Starting a new job in the New Year is always exciting, but a bit nerve-wracking as well. You want to be certain you start off on the right foot and position yourself well for opportunities down the road – but over-confidence could come across as arrogance.
Career coach Marcelle Yeager shared with U.S. News & World Report her four best tips for anyone who wants to start strong at a new job in the New Year:
- Learn as much as you can about your boss – No, not her favorite foods or where he likes to go on vacation. Use your first few meetings with your boss to determine how he prefers to communicate or make work assignments – by email, phone or face-to-face – and the more you can pick up about her goals and challenges, the easier it will be to prioritize your work and find ways to help reach those goals.
- Balance relationships and results – You want to get to know your teammates so you can work well together, but performance is key, so don’t spend too much time socializing. The first six months are critical to establishing yourself as a reliable team player who delivers results. Early on, offer to help others when and if you have the time, and they will likely reciprocate when you need it.
- Leave your baggage at the door – If you often refer back to your last job and how you did things, it will get old fast at the new job. Make a smoother transition by listening and learning from your new boss and colleagues and absorbing the new company culture.
- Make recommendations gradually – Sometimes when you enter a new job, you recognize issues quickly. But people get defensive, so don’t rub your boss and/or teammates the wrong way by making too many suggestions too quickly. Begin by making a small suggestion during a meeting to see how your idea is received. That will give you a sense of whether the time is right or if the culture dictates you need to be there longer before giving them too big a nudge.
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