Must Do’s Within First Month At A New Job

A line from a movie I’m fond of goes, ‘There is nothing like starting or ending, only doing’. Please remind me of the film’s name in the comment section if you know.

I had to reiterate the above because of my conversations with a few friends regarding starting a new job, to which some are indifferent. It is yet another new job to them, so there should not be any big deal to it — just know what you are supposed to do, understand it, and get it rolling.

Although I partly agree with the above because I resonate with most of its philosophy. I still believe in the words of Albert Einstein,?‘Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new,’?and that of Charles Koch,?‘The only way you improve is to try new things.’

As I have written in this?article , there are many reasons to quit a job as a young professional or top executive and try something new.?In that case, moving from one job to another and seeing them as the same leaves little room to improve or learn from mistakes. There are four ways, in particular, that successful professionals set themselves apart from their mates in the workplace and career within the first month of starting a new role — here’s how they do it.

1. Create Impressions

Allow me to start by sharing a story from my recent career transition. I?resigned?from my real estate job in June 2022 to take an eight weeks temporary contract at my former University, which later turned into five months of probation.

Finally, I was able to request a permanent role and negotiated a salary which put me two levels ahead of my mates, who will be completing their final month of probation this month.

I can credit this career jump to my being aware of creating the right impressions at the workplace and starting off from the first day I started as a temporary staff.

My approach to creating impressions during the first month of starting a new position falls under three categories — although this whole article is also about creating impressions at your workplace that will show that you mean career business from the start.

• Dress as though you mean business.

Two scenarios come to mind whenever I point this out at first to any fellow young professional. Firstly, they consider dressing choices irrelevant to the impression you create at the workplace or secondly; they feel that dressing as though you mean business is to appear to work looking glamorous.

However, in summary, as a general rule, it is desirable to have your workplace dress say nothing about you — other than perhaps that your clothes fit you.

This is because the way you dress forms an immediate, strong impression of who you are—making more sense for you to be dressed conservatively. If you agree at this point with me that you can tell a lot about people by what they’re wearing, it’s safe to assume they can tell the same things about you.

The impression you would want to create with your work dress is the one that signals that you share the culture and fit in well with the team and not the one that signals ‘the new staff that dresses so so so and so.’

This can be achieved by dressing to work the first month, similarly to the dressing code you saw your interviewer(s) in. Remember, they, too, were trying to create an impression about the company to you during this process. Generally, I dress a little bit more than the interviewers or in my style, but never below or hugely above how they appeared when starting a new role.

Obviously, the more conservative your work dress, the harder you are to read. Unless, of course, your sense of style is part of the impressions you want to sell. Then, by all means, dress in the way you feel best to show that.

In the words of Coco Chanel,?‘If a woman is poorly dressed, you notice her dress, and if she’s impeccably dressed, you notice the woman.’?I feel her advice is useful to all professionals, both male and female.

• Bring positive vibes along with you.

Again, another mistake that most young professionals make in the first month is to appear too cold or withdrawn from the team during this period. The intention could be that I am new; I don’t have to show too much about myself.

However, the impression could be signalling a lot of questions like ‘I hope the new staff is happy to be in the team? Is everything OK with the new staff? Or Does the new staff want to leave already?’ In the extreme scenario, the impression might be ‘this is not the kind of job or team for the new staff’, and these judgements are as simple as that.

So, similarly to your dressing, you need to use your vibe to show that you are already part of the team and not trying to fit in.

I noticed that people wanted to work with those who walked into the office smiling, said hello to everyone, and had a natural, upbeat personality. I started following their lead, and that attitude got me way more opportunities inside and outside the office than if I had been sullen and serious all the time.

• Mind the opening and closing time

And do this without asking what time you normally go home, even to the friendliest person to you the first day you started. Simply watch and follow the lead, and you will be fine.

This goes down to as simple office occurrences like using the phone, chit-chatting, going for coffee, tea or cigarette break, and even standing up from your desk.

2. Understand your primary assignments.

Having this in mind, there is this two questions I normally ask my interviewer during my recruitment sessions — 1, If I manage to get into this position, what would success mean for my role, or how will success for my efforts be defined? and 2, Is there any current project(s) that the organisation is currently on that my role is a significant part of?

Knowing the answers to these helps me get on to my primary assignments of the things that matter to the organisation from day one. Guess what? after one month, everyone will feel that you have been with the team longer than you have.

And if you have proved your credibility, your worth and contribution to the organisation will be clear to the management within one month.

As a general rule, I advise you to try your hands and seek to know all your role entails within the first month. For it is best to come back to your superiors later and be like, ‘I am supposed to do this task this way and…? than coming to them knowing absolutely nothing about what a particular task entails after one month.

Most times, even though it is not your fault, in a fast-paced work environment, it signals that you are not a fast learner or a self-taught individual.

3. Listen and Observe Aggressively.

I have observed that some professionals are often so focused on driving change that we fail to understand or pay attention to why things are the way they are.

Being a good listener is essential to you as a first-month staff and in your new role. It means you can’t assume you know what a colleague is thinking, their problem, or even the solution to the problem or what they wish to inform you.

You must practice good listening from the beginning and end of a conversation — while being attentive, making eye contact, taking notes when necessary, nodding, and waiting for the other person to finish before you start talking. And your talk should not be to start providing solutions immediately, except, of course, you have them at hand; your talking should start with asking necessary questions.

The best line that summarises this for me is ‘watch your listen/talk ratio.’

This goes the same way as observing the organisation’s culture (how things are done around here). By the end of your first month, you should have figured out the organisational power structure — at least, that of your department/team.

Knowing who answers to who helps me know when my line manager is under pressure and acting ahead on how to help out depicts my credibility and usefulness.

Also, this helps me to know the processes I will need to climb up, the kind of people that will make such decisions in my favour, and what they may need. Then I start doing those things from the beginning.

Observation is an aggressive act. People and events are constantly revealing themselves in ways that will go unnoticed unless you are aggressively involved in noticing them.

In addition, avoid picking favourites and enemies no matter what during your first month at a new job.

4. Split some seconds — mean what you say.

The last on my list, for now, is where I consciously create situations that allow for split-second efficiency on my part.

Usually, I start by responding to email requests and providing the time it will take to deliver. For most of the tasks that my manager gives, I also confirm to him that I will get this report or this task done and get back to him by 2 pm.

Another way is to come and leave at a particular time at the dot for the first month. It is very difficult, but the impression it gives of you as a professional is rewarding.

Do this and a bit more split seconds the first month you start a new job, and they will assume you conduct all your tasks and every area of your life the same way. Moreover, they’ll play along. You will find that even your superiors will want to attend to your questions timely and not keep you unnecessarily waiting.

However, mean what you say. If you give a particular deadline, then by all means, please keep to it. Or give a heads-up in advance if you perceive an unforeseen hindrance.

If you promise someone to get a task delivered today, and it gets delivered in a week, it is worst than your not having promised it in the first place.

I always remind myself that no workplace law says you will have to attend to all requested tasks immediately, but just don’t say you will or give a time frame and fail.

Many thanks for reading my perspective and giving feedback.

My fervent wish is for the personal growth of everyone and the success of all young professionals who put their hearts and souls into finding their purpose in life.

Copyright ??Ekene Moses , 2023. All Rights Reserved.

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