How to make a great impression in the first few months of your brand new awesome job

 Jack J. Kelly  February 1, 2018  Career Advice, compliancex  

By Jack J. Kelly

Congratulations! You have received the job offer and you are excited to start your terrific, awesome new job! Here is a crash course for what to do in the next 30 to 90 days to show everyone that they made the right decision, and you are on the fast track to becoming a superstar at the company.

The first thing I strongly recommend that you do, even before you step foot into the new office, is to call the Hiring Manager and Human Resource professionals in charge of the offer. Thank them for extending the offer, acknowledge all the the hard work they have done to shepard you through the interview process, share that you greatly appreciate the opportunity, and look forward to working with the organization.

The reason I highly recommend this call is because it confirms the initial thoughts of the people involved with the hiring process that you are the right and perfect person for the job. It also demonstrates that you are polite, professional, possess solid interpersonal skills and manners, and it makes them feel good about their decision. Sometimes when you’re interviewing, you forget that the person on the other side of the desk is only human, and has anxieties and worries about making a bad hiring decision, and potentially bringing aboard someone that is a complete psychopathic maniac or, more likely, a person who just doesn't fit into the corporate culture. This is similar to when you get buyer’s remorse for buying an expensive outfit, car, rent an apartment or purchase a new home. You feel great when you make the initial purchase but sometime later doubts start to creep-up about your decision, and you start to obsess over the fact that your made a big mistake.

Did we make the right decision? Should we have hired the other candidate? Should we have gone in another direction? With a simple call, you have alleviated any and all of their concerns and made them happy with their decision to hire you.

The call with the hiring manager should be a shade different. Politely thank the manager the same way as you would the HR person, however, in this call you should inquire if there is anything that you could do before you start. Are there any nuances that may be different than the company you are currently with? Are there certain tasks that you are not well versed in that you should brush up on or learn? Is there something you should study or research before you start? In my experience, when you pose these type of questions to a hiring manager, more often than not, they will say, “No, I don't want to trouble you, but thanks for asking”, and are extremely appreciative of the thought and are glad that they hired someone who is hungry to learn, motivated, polite, conscientious, and desirous to perform well. You will already have the right people viewing you in a positive light before you even step foot through the door.

Another homework assignment is to conduct in-depth due diligence on the company's products, brand, and mission statement. Explore different LinkedIn bios so you get deeply immersed into the company's culture, and obtain a feel for all the positives and negatives, and you won’t be surprised once you come on board.

Once you’re in there, you want to introduce yourself to as many people as possible. You want to meet the colleagues with whom you will be collaborating, as well as other important and relevant personnel. Set the tone that you are not a person trying to steal someone’s thunder, come across as a professional who is pleasant to work with, and motivated team player. You can plan your takeover attack to steamroll everyone later. This is the time you want to really ingratiate yourself.

Now, here’s a bold move: ask for an opportunity to sit down with your manager, and ask what her objectives are for you during the first 60 to 90 days. The conversation is framed so that you could ascertain a sense of what you should be doing, and her expectations. This is also a great time to feel out if her goals and objectives are realistic, and if you possess the skills, resources, and support to successfully accomplish these tasks and responsibilities. It’s also helpful to get a feeling of their management style. Some micromanage and others let you run with the ball. Do you sit back and wait for assignments or should you ask your manager what she would like you to work on next? The goal is to get on the same page with your manager as soon as possible.

Appearances count, so you want to dress and comport yourself appropriately. When someone sees you in the elevator, you should want them thinking you’re a senior level executive. Project the image that you are a fast-track, smart, hard-working professional.

You want to come in early and stay late. Volunteer for any and all projects that others shy away from. Position yourself as the dependable go-to person. Additionally, seek out an experienced corporate mentor who could take you under their wings and show you the ropes. Build a tribe of like-minded colleagues that could support each other. Don’t be shy to ask for assistance and constructive feedback. Offer to take someone out for a cup of coffee or lunch. Compliment others on their success. Participate in corporate events and initiatives - no matter how boring or lame.

Research studies indicate that 85.7 percent of the time readers don’t complete the article they are pretending to read (which means they are basically skimming it, then find it boring and move on). If you are in this category, too bad! You’ll miss out, since I saved the real, nitty-gritty dirt for the die-hard fans. For you highly-intelligent, motivated, good-looking, high achievers, I have the secret on what you need to do next - Engage into a deep-dive of your manager and their manager’s social media and internet presence. Thoroughly and exhaustively search Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and surf the Internet for any and all embarrassing and compromising pictures, inappropriate activities, and past indiscretions. Once you accumulated an arsenal of material, you can blackmail, extort, bully, or take advantage of them to your benefit. You will be promoted faster and given higher raises and bonuses. The odds are that your bosses will most likely move on to new opportunities at other firms to get far away from you, which paves the way for your rapid advancement. Then, repeat the game for your next boss. Also, remember to always gossip about them behind their backs, embarrass your manager in important meetings, start phony dramas, and create tension between coworkers engineered to make everyone look bad so you look good (for those who lack a sense of humor, these are the jokes, so its okay to laugh now - or cringe as the case may be).

Starting a new job is like a do-over. It’s your big chance to rebrand yourself to become the person you always wanted to be. If everyone hated you at the last company, maybe you can make a new friend and have someone to eat lunch with. You can also pretend that you were the most well-liked person at the old firm. If you have a terrible, annoying, anti-social personality, you could act like someone who is normal and well-adjusted. If you are one of those rare people that actually possess good qualities and charisma, then you have it easy, just be yourself.

Best of luck with the new job!

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