Are You Starting A New Job?

A lot of the LinkedIn Groups have a posting saying something along the lines of, if you are new here go ahead and introduce yourself. Seeing these and posting one myself on the Peterborough CIPD group made me think about starting a new job and being new.

Here are my thoughts, ideas and suggestions if you are about to start a new job….

Some employers are great and organise an all singing all dancing programme for you to get to know the company and find your way around. Others are not so great.

So if you are starting a new job, or know someone who is consider the following:-

• I’ve designed numerous induction programmes over the years and what I learnt time and time again was that the “buddy system” was the most valuable part of the whole process. It’s often the silly little questions you need answering that you don’t want to bother your boss with.

• If your company doesn’t have a buddy system in place, quickly identify who would be a good person to be your buddy or sounding board, and ask them if they would mind doing this for you. Most people are delighted and flattered to have been asked.

• Don’t rely on an induction programme happening for you, be assertive and proactive. Think in advance what would be useful for you to know and have and ask for this to be arranged for you. You’ll probably find that you can add to the list on an going basis for the first few weeks and even months.

• Don’t wait for others to introduce themselves, go up to people, smile, introduce yourself as the new boy or girl. Remember you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.

• If you have any concerns about the new job, write them down, and check out who can answer them for you as soon as you get there.

• Get some clarity (preferably in the form of some objectives) of what you need to be doing and have achieved by the end of the first month and into the next six months.

• Give yourself some space in the evenings and weekends for the first few weeks of the new job, you will be amazed how tiring new things can be, even more so if you have been away from the world of work for a while.

And finally, good luck!

I offer a coaching programme for people who are starting a new role, it lasts 60 days and aims to help you hit the ground running, if you would like more details you can find them here.