Sara McKinniss is an Account Manager for Wilt Public Relations in Springfield, Ohio.  McKinniss is a graduate of Wittenberg University with a degree in Communication. She is the author of Life of a Young PRofessional and has been quoted in multiple publications including The Wall Street Journal, Glamour, and AOL’s Wallet Pop.

So you’ve landed your first job or scored a coveted internship… Congratulations! Now, don’t screw it up your first week there.

Unless you already know people at an organization, chances are you’ve only met them in interview settings. Interviews are often structured get-to-know-you sessions. Because of this, I all too often hear from my peers about what to expect from these people once you’re actually offered a job. You worked hard to get the position, now you need to keep it.

Here are some tips to increase your chances of impressing the boss and becoming a professional Gen-Y Rockstar:

Remember that those who gossip to you will gossip about you.

Work can be like the high school cafeteria, but this time it’s with educated professionals instead of jocks, punks and preps. Your co-workers will gossip about you and will tell you office gossip. It’s inevitable. The best way to avoid being the suspect or the victim of this crime is to keep your mouth shut. It’s hard to resist not talking about your co-workers, especially if you don’t care for them. If the situation arises, simply say, “I don’t know anything about the situation/individual so I prefer not to talk about it.” It’s not as easy as it sounds, but with practice, it does get easier.

Take a notepad and pen with you everywhere.

Anytime you meet with someone, take notes. At my second internship, my supervisor was about to give me directions, and I didn’t take notes. He was irate. Writing things down is a simple, but often forgotten, concept. From that point on, I remembered to take notes. And if you don’t know, you better ask questions. If your coworkers get annoyed, it’s their problem. I’m sure you’d rather ask now than screw it up later. And if your coworkers aren’t willing to answer your questions, find someone who will.

Don’t arrive too early and don’t arrive late.

Report to your job on time. Arrive 15 minutes early and you are safe. Have a flexible work environment where you don’t have to clock in? Arrive early anyway. Don’t abuse coming in a half-hour late and working late to make up for it. However, don’t arrive too early. You’ll get burnt out quickly and your work will suffer.

Your mother doesn’t live at work, so clean up after yourself.

I don’t care if you grew up with a live-in maid or a cleaning service, your workplace is a communal environment, and therefore, it is everyone’s responsibility to keep it clean. Some offices are fortunate enough to have a cleaning crew, some don’t. Regardless, respect the space. Clean up after yourself. If you have guests, ensure they clean up after themselves. Don’t leave your trash out, keep your workspace semi-organized and be conscious of others.

Don’t bring seafood for lunch. Ever.

Seriously. At my first internship, someone always brought frozen shrimp or fish-based frozen dinners to work and heated those dishes up in the shared microwave. Guess who was asked to stop doing it? Don’t use a high-volume microwave for smelly foods. Find one down the hall or in a spare office. People don’t want to smell tuna all day. Throw away smelly things and remove it from populated office areas. It’s important to eat healthy, but be conscious of those around you who might not want to smell onion, fish or shrimp for the rest of the afternoon.