Surviving your first week on a new job feels just like your first day in a new school. The rush of energy to get started comes with feelings of uncertainty, fear as well as a momentary loss of confidence. Regardless of what your story turns out to be, whether thrive on your new job and environment will be determined by making a good first impression, understanding the people, their culture, the processes and being driven to flourish and succeed there. Here are a few tips to help you survive your first week on a new job.
This might seem like common sense but in the spirit of reiteration, please ensure you will arrive early to help you survive your first week on a new job. Ensure you are well prepared to get your week started. Take care of all the little details; from your clothing to prepping everything that would help you wake up early, leave early from home and show up at your new job early. This will help your enthusiasm and show your team that you are a serious-minded and goal-driven person.
Strive to learn more about your environment, the work culture, its people and everything that would be important to your success both on, off the job and surviving your first week. It is always tempting to go a workaholic mode because you want to impress but you should save that for later because first and foremost, you need to understand why things function the way they currently do and how the routine of your colleagues impact your work.
To survive your first week on your new job build as well as making valuable connections, it’s important that you get to know your colleagues, what they do, their boundaries as well as daily routines. Observing people and creating the right work relationships in your new workplace will help you learn how high performers in the organisations are getting their results. These individuals will help you build on your own goals in the near future.
Your first week at a new job is a perfect time to take advantage of an opportunity to understand the organisation as well as those you will be working within the days ahead. A great way to do this is to ask questions. Don’t stop asking questions because the answers you get will help you get to know your team better.
Being a newbie gives you time to learn more and a lot of people will be open and willing to show and teach you how things work; use it wisely and don’t shy away from asking questions.
In asking questions, be specific to listening as well and keep track of the answers you get to avoid being repetitive. When your questions are not specific and a bit more universal, use Google wisely. If you still find a need to ask after that, at least you would have taken some initiative and will be able to put things in better perspective.
Define your personal expectations and cultivate new habits to help you attain the standards you sold to your employer during the interview, which convinced them to them to hire you. Come up with routines, tasks and personal goals that would help you begin and end each day going forward on a positive note.
If your office runs an open space design, find your favourite spots and every other necessary place in the workplace that would ease your time and job during working hours. Ensure you are not the first to leave the office and don’t be the last to close from work. You should be realistic in trying to impress your new boss, team and colleagues. It is likely that there will be errors as you gradually work your way into the different teams and daily routines. When this happens, consider them a learning curve and pick your learnings from them. Maintain a positive and enthusiastic outlook; especially as it relates to surviving your first week at work
