Congratulations! You made it through the stressful interview
process, background checks, and other pre-employment challenges. Now, you are
preparing to walk through the doors of your new employer for your first day on
the job. So, what now? What can you do on your first day of work to make sure
that you start off on the right foot with your co-workers and boss, and to make
sure that you become productive as quickly as possible? More importantly, what
can you do to make sure that you know how to navigate the unwritten rules of
your new organization?
- Be
courteous and cordial with your new co-workers, but avoid being too
emotionally or socially available.
This may seem a bit cold, but
the truth is, until you become more familiar with your co-workers and office
politics, it is best to play things close to the vest. You just don't know what
you might be dealing with. For example, it might be tempting to accept an invitation
to join a coffee klatch of fun loving women. However, if you find out later
that the women in that social group are largely viewed as gossipy and
unprofessional by their colleagues, you'll probably be glad that you kept your
distance. A new colleague you do not yet know may actually be that “snake in
the grass” who undermines everyone else in his attempts to get ahead.
- Focus
on memorizing policies and procedures.
Believe it or not, in many cases
these things are in place to keep things running smoothly. Besides, even if the
procedures are outdated or more complicated than useful, your first day on the
job is not the time to start complaining about such things. Make an effort to
understand how things work so that your new coworkers aren't forced to clean up
after you.
- Learn
the names of your coworkers, and address them by those names each time you
interact with them.
There is no way to emphasize
this too much. Learn names as quickly as you possibly can, and then enforce
that knowledge by using those names. The friendliest hey or hello on the
elevator doesn't hold a candle to a simple, “Hi, (first name).” Using a person's
first name is key in developing a positive relationship with them.
- Set up
your email address and voice mail
On your first day of work, you
should expect to be the focus of many welcoming and informative emails and
phone messages. Make sure that everything has been set up correctly so that you
can read and respond to these when you have time.
- Don't
wait for an invitation to become productive.
Once you have finished up with
your tour of the facility, paper work, introductions, etc., it can be tempting
to ride out the rest of your day. If you do go this route, odds are great that
nobody will notice or care. Unfortunately, if someone does notice, the attention
won't be positive. On the other hand, if you do proactively seek out a project
to work on or a person to help, you will be noticed and in a good way.
You
can find
her on Twitter - @premieressaynet.
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