You aced your interview and got your dream job! But now, you’re nervous – you need to get ready for this new role! What are some of the most important things to do on your first week on the job? In this blog post, we’ll discuss a few things to keep in mind as you begin working in your new role.
- Understand your working hours
It’s important to do this even before your first day! Make sure you discuss your working days and hours with your manager on your first day. You should know all the following details:
- What time you’re expected to arrive each morning
- The length of your lunch break (and if there is a specific time you should take it)
- What time you can leave in the evening
Setting expectations with your manager is extremely important, as this is what they will evaluate your performance on. If you know what your manager expects, it is much easier to ensure you meet (or hopefully exceed!) those expectations.
- Understand your contract and any benefits
Talk to your manager and HR about your contract and the benefits employees at the company receive. Make sure you are comfortable with the following:
- Your monthly salary
- Details surrounding your probation – the length, the end date, and what happens when it ends
- The benefits you can expect to receive (i.e. lunches, health insurance, stipends, training courses, etc.)
Make sure you have a signed contract by the end of your first week. Without the written contract, you do not have proof of all of the above items, which are very important to understand!
- Get to know your colleagues
Take time to get to know the people you’ll be working with! You spend eight hours a day at work, every single day. That might be more time than you spend at home! Schedule short meetings with your peers to ensure they know who you are and your role in the company. As you progress, your colleagues will become your best resources when you need help with specific issues or advice on how to proceed.
Over your first few weeks, also start to meet with people in other departments, like HR and Sales. Again, you never know when a problem will come up where you need help from someone outside of your group.
Your first week of work happens fast and you usually don’t have much ‘real’ work to do yet. Take advantage of this time to really understand how your new company operates, the internal processes, and what is expected of you. After the first week, your boss will expect you to complete real tasks and it is often too late then to deal with these administrative tasks.
This is very important for an employee once he/she starts working for new roles/tasks in a new company.
It cools down stress and nervousness, during second/ following week(s) once doing his/her tasks or major responsibilities. It becomes automatically fill at home with mates, then outcomes are achieved without too much stress or problems.
Thank you for the blog.
Haystack Africa Academy student/October 2019 Cohort