Starting A New Job? 10 Tips For Your First Day

Does anyone remember the first day of school? I think most of us, no matter what grade we were going into, as kids and even teenagers we stayed awake longer than we should have with thoughts racing through our minds of what new adventures the next day would bring.

Well, starting a new job, even as an adult, we have the same anxious thoughts.  And by anxious I mean, excited about a new opportunity and nervousness about the challenges we may face. But no matter what age we are, starting out on a new journey whether it be the first day of kindergarten or the first day on a new job our human psyche doesn’t discriminate when it comes to age.

I can speak to this first hand in a pretty recent context because I started a new job last week. As odd as it may sound, I still had the nervous jitters and I was even staying with the same company. Go figure! But anything new comes with excitement, anxiety, fear of the unknown and none of that is bad. I think we should probably worry when we are way too confident about stepping into a new role and not bringing any humility to the table. After all, this isn’t the job you’ve left and have known for years but something new. There should naturally be a level of curiosity and eagerness to learn something new and have an open mind to brand new information.

I hadn’t started a “new” job in over 12 years so even though this was a position within the same company, it was new all the same. And, furthermore, I was moving to a new building so that added to the new feel, if you will.

I remember this time last week, I was excited! I hadn’t been excited about a Monday at work in a long time but I knew I was embarking on a new venture, new challenge and my brain was about to be a sponge.

Since a week has passed in my new role, I figured it would be good to jot down a few things that helped me last week as I became acclimated to my new position.

It’s nothing you probably haven’t heard before but I figured I’d capture them anyway for those that may stumble upon this post and find it helpful. I think we all have different ways of preparing for something new in our lives and that makes our point of views unique.

Here are my tips for having a successful first day/week on the job:

• Plan your route to work ahead of time. The Sunday before I started my new job, I drove to the office from my home so it would give me an idea of how much time I’d need to prepare in the morning and what time I’d need to leave the house in order to arrive on time. Keep in mind, traffic will be different on a Monday morning than a Sunday afternoon.

• Do your best to get plenty of sleep the night before.  Try to go to bed earlier than you normally do.  No, you won’t fall right to sleep because your brain will probably be going a mile a minute like it did thinking about your first day of school.  But try to get a restful night’s sleep.  You’ll need to be refreshed and alert for the next morning.

• Make sure you double check your alarm before you snuggle in for the night and make sure you are set to wake up early enough so you aren’t rushing on your first day.  Frazzled is not the mode you want to be in before you even arrive to your new job.

• Dress to impress!  Even if you know it’s a business casual atmosphere…take it up just a notch when you look through your closet for something to wear your first day.  You don’t have to do this everyday, but the first day would probably be a good idea.

• Eat a healthy breakfast before you head out the door.  A cup off coffee won’t suffice.  You’ll need something more nutritious and also something to hold you over until your lunch break.  You don’t want to have your stomach growling while you sit next to the person training you, do you?  🙂

• Do your best to arrive early.  Allow for any traffic or weather delays.  You don’t want to give a bad impression by walking in late on your first day.

• Make it a point to meet as many people on your team as possible.  These will be your new co-workers and it’s important to introduce yourself to start off on the right foot.  A lot of these new co-workers will be giving you the lay of the land over the next few weeks and will help you out as you have questions.

• Have a notebook and pen ready for notes as you go through the day on your new job.  Be sure to listen closely and don’t be afraid to ask questions.  No question is a stupid question.

• Put your phone on silent so there aren’t any unnecessary distractions throughout the day.

• Finally, know that no one expects you to be an expert at your new job on your first day so give yourself a little grace.  Every job has a learning curve.  You will be amazed at the new information you retain over time and how it will all click into place sooner than later.

My biggest piece of advice is….Enjoy this new challenge!

As nervous as I was starting out last week in my new role, I remembered that I was hired because my new boss obviously had faith in my ability to do the job and that’s why I was hired.

I can honestly say, I had a wonderful first week.  I’m excited to get back to it tomorrow and learn more exciting things.

One day soon, this won’t be considered a “new” job to me anymore and I just might be one of the team members training someone else coming onboard.