Getting Off to a Great Start in Your New Job: Onboarding Tips to a Successful New Career

“Congratulations on the new job!” Life will all be smooth sailing from now on. Won’t it?

Actually, starting a new job is not all unicorns and rainbows. Mixed emotions are often the order of the day.

There’s a deserved sense of accomplishment that comes from getting hired.

There’s also stress, uncertainty, and fear. Those feelings come naturally when you are about to start a new job in a new place filled with strange faces. You will be entering a workplace governed by unfamiliar routines and protocols, both spoken and unspoken.

Mapping Out Success

Your first days and weeks, important as they are, can pass in a blur, but it’s important to get things right during this time because you are setting the tone for all that follows.

If you have a weak start, you will be fighting an uphill battle, struggling to regain lost ground. It will be like a debt you’ll have to repay, something to make up for.

Career Transition Magic

A strong start will put you in good shape now and give you a cushion for the future. Think of it as career capital, something you’re putting in the bank.

To start strong, you will need a plan of attack. Give yourself the greatest chance of success by following this three-step strategy, which helps you prepare effectively, find your place in your new workplace culture, and quickly achieve top performance.

Prepare and Develop a Plan for New Job Success

Your plan should start before you even walk in the door. You may want to luxuriate in the last few days of pre-grind freedom, but a few hours of preparation will pay dividends. Take this time to:

• Review the company. Refresh your memory by looking back at everything you learned about the company during your job search. Revisit its website and catch up on the news.

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• Review the industry. You don’t need to turn this into a major project involving in-depth research. It should be more of a combination of a refresher course and a way to put yourself on the same wavelength as the people you’ll be working with.

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Clarifying Your Goals

A plan works best when you know what you’re trying to accomplish, so commit yourself to achieving these goals in the first weeks and months at your new company:

• To do well in your job

• To be seen to do well, which is not always the same thing

• To become better at what you do

• To take on more responsibility and manage it well

• To expand your skills so that you become more hirable

• To become indispensable, the ultimate job security

• To manage relationships within and outside your team

• To manage relationships with colleagues at every level

• To make allies

• To build a network

• To find a mentor

• And the goal of all goals, to set yourself up for long-term success

  
  

This can and should be a sweet moment if the job search has been long and tough, or if you are finally going to be free of a job that has been dragging you down.

Impressions form quickly, and first impressions tend to stick, regardless of their accuracy. They also perpetuate themselves. You want those qualities to work for you, not against you.

Ready to get strategic about your career? Let’s talk.