Too many people make the same mistake when they start a new job, and it makes them look ridiculous

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Rainn Wilson Dwight Schrute The Office

NBC/"The Office"

Stay humble.

The first few months of a job can be nerve-racking, for obvious reasons.

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They can also be exhilarating - if you were known at your last job as the office goofball or the guy who always missed deadlines, here's your chance to make a great impression on your new coworkers.

But in an effort to wow the entire office, too many people wind up looking foolish instead.

That's according to Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of "Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job."

"People make this mistake in their first 100 days on the job: They try to impress their boss and everybody, including their CEO," she told Business Insider. "So they might use fancy language - words they don't understand the meaning of. They ask questions for the sake of asking a question, but they haven't done their homework. They try to sometimes seem like they've come up with the answers to everyone's problems or a solution, when if they had done their homework, they would have seen it's already in place."

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Taylor's observations go back to something Amanda Augustine, an expert in career advice for TopResume, previously told Business Insider: In your first week of a new job, be humble. Definitely don't counter a coworker's comment with, "Well, in my old company, we did it this way."

Perhaps the best advice for anyone starting a new job is to simply be yourself. We know - it sounds lame. But the company hired you, not the fancy-pants, know-it-all version of you. Show your coworkers that they made the right choice.

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