When you start a new job, the first working days in new environments and organizations can be challenging and memorable. For this reason, it is better to always keep some points in mind before the first days of being at work and starting a new job. When starting a new career, many things will be new and strange to you. Maybe you feel bad asking someone about the conditions in the first days of attendance; What style of clothes should you wear to the office, when and how long are you allowed to take a break, when is lunch time, and many such questions.
To clarify the issue and minimize such problems, the human resources department of organizations can play a prominent role. They should provide new employees with all the necessary information and welcome them on their first day. But what if the company does not have a separate department for human resources? What if department managers need to have such an attitude and foresight? In this situation, you should prepare yourself to be at work and start a new job.
As we know, first encounters with people are critical. Most people form their attitudes about the desired person in the first encounter. Therefore, in the first week of starting work, you should look as professional as possible. Everything should be successful for you in the first week itself. However, don’t worry. Even if you’ve made a mistake that affects how people around you think about you, you’ll still have plenty of time to challenge it and make things right. If you prove the opposite belief during different situations and conditions, your colleague will change the carpet style in your case.
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Why is your first week on the job critical to long-term success?
The initial impression happens only once and can last for a lifetime. You may think this talk is exaggerated, and the first impression could be more impressive. Let’s see what scientific and academic research shows about the first impulse to show up and start a new job.
- Most CEOs give their new hires a maximum of 3 months to prove themselves. A 2016 study found that 63% of CFOs provide a new hire less than three months to prove their worth. Meanwhile, about 9% of them give employees only one month.
- 91% of employees decide to leave their job in the first month. This is just one of the findings of studies conducted in 2018 on 9,000 job seekers in 11 countries. Poor management, inconsistency between the job advertisement and actual tasks, incompatibility with company culture, and poor employment experience are all reasons why a person may regret choosing this job in the first month and not hope for long-term activity in this job and organization.
- Science shows that first impressions are remarkably and disturbingly consistent. According to a study conducted in 2019 at the University of Western Ontario, even if you behave in a completely different and specific way in the future that challenges the initial impression of you in people’s minds, the same initial impression and judgment will still remain in their minds. And it affects their attitude toward you.
Imagine that a new colleague is added to your team, and your initial impression of him is not very positive and not pleasant. A few weeks later, you see the same colleague at a party and interact more with them. This time he notices more positive and lovable aspects in her personality. In this situation, even though your initial impression of him was wrong, you realized your mistake during the party. But the research shows that your behavior in environments and conditions similar to that party with this colleague was positive, but in public and work situations, your attitude towards him will still be affected by the same initial misconception. But this issue is not always stable and can be changed.
The good news is that, even if you make a mistake at the beginning of the path and cause the formation of a wrong impression and initial attitude towards yourself, you will still have the opportunity to challenge this attitude many times and, eventually, over time, it will change in the minds of those around you. Change it. Although this is possible, it requires more time and energy. The best situation is to create a correct and positive image of yourself in the minds of those around you from the beginning. Now, how to do this? How to be ready to start a new job? In the following, we share some practical recommendations with you.
A week before starting a new job: do your research.
HR experts recommend researching the organization and company a week before starting a new job. Follow their posts and submissions on social networks. Among these writings, you may have noticed something about organizational culture and appropriate behavior in this series.
Some organizations provide a checklist for the first day of work so that you are more prepared to attend. If the hiring manager doesn’t provide you with such a thing, ask him a few days before starting the new job if there are any special things you should know and prepare yourself for on the first day of work. Depending on your role in this organization, doing the following can also be helpful for you:
- Research, the company’s competitors
- Practice the computer software they use in this organization
- Take a look at the LinkedIn profile of the organization’s employees.
One week into a new job: test everything.
If you are going to work remotely, check your internet connection and the health status of your computer’s operating system and software. In general, carefully review every piece of equipment and thing you need on the first day of work, so everything runs smoothly. Making sure that the equipment is healthy and working perfectly will help you feel confident and can impact your self-confidence.
Three days before starting work: Call your manager
Your manager has chosen you and wants you to be successful in your position. Therefore, do not have any worries or shyness to ask for help and advice from them. Sending a simple email can often answer your question and problem.
Ask your manager about how to cover the organization’s employees. Even if you work remotely, how you dress may still be necessary to them. In general, ask him if there is anything in particular that you should pay attention to on the first day of the new job. Asking such a question and request can be helpful for you in two ways. First, you will find enough information to attend the workplace and go there more prepared. Second, show your employer that you want the best start and performance and that being professional in all areas is essential to you. This will create a positive feeling and attitude of you in the manager’s mind.
One day before starting work: Confirm your schedule.
Refrain from assuming you know everything about the work processes in that organization. Even simple relationship issues like lunch time can be more important to you on the first day. However, there may always be details that you need to be aware of.
Depending on the industry you work in, working hours may vary slightly. Of course, you want to go to work on time on the first day! To avoid such mistakes and misunderstandings, we recommend you check the schedules with the organization’s manager or human resources department. Ask them what time they expect you to start and finish. What time is lunch, and how much time do you have for it?
On the first working day: introduce yourself to the team.
Your start to work will usually be gradual. The department manager or HR usually informs team members that a new person will be added to their team. But if they don’t do this, you take the opportunity to introduce yourself to them. Ask your manager if you can send an email or message to the rest of the team and introduce yourself to them.
On the first day of work: get to work early.
Being late, especially in the first week of work, is not a good sign for you. Plan your commute so that traffic, getting lost, or any other unpredictable factors do not make you late to work; In fact, consider everything. There is nothing wrong with arriving at work, even 30-40 minutes early on the first day.
You will feel more pressure and stress if you arrive late at work. On the other hand, arriving early gives you enough time to get used to the environment, drink a cup of coffee, and feel a little more relaxed before other colleagues come. Therefore, arriving early will be a win-win game for you, and you will benefit in several ways.
In the first week: find a friend.
In some companies, every new person hired in the organization is introduced and paired with a friend or coach to get help in doing the work and getting to know the environment. But if there is no such approach in your organization, you should do the work yourself and find a friend. A little research on LinkedIn will help you identify your potential friends in this work environment. This can be a good starting point for you.
Break time and lunch can be excellent opportunities to get to know your colleagues. So, please don’t wait for someone to invite you for lunch; Rather, ask someone yourself and have lunch with them. Remember that in the first days of starting a new job, you can stay close with all the employees and go to their desks to get to know them. But at the same time, don’t be mean and avoid them. Our advice is to introduce yourself to your teammates and, when having lunch, suggest one of them to have lunch together.
Show that you are happy to be part of the team and look forward to building a great working relationship with everyone. If you’re working remotely with a group, occasionally bring up informal, friendly conversations. This will help to create a closer relationship.
In the first week: Have a meeting with your manager.
Microsoft company experimented and analyzed the initial behavior of about 3000 new hires. This study found that new employees benefit in 3 ways when they meet one-on-one with their manager in the first week:
- They find a larger internal network, leading to an increased sense of belonging and their chances of staying in the organization for a long time.
- They had better meetings.
- Compared to people who did not have one-on-one meetings with managers, these people had better and more collaboration with their team members.
Therefore, in the first week of attendance, try to have an individual essay with your manager.
Everyday: Don’t be afraid to ask questions
When you’re a new hire, you want to appear capable, knowledgeable, and confident to prove your worth. But feel free to ask questions, especially if you’re working remotely.
One issue that many telecommuters need help with is being torn between whether asking questions is appropriate and clarifying processes and tasks or whether asking questions is a nuisance. Managers and colleagues. Rest assured, though, it’s scarce for a manager to get mad at an employee for asking a question, Especially if the employee is new and has asked questions to improve performance and performance!
You can use different tools to ask questions to your colleagues or managers. In-house automation or email can be an excellent way to ask your questions.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a way to melt the ice between yourself and your colleagues, these questions can be a good way. Conversations created based on these questions can lead to a better acquaintance with other team members and colleagues. According to research conducted by Harvard University, asking questions in the workplace makes people like you more, especially if your question is of the “follow-up” type. A follow-up question is you ask about what your colleague was talking about recently. A follow-up question could look like this:
- You: So, what is your job?
- Colleague: I lead the content marketing team.
- You: Oh, that’s great! I love reading the company blog. How do you come up with ideas for those articles?
However, it would help if you were careful when asking questions. Although asking questions can improve the relationship between you and your colleagues and have a positive role, asking the right questions can have a negative effect. The worst kind of question to ask is to change the whole topic of the discussion suddenly. Consider the same example as before:
- You: So, what is your job?
- Colleague: I lead the content marketing team.
- You: How interesting. What is your hobby?
According to a Harvard University study, questions like these suddenly change the subject, have the worst impact, and generate minor popularity. These questions completely change the subject and, in a way, show your colleague and the audience that you were not listening to them and were not leading the discussion well. We hope that reading this article was useful to you, and we suggest that you also read the “Ways to Build Resilience in the Workplace” article.
