How to Impress During Your First Week on the Job
After you’ve jumped through the hoops with an awesome cover letter and résumé, as well as acing the interview, you’ve finally got the job! You’ve consistently impressed the company so far, but you have to keep up with that and continue impressing them.
The first week is critical, and it’s when you can truly cement yourself as an awesome hire.
Introduce Yourself
First thing’s first. It’s scary to get to know new people, but try and start off on the right foot. Introduce yourself to the people you’ll be working beside, the ones in the break room — heck, even the ones you’re walking by in the hallway.
We spend so much of our time at work that we need to make some work friends in order to keep us sane. This is your first step at gaining a work friend. It also lets people know who you are and that you plan to stick around for a while.
Make Sure You Showcase Why They Hired You
Keep going with the qualities that made the company hire you in the first place. Show that the experience from your résumé isn’t just on paper. You’ve learned these skills, and they hired you for that reason — now it’s time to show them off and justify why you got hired there.
Learn as Much as Possible…
Don’t be above carrying around a little notebook to make sure you get everything down. You’re going to get more information in the first week than you know what to do with. Learning things quickly can really help you in a new job.
You can make a point to learn the way things work in that specific environment, as well as some brand-new skills. There’s nothing a boss loves more than a quick learner.
…But Ask Questions if You Need To
Even with a notebook, you can’t expect to absorb every single piece of information you’re going to need. You don’t want to ask too many questions right away, but you also don’t want to be completely clueless, either. It’s important to figure out who the best person is to ask, but before you do, make sure your questions haven’t already been answered in your training materials. Also, be specific with your questions and make sure you highlight what you already know.
If you ask the right questions early on, you’ll be seen as curious and eager to learn, which is definitely a good thing. This will help you cement a good reputation with the company and your coworkers. You could also volunteer to collect the info that you get from asking questions in a document for the next generation of new workers. This could earn you some serious brownie points.
Get to Work Early
Research has shown that bosses rate workers that get to work early higher than other workers. You might not think it makes a big difference, but it does. It shows that you’re willing to go the extra mile in order to get things done, and that you want to be an asset to the company. It’s definitely something that managers take note of, whether or not your company has flextime.
Get to Know Your Boss
Each boss is going to have specific ways they like things to be done. The way your last boss wanted things isn’t necessarily going to be the way that this one does. Your boss’ priorities and the way they evaluate success are going to be crucial to how you have to tailor your work. That’s what’s going to get you raises and promotions in the future.
You also want to make sure you know of any huge pet peeves your boss has when it comes to work. Do they like reports formatted a certain way? Then do it that way. You don’t want little things like that to ruin the way they look at your hard work.
Identify Other Key Employees
Basically, sniff out the ones you need to suck up to a little bit! Find out who your boss’s favorites are and try to observe the way they work when you get a chance. It’ll let you know more about how you should be working.
Also, if there are any employees that aren’t technically your boss, but are above you, you might want to get on their good side. You never know who your boss is asking for input when it comes to promotion time.
Accept Invitations
If a co-worker invites you out to their weekly Thirsty Thursday get-together, go with them! Yeah, it might not be your thing, but establishing relationships with colleagues outside of the workplace can help you out when you’re in it. You don’t want to be seen as the stick-in-the-mud that always turns down invites from coworkers — they’ll think you aren’t interested in getting to know them.
Look Professional
We tend to get a little lax with a dress code after we’re working for a while. In a new job, though, all eyes are going to be on you. Make sure your shirts aren’t wrinkled, your clothes aren’t stained and that you’re looking your absolute best when you walk into work this week. You don’t want to be the new girl with the prominent mustard stain on her pants.
Go Above and Beyond
You want your boss to notice that you’re not only taking to this job, but you’re also possibly improving on it. Give 110% on every assignment they give you. If the option comes up for you to take on some extra work, do it! A boss notices when you volunteer to go that extra mile.
You want to be someone that the company doesn’t regret hiring. Make sure you give them everything you’ve got and show them that you were definitely the candidate they were looking for.
