Know Your Environment

A lot of companies will schedule happy hours throughout the year. Although I definitely recommend going to these to get to know the people you work with, it's also important to be aware of your environment. Understand the difference between drinking with your friends and drinking with colleagues, even if the people you work with are both. I've seen people do some pretty stupid things, like slamming boilermakers in front of company executives while they looked on with mouths gaping. Although this person and some others thought it was funny, his professional image never recovered. The work he did was fabulous, but he was never assigned any projects that were high profile or that involved sponsors. Upper management were afraid of what he might do or say when in meetings, via email, etc. Right or wrong, perception is often reality, and it carries over to other areas. Don't let stupid decisions you make in your early career impact where your career may go in the future.