BOTH their first name and their last name, still call them by their first name. Don't worry, their feelings aren't hurt.

4) For crying out loud, in your emails, use their first names. Geez. No Mr/mrs. Never.

5) Again. You are a professional and their equal.

Where does man fit in? I'm a first year and a lot of people call me "man." I assume this means they forget my name. I've noticed I use "man" a lot now because I've become accustomed to it.

Actus Reus wrote:We have some terrible first year that drink 5 diet cokes and 3 coffees a day and wears a suit every day and calls people Mr and Ms. Nobody likes him.

What % of the dislike is beverage-related?

"Yesh me lord" is tcr

Anonymous User wrote:Where does man fit in? I'm a first year and a lot of people call me "man." I assume this means they forget my name. I've noticed I use "man" a lot now because I've become accustomed to it.

I guess you are "fitting in." Nothing wrong with that.

kaiser wrote:If you want to be even halfway respected in the workplace, you refer to your co-workers by their first names, both in emails and in direct conversation. You aren't there to fetch them coffee, so avoid the urge to use Mr. or Ms. That goes for everyone from mailroom clerk to the firm's managing partner.

Does the same advice apply as an SA?

Anonymous User wrote:

kaiser wrote:If you want to be even halfway respected in the workplace, you refer to your co-workers by their first names, both in emails and in direct conversation. You aren't there to fetch them coffee, so avoid the urge to use Mr. or Ms. That goes for everyone from mailroom clerk to the firm's managing partner.

Does the same advice apply as an SA?

If my experience of being corrected 1000 times during my SA and having it come up in the end of summer review is any indication, yes it applies as an SA. Don't be me.

Anonymous User wrote:

kaiser wrote:If you want to be even halfway respected in the workplace, you refer to your co-workers by their first names, both in emails and in direct conversation. You aren't there to fetch them coffee, so avoid the urge to use Mr. or Ms. That goes for everyone from mailroom clerk to the firm's managing partner.

Does the same advice apply as an SA?

Yes, absolutely. They are trying to gauge how you would be as a co-worker. And thats how you want to come off.

I used short names from day one. Non-partnership track?

Anonymous User wrote:

kaiser wrote:If you want to be even halfway respected in the workplace, you refer to your co-workers by their first names, both in emails and in direct conversation. You aren't there to fetch them coffee, so avoid the urge to use Mr. or Ms. That goes for everyone from mailroom clerk to the firm's managing partner.

Does the same advice apply as an SA?

Jesus f y'all are so anal. Be human.

Desert Fox wrote:Day one.

TCR. Once you graduate high school, you refer to your coworkers by their first name.

Actus Reus wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

kaiser wrote:If you want to be even halfway respected in the workplace, you refer to your co-workers by their first names, both in emails and in direct conversation. You aren't there to fetch them coffee, so avoid the urge to use Mr. or Ms. That goes for everyone from mailroom clerk to the firm's managing partner.

Does the same advice apply as an SA?

Jesus f y'all are so anal. Be human.

Give some slack. For many of these people, this is literally the first time they ever worked in a professional environment, so they genuinely don't know better at this point. I know, at least for me, it was a tough time adapting to an uber-formal stuffy work environment, when I'm much more the informal, laid back type that seems like he isn't taking things seriously enough.