Posted under Career Management, Career Planning, Interviewing on July 30th, 2008
You’ve worked hard to get that new job! Sometimes the process must have seemed a full-time job in itself.
How natural to want to put that all behind you and get on with your work. In this post, you’ll find a way to make that happen and still manage your career well.
It all starts on your very first day. Settling in can easily burn up a week. You’ll probably be scheduled for an orientation, a session where you fill out forms, time set aside to review the company handbook—necessary, but seemingly endless rounds of administrivia.
But it’s likely you won’t be scheduled for an important action you should take—the single event that maximizes your value to your boss and the team members you’ll work with every day. I encourage you strongly to take this action on your very first day on the job and plan it even before you report for work.
Get on your boss’ calendar. Start as you sign the letter of offer accepting the job. Contact his or her administrative assistant and ask for an appointment of about 30 minutes. Tell the assistant precisely what you are doing: you want to explore how you can become productive right from the start.
Setting up this appointment allows you to build a good relationship with the administrative assistant—the gatekeeper for your boss. Ask the assistant about your supervisor’s style. Does he prefer emails? Phone calls? What are her pet peeves?
Your initial meeting with your boss will take place under the best possible conditions. His already positive view of you should be enhanced when he sees the priority you put on your relationship to him. How much better to iron out any details now, before the first crisis.
What subjects should you explore? If you haven’t already done so, find out what the most pressing problems facing your boss are. That leads naturally to discussions about resources you should have under your control such as budgetary authority, access to the leadership team, hiring and firing power, and the like.
Also, be sure to ask which visible indicators of your performance he will use to judge your success. (Great applicants use those same questions during the interviews.)
Finally, ask about introductions to others with whom you will work. Nothing gets you off on a better footing than having your boss introduce you…personally. That could happen in a staff meeting, in a “tour” of the office, or in meetings with clients.
Right after that first official meeting with your boss, take a moment to jot down what you heard. Over the next few weeks, don’t forget to review it as you complete tasks or generate new ideas.
Think of this meeting as the transition between the final interview and the first day in your performance review period. The interviews focused on general concepts; the meeting gets to the heart of your work. After all, wasn’t that your goal when you first drafted your résumé?
Your competition knows first impressions make a difference. Now you know how to control that first impression to everybody’s advantage.
Posted by Don Orlando
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Science Recruitment on 30 Jul 2008 at 6:19 pm #
Great advice. Unfortunately i’ve been in a new job for three weeks with a company who have offered me no support what-so-ever. It’s left me with a bit of a bad impression of them to be perfectly honest because i’d like to have got stuck in from day one.
DOrlando on 30 Jul 2008 at 7:17 pm #
I’m sorry you find yourself in that bad situation. I imagine it’s impractical for you to leave since you’ve only been on the job for three weeks.
But there is hope! One way to get support is to offer support. Since you’re new, it should be possible to seek out other team members with whom you work and ask them this key question: “If there was something I could do to help you, what would that thing be?”
Of course, you can’t take on lots of extra work, but you might certainly make a contribution to some team members’ projects. People will respond to your generosity. In other words, they will offer some of the support you need.
So make a list of the resources you need so you can be ready when your fellow workers extend an offer to reciprocate on your thoughtful offer.
Don Orlando