Being on time is preferable to being too early, especially on your first day
Being on time is great, but being too early on your first day is annoying for the people who are giving up their time to show you around. Once you’ve settled in and know what you’re doing you can be as early as you want, but for the first week – rein it in, keen bean.
Remembering everyone’s name will be very hard, but you should make the effort anyway
Making the effort to remember names will go a long way towards creating positive working relationships with your colleagues. Plus it’s just good manners, yo.
You won’t know what’s going on, and that’s fine.
The first week (in fact probably the first three months) at any new job will be information overload. You’ll basically have to learn a whole new language – new acronyms, new processes, new tasks. No one expects you to know it all when you walk in the door.
You won’t know when lunch time or home time is.
It’s awkward when it gets to about lunchtime and no one is moving from their desk. Pro tip: ask your closest colleague what time they usually have lunch. Better yet, ask them to show you their favourite lunch spot. And when it comes to home time, you don’t need to wait around until 7pm to show your new manager you’re dedicated. When it seems like most people are getting ready to leave, take that as your cue to wrap up as well.
You’ll be very, very tired.
Having to learn a whole bunch of new stuff in a short space of time is exhausting. You’ll probably be tired for the first month. Try not to schedule too many extra-curricular activities in your first week and make sure you get to bed nice and early. Love, your Mum xoxo
At some point you’ll probably feel like they made a mistake hiring you. They didn’t.
Everyone panics that they’re not qualified when they start a new job and realise how much there is to learn. It’s completely normal, and the feeling will pass. Pretty soon you’ll be a natural and it’ll feel like no one else could possibly do your job.
You’ll forget the new passwords you created for all your new accounts. Write them down.
This is pretty minor, but it’s not fun to have to contact the IT person to reset your accounts hours after you’ve set them up. You’re wasting everyone’s time.
You’ll feel slightly intimidated by your new manager, but before long you’ll be best professional buds.
Being by managed by a new person is always scary. You don’t know what they’re like, how they expect you to work or even what kind of jokes are appropriate. You’re probably never gonna be Leslie and Ann (I wish), but respect and positivity go a long way towards having a good relationship with your new boss.
There will be times where you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing. Roll with it.
There will be times when you’re sitting there, having just finished a task, with absolutely no idea what to do next. That’s okay. It’s a good opportunity to ask your co-worker or manager if there’s anything they want you to work on, or to ask what you should prioritise for the rest of the day. It’ll take a while for your workload to fill up. Pretty soon you’ll long for the days when you had time to check Facebook your emails.
You’ll mess up.
It’s 100% guaranteed that you’ll make a mistake, especially when you’re just starting to learn how to do your job. The important thing is that you deal with it quickly and efficiently. Do everything you possibly can to correct the mistake. There’s nothing else you can do. Forgive yourself, and move on.
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