Looking for tips for starting a new job? Keep reading for 15 essential tips for thriving in your new career.
And if you’re feeling nervous, just remember, you got the job for a reason. Focus on having a plan and don’t be too hard on yourself (because mistakes are normal).
Personally, I used these tips to switch from a career as an Executive Assistant in the healthcare space to working as a Technical Writer for an engineering company.
Sometimes, the best approach is leaning into skills you already have. Otherwise known as your competitive advantage.
Tip #1: Know Why You’re There
Let’s get something clear right out of the gate. Odds are you are starting a new job to make money. The chances of succeeding and being equipped to make more money in the future are higher if you understand your position is meant to add value to your company.
How will you add value exactly?
In the simplest sense, by executing the job you were hired to do. Put another way, by directly or indirectly making your company money. Of course, your job should be a mutually beneficial relationship. One where you exchange time and skills for money and benefits (like retirement and insurance). Total fulfillment, passion, complete comfort, etc. is not what your new job is meant to provide. Keep it simple and check your perspective.
Tip #2: Understand the Stakes of the First 90 Days
Based on a Robert Half study, 63% of CFOs give new employees less than 3 months to prove themselves. The first 90 days are critical. Treat them as such.
You won’t be perfect, but you should be able to:
- Develop relationships
- Show you’re a listener and a hard worker
- Create systems for improving long-term
Remember, proving yourself is not about perfection or being a hotshot. It’s about showing potential for adding value to the company. Meaning, giving your manager and supervisors all sorts of examples of how you have the skills and wherewithal to make a valuable member of the team.
Tip #3: Assess Company Culture
Pay close attention to company culture. Many companies have processes for how to work together and resolve intrapersonal conflicts.
Pay attention to how your team interacts. Are people helpful and welcoming? How do people respond to questions? Do you feel truly supported in learning your new role? Getting an accurate assessment of the company culture will help you thrive in the long run.
Especially if the work environment reality is different from the standards explained during onboarding. Noting culture and how people interact is a strategic step that will help you thrive vs. just survive. Keep your eyes open. Stay shrewd.
Tip #4: Dress the Part
My tips for starting a new job would be remiss without mentioning the importance of a good first impression. Pick out your first-day outfit ahead of time. Have things clean, pressed, and ready to go. It’s okay to be a little overdressed.
We can’t help that people judge, but we can put our best foot forward. So, for the first day and first week, schedule extra time to get dressed and ready in the morning. The same goes for a fully remote gig. Putting forth the effort to get ready will create the best frame of mind and prepare you for all those fun cameras-on onboarding calls.
Tips #5: Take Detailed Notes
Now for our groundbreaking day-of tip for starting a new job – take notes. Preferably with a physical pen and paper.
Take notes during orientation and training. Note every process you are shown. Will you ever read these notes? Likely not, but physically writing things down is a game changer for encoding new processes in your brain. As a bonus, you will have better recall and stay more focused during the long days of initial onboarding.
Once you’re established in the new job, I’d recommend organizing these notes in a digital format like Notion or Microsoft OneNote.
Tip #6: Listen More than You Talk
Be a sponge and listen more than you talk. This is an obvious tip, but there’s nothing worse than someone who takes up too much space and doesn’t listen. So this is your friendly reminder.
Try to listen without filters. Be open-minded and inquisitive. Limit questions to only the most pressing and important. If you’re someone who struggles with being chatty when you’re nervous, prepare some prompts ahead of time to keep yourself from dominating the conversation and talking more than you listen.
Tip #7: Study the Existing Procedures, Documentation, and Org Chart
Read and reread company procedures. Standard Operating Procedures are organized a certain way for a reason. In the first couple of days, study the documentation for your position. This will give you a road map for how to execute your work.
Additionally, study your company’s Organizational Chart. Get a general idea of who’s who. Study who the team leaders are and the team members. Make note of people’s names and roles. Dale Carnegie has sold millions of copies of his book How to Win Friends and Influence People. One of his first tips is to learn and use people’s names.
If it happens that your new company doesn’t have updated or clear documentation, bookmark this issue as a need you can possibly address in the future. Another reason to take notes.
Tip #8: Pattern the Workflow
While learning and orienting yourself the first week, begin assessing your team’s workflow. Pattern the day-to-day tasks and issues your team faces. Create a working understanding of how the group accomplishes tasks and hits deadlines. Also, note pain points.
I prefer a working notes document for this, but you can also create a workflow chart or drawing if you prefer. Add to and adjust as you go. The goal is to learn all the moving pieces and parts so you can develop your own process and checklists for how to operate in a way that makes sense to you.
And don’t forget, you will never have a more clear view of your team’s processes than your first weeks on the job. Pay attention to how things are done and why things are done. Any ideas for improvement can be saved for later when it may be beneficial to bring up suggestions for improving processes.
Tip #9: Don’t Be Afraid to Put in Extra Work
Let’s be real, for the first 30 – 90 days you are still in the interview phase. If you lack the aptitude to learn and succeed at your job during this time, it could pose a major issue for sticking it out long term.
For this reason, do NOT be afraid to put in extra work in the fledgling days of your new job. It is perfectly acceptable to work a little overtime while building your understanding of the job and taking extra time to complete projects and tasks. Now is the time to put in the extra work to prove yourself. Show up to work a little early or take shorter lunch breaks.
To be clear, this isn’t a long-term play. Once you’ve learned your new job, transition to completing work as efficiently as possible. For this reason, I’d recommend not being overt about putting in extra time. The last thing you want is to condition your boss into thinking you will work like this all the time.
Tip #10: Impression Management
At the core of a working environment is the fact that you will have to interact with multiple people at multiple stages of a project. Impression management is keeping an account of how you come off to everyone along the way, from the project team to the administrative staff, to clients, etc. Your aim is to conduct yourself with integrity, a strong work ethic, and collaborative energy in all areas.
Impression management isn’t about putting on a happy face even when you don’t feel like it, that’s more a matter of basic professionalism. It’s about striving to leave people with an accurate impression of you. First impressions are extremely important and very difficult to change. Spend extra care managing the impressions you leave people with when starting a new job.
Tip #11: Be Open-Minded to Reality
When you start a new job, especially a new career, sometimes it’s hard to accept reality. Don’t waste time exchanging what you thought things would be like for what actually is. Be open-minded and flexible.
As an English major, ever since I had learned what a Technical Writer did and the potential salary range, I wanted to work in the field. I had a lot of ideas about what it would be like before breaking into the field.
Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by the tools my team used to work efficiently. In the same breath, I was also stunned by how difficult other parts of the job were. If you find yourself getting flustered, question whether or not it’s because you had misplaced expectations or if it’s an actual issue that requires addressing.
Tip #12: Anticipate
This next tip is probably one of the most applicable tips for starting a new job. Understanding the next move and the order of operations is essential for being a proactive and productive member of your team.
I have also found anticipation places you in a different category with your supervisors and bosses. After you have proven yourself to be one or two steps ahead in anticipating the needs of the job, you move to a new category in his or her brain.
You’ll be known as someone who can be relied on. Someone who knows what’s going on and takes initiative. Anticipation also takes you off the, ‘Hey did you make sure to do this?’ roster. In turn, you will be checked up on less and seen as someone who is trustworthy and engaged.
Tip #13: Note the Nuances
Noting the nuances is all about the small things. There’s only so much a documented process can offer regarding what it really takes to be successful at a job.
Noting the nuances is about learning the small steps it takes to execute tasks and be ahead of the game. The nuances are just as much about the work as they are about learning how to work with the people on your team as individuals. Everyone has a different style of operation.
The nuances also involve learning how the person you report to operates. Taking it a step further to learn how to make that person look good is a tip for creating longevity in your career.
If you find out how to make your boss’s life easier, that’s a win. If you find out how to help him or her hit home runs on special tasks they are expected to complete, you will make yourself that much more of an asset.
Tip #14: Learn from Your Mistakes
No matter how attentive you are or dedicated to doing things right the first time, you will inevitably make some mistakes during your first three months on the job.
The key to making mistakes early in a job is to mitigate how big they are. You can do this by not being afraid to ask questions and double-checking yourself.
Despite these measures, you’ll likely make a couple of mistakes here or there. The goal should be to note exactly what the cause of the mishap was and learn from it for the next time. My favorite way to do this is to create the most anal, foolproof checklist there is. I follow this checklist religiously until the process becomes second nature. This is a great way to reduce errors and increase accuracy.
Tip #15: Create and Edit Your Own Procedure for Repeatable Success
The final tip for starting a new job is a recurring one you’ll continue to update throughout your career.
Creating a set of checklists that guide you through the steps of highly detailed tasks is step 1. The following step includes constantly revisiting those checklists to make improvements and adjustments as the workflow progresses and changes.
This process of note-taking and editing to improve is an ongoing one. I also use my time working directly with my coworkers to pick their brains and ask questions. Being inquisitive will help improve your perspective, enhance your understanding of the work, and build solid relationships along the way.
After the First 90 Days
These tips for starting a new job are an excellent base for the 0 – 3 month period of a new job.
The next three quarters on the job are more about building on the processes and habits you’ve established in the first three months. The subsequent months are about fine-tuning and learning how to finesse your position into being a sought-after and reliable team member.
In essence, after you’ve proven yourself and learned how to survive, the question should become, “What do I need to do to become the go-to person on the job?” Play into your strengths and competitive advantage here. If it’s being detail-oriented, be that. If it’s solving problems and being outspoken, be that. If it’s being creative and offering out-the-box thinking, be that.
