We all like to let our hair down, but the work Christmas party is a potential minefield. Whilst a drunken slip-up at the end-of-year bash is unlikely to annihilate your career, it may crush your reputation. To prevent you spending the next 12 months laughing off jokes about that time you threw-up in a colleague’s handbag (yes, this really can happen) the Naturejobs team has compiled their own anecdotes and advice on how to have a good time, without leaving your reputation behind at the bar come the end of the night. Take heed!

1. Have fun, drink, be merry, but remember to do it within reason…these are still your co-workers and you don’t want to be the topic of conversation the next day as the drunkest person at the holiday party.

2. Holiday parties give you the platform to get to know people you wouldn’t normally interact with at work; it’s a good opportunity to meet new people, network, and get to know colleagues who work in different departments, so don’t be cliquey, and speak to everyone. Try to speak to the CEO/boss/PI and other senior people at the start of the night when you’re at your most coherent. This will prevent you falling over drunk in front of the CEO like one ill-fated Naturejobs team member. Luckily, it was his last day.

3. If it’s fancy dress, don’t go overboard with your costume, and read the labels of any products used. Take it from one ex-Naturejobs employee, who dressed up as Hulk Hogan. He already had the muscles so all he needed was to invest in some fake tan lotion. Inexperienced as he was in the use of such products, however, he did not see any noticeable difference in skin colour after the first liberal application of the product and hence applied several more layers to get the full effect. It worked, as he was a lovely orange for the X-mas party, almost like the great man himself. The rude awakening came when he went home and discovered the tan did not wash off. Walking to the office the next morning, head held low in shame, he seemed even more orange than the night before – despite a few hours in a bath, scrubbing to no avail. He then spent a rather quiet week at work as he tried to run into as few people as possible…

4. On the subject of fancy dress, here is some very specific practical advice from one Naturejobs team member: make sure your fancy dress outfit has an accessible zip, or else you may need a toilet buddy – and that’s how rumours start!

5. Plan your escape route. Investigate how you’re getting home from the party beforehand, and make enquires about local cab numbers in advance. Take out the cash you need to get home, and check you haven’t left your house keys or travel card in the office before you went out. We have heard of colleagues who ended up sleeping in the park…

6. If you think you might be liable of going overboard, buddy up with a colleague you get on well with and look out for each other during the night. That way they can stop you making a beeline for unsuitable colleagues you don’t fancy without your beer goggles on, and send you safely on your way home if you look worse for wear.

7. Don’t talk about work! Parties are meant to be fun.

8. Get everything you need ready for the next day at work before you go out, to make getting up in the morning as pain-free as possible. Then, have some breakfast and get on with it. Whatever you do, don’t call in sick – just get to work on time and laugh off any embarrassing moments from the night before. Everyone will be in the same boat.

9. At the same time, know what you’re capable of the next day. “Never plan to load an electrophoresis gel the day after the Christmas do,” says one Naturejobs staffer who used to work in a lab. “Hands shake, pipettes burst, preps don’t work and you end up with DNA all over the place and paranoid fears of sabotage when you can’t interpret the results. Best thing to do is to lock yourself up in the electron microscope room and sleep.” We won’t tell.

10. And finally, have plenty of tea and good mince pies (they’ve got to be good ones!) both before and after the party. And from everyone at Naturejobs: have a great time!