Updated April 18, 2023
Starting a New Job Career
You may expect the article to guide you about how to fit into a new job career! But this article is not about conforming but connecting. You need to maintain your poise and, at the same time, learn to mingle with your peers within the company.
When you’re in a new job career, the first response is often a joy-fear. This term was coined by celebrated blogger Leo Babauta. You encounter such a condition when you experience something as exhilarating as uncomfortable for your guts. So, sharing joy-fear while having a new job career is quite natural! But then it’s challenging to decide what to do at that moment. If you’re wondering what to do when you’re in a new job, we have some tips that will allow you to relax and enjoy your new job career.
According to a recent study, it’s being said that 58% of millennial employees say that it’s okay to say ‘yes’ to authority when you’re in a new job career. You may say ‘yes’ to authority when you need to learn something new. But make sure you don’t become them in the process. You need to remain you and do your part, but yes, learn from them, connect with them, and be polite to them.
10 Primary Things to Start a New Job Career
Let’s look at the ten primary things you should do when you start a new job so that the days in the new organization become more accessible and you can grow and expand your professional horizon.
1. Introduce yourself
Many people tend to need to be more open about introducing themselves. But this is the first thing you should do. Yes, the HR department may have an orientation session to introduce you to the other company employees. Still, you need to take charge and connect with as many people as possible in the organization to create rapport. Introducing yourself often banishes the discomfort between two unknown people and creates a harmonic relationship immediately. You don’t need to say much, or you need to understand how much to say. You can find an ally in the office to talk to on the first day. Later, you will realize who is who. If you’re a manager and introduce yourself to the President as you introduce yourself to a manager at your level, that wouldn’t be appropriate.
The best way to do this is to ask for a hierarchy chart from the HR department. If they’re one, they will provide. Otherwise, go around and ask the HR manager to help you introduce yourself to the other company members (if no orientation is in place). Then you can connect with others whenever possible. But training yourself to know the organization’s key people is the first prerequisite while starting a new job career.
2. Connect with a veteran to be wary of office politics
You need to understand head-on that your office will have politics once you join the new job career. In every office, it’s the same. In some offices, it’s more prevalent, and in some, it’s less. If you need to know about office politics and save yourself from becoming a victim, you must take measures initially. Talk to a veteran who has been there for a long time. You may find that s/he is not easy to talk to. But it would be best to find commonalities between you and the veteran to build rapport.
Once you talk and build rapport, s/he will share information about the office and who’s who. You don’t need to believe everything s/he says, but you can still check out and be aware of what s/he says. Besides politics, every office has its language; soon enough, you must know it. In that case, the veteran will also be able to help you.
3. Ask a lot of questions
People like people who ask questions and want to learn from them. But do not be draggy about it. Ask questions that are not uncomfortable. Don’t even ask personal questions. Get away from close-ended questions as well. Instead, ask open-ended questions like – “How are things in this organization?”, “How is the work culture?”, “What is hierarchy looks like here?” etc. Be sure to ask questions. Everyone would not be comfortable or open to answering your questions because not everyone would be interested in connecting with you. Leave them and invite those people who are interested and ready to join. If you’re in a top position, be careful about how you ask questions because if you need to lead afterward, it can create issues later. Remain open to everything around you and ask new job questions to the right people.
4. Understand the expectation of your new job goals
You’re offered this further job training for a reason. The reason is usually an expectation of performance. Even when you’re in a honeymoon period, it’s always better to know your key performance areas so that in the beginning, only you would know how much you need to perform and what you’re responsible for improving in an organization. Go to the HR department and talk to HR about how the performance is being measured in the organization, and also sit with your boss to know what s/he expects from you in months to come.
Most people would stop here, but if you’re in top management, you must call your team and discuss their expectations of you. It will help them sort out things, and you can also understand what you can expect from them. In an organization, the whole unit works toward the same goal. When you join, you may know the organization’s purpose, but until you dive in, you can’t know how much contribution you need to make to get the ball rolling.
Set a time in the beginning only to clear the fog and get clarity about what you should do in the coming months.
5. Know the rules of the grapevine
Even if you formally meet with your boss and employees, that’s not all. You also need to know the rules of the office in the grapevine. If you’re a fresher, you may not know that most people in top positions pay more heed to the informal meetings of their employees than the formal meetings. Why? Because in grapevine people use to share their true feelings over a coffee.
So, visit the canteen (if the company has one) and look around after joining the new job training. If you have your eyes and ears open, you will understand the norms and approaches of people. Even if it seems unimportant, it will help you later as you know all about people and their usual or unusual behavior and attitude. It will help you lead them (if you’re in a top position) or be aware of them in the long run.
6. Prove your unique selling proposition
Why has the company given you the new job goals? Why has the company hired you? Because you sold them on something! You told the company that you could do certain things and paid enough evidence to trust you, and the company bought your unique selling proposition. And now you’re hired. That means you’ve successfully sold them your USP. But that’s not all. You need to prove your USP.
So, even in the honeymoon period of your new job training, be sure to document your USP on paper and make it your primary definite purpose to prove it. Everyone believes in results. They offer you these new job goals based on your words and past results, but if you want to stay in this company with good cheer, you need to do something to prove your worth. Begin taking small steps toward your primary definite purpose and set milestones so that you can understand once you reach them.
Most of the employees who join for a new job training skip this, and that’s why they can’t get stuck for a long time in the organization. Remember, you’re not hired in the organization because of you but because of the company, and till the time you keep up your game and ensure that you take care of the objective of the company, you stay. Remember, and don’t take your new job goals for granted.
7. Align your rituals with the company culture
Every company has a different culture, and once you join a company, you need to know what sort of culture is inherent within the organization. No matter your position, you can become a great employee by aligning with the culture and creating rituals. Aligning doesn’t mean fitting in. You can stand out as an exceptional employee and align yourself with the organizational culture.
A few norms and behaviors are expected of you when you join a new job training. It will take some time for you to understand the company’s standards, behaviors, and values. And then, once you can adapt well to the new job training, you can align yourself. For example, you may have a habit of reaching the office late, but the organization you’ve just joined may be very strict about punctuality and rewards people who maintain it. So, tweak your ritual and come early. It’s about new job goals, and you want to avoid going because of your mistakes. Thus, I committed to maintaining the norms. It will help you blend in with the company culture and create the results the company hired you to deliver.
8. Go over to social media and update
Once you’re done connecting with the people in the new organization and have an overview of the company’s culture and expectations once you join the further job training, it’s time to update your current designation on social media, especially in Linked In. It’s always good to update your new job and provide a glimpse of your current responsibilities on your LinkedIn profile. It will help you become updated about your current role, and you can also write a fresh summary and change the resume you’ve attached to your LinkedIn profile. Once you’re done updating, go to the next step.
9. Reconnect with old colleagues
Once you update your profile, you can reconnect with your old colleagues. It would be the first time you would try to connect after joining the new job training. It’s always better to find a nook in the office and talk privately instead of showing your current colleagues that you’re reconnecting with the old ones. You can reconnect with them via social media if that’s impossible.
This is the age of networking. And networking shouldn’t be done when you need a problem to solve or to get a job. But it would help if you networked all the time. It’s said that the best time to get referrals is when you don’t need any. Moreover, you’re not networking because you need to have people by your side when things are strict; you’re doing it because you want to help people become what they aim to be. That way, you can lead others without needing the title or credit.
10. Go around your office and know the place
The last thing is knowing the place if you don’t know it. Find coffee shops, restaurants, meeting points, parking places, etc. If you work for a manufacturing setup, it’s always advisable to check the factory, especially if you would work to manage the workers at the factory directly or indirectly. Know the locals, go for a walk at lunchtime to see if you can find any creative points, and check the conveyance option if you need to get your vehicle. The point is to know the place as you are about to spend half of your day here every day once you join the new job opportunities.
The above are the key points you should follow once you join a new job opportunity. The HR department’s orientation and induction programs may make some things mentioned above redundant. But only some companies like to increase the cost by giving an introduction to employees who join new job opportunities. So they provide a brief introduction and don’t worry about primary training for the new employees. Remember, new job goals would remain new for some time. After spending a month or two, you should expect to exit the honeymoon period and perform well. But if you do the above after joining the new job opportunities, you will relax and do your work. You wouldn’t need to worry about other things at all.
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