
How To Make A Great Impression On Your First Day
Start off on the right foot, and you’ll stand a much better chance of progressing at the organisation and becoming a valued member of the team. Here are our tips for the first day in your new job.
Have a positive attitude
A smile and a friendly ‘hello’ can go a long way on your first day. Colleagues will naturally get a good feeling from you if you have a positive and can-do attitude, so show your enthusiasm to get started! Don’t bring any personal dramas into work.
Plan your outfit
The dress code may be casual, but don’t come into work looking scruffy. People will make their initial judgment of you based on how you look, which might not seem fair, but that’s just the way it is! After all, what would you think if you turned up to your new job and your boss looked tired and unkempt?
Plan your outfit well in advance of your first day, otherwise you may find yourself panicking that the shirt you thought was clean, isn’t. You want to look professional to your new colleagues, so give yourself enough time in the morning to have a shower and do your hair. Plus, dressing professionally will mean you’re appropriately dressed for any meetings you may be dragged into in your first week.
Once you’ve seen how you colleagues dress, you can start to relax your own style, if necessary.
Don’t be late, or leave early
Being late on your first day is one of the worst mistakes to make, as it will make you look unreliable from the start. Go to bed early the night before and make sure you give yourself more than enough time to get to work in the morning.
If you have the opportunity to work flexibly, don’t take advantage of this benefit straight away unless it’s necessary. More importantly, don’t try and sneak out of the office early! Stay a little later than your colleagues to show you’re hardworking and committed, but don’t overdo it – you don’t want to burn out within your first couple of weeks.
Get to know your team
First and foremost, you need to do all you can to remember your colleagues’ names. It’s something that many of us struggle with, but you don’t want to appear rude, so look up some memory techniques if you’re particularly forgetful.
Take some time to get to know each team member – you could arrange a meeting with each one or simply try and catch them during their lunch break. Ask them more about their role, how long they’ve been at the company, and what the culture is like. That way, you’ll learn a lot about the company as well as your colleagues.
If they invite you to the pub after work, go! This will give you the perfect opportunity to bond over non-work topics.
Ask for help
Admitting you need a helping hand with something isn’t a sign of weakness – quite the opposite! Everyone will understand it’s going to take you some time to learn the new system, policies and procedures, so don’t be afraid to ask a question.
You certainly won’t gain much respect by just struggling through a task when you could have just spoken up.
Don’t complain
About anything: the equipment you’ve been given, your salary, company policies, team members or your old job. Doing so will make you appear unprofessional and ungrateful, which isn’t the first impression you want to give! In other words, see point one.
Offer to help
You want your manager to be glad they hired you, so be as useful as possible by offering help where you can. Naturally, you shouldn’t offer to do something you have no experience in, but if you think you can assist and can see your new colleagues are snowed under, the good deed won’t go unnoticed.
As long as you’re positive, enthusiastic and ready to learn, you’re sure to have a great first day at your new job – no one’s expecting you to set the world alight. Good luck and enjoy it!
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