Adulting: How to Get Your Ish Together | 5 Things to Do the First Week at New Job

Woohoo! You did it babe! You either got your first job out of school or you’re switching jobs or you got your dream job or you got a stepping stone job - regardless, you’re here now ready to tackle your first week. You proved yourself in the interview, secured the role and now you’re ready to jump in. How do you continue the good impression you made in the interview and tackle the first week? Let’s dive in.

If you missed it on my IG (follow @camilikeatanktop to make sure you don’t miss updates like this!), I started a new job this past week. I loved the PR world, but I was ready for a new change and decided to make the leap into mobile marketing. I’ll be honest, the first few days were a whirlwind. I am completely new to mobile marketing and didn’t know what a Saas was or the difference between SMS and MMS (I got it down now, don’t worry (: ) I wanted to give you a little advice I gave myself this first week that can help you when you’re in this stage too!

1) Be a sponge

This is the most important thing you can do the first week. Be a sponge - listen to people, read up on any and all materials, go to meetings/trainings and soak up all the information you can. I don’t care what you think you know - this week is dedicated to putting your past experience and what you think you know aside and fully immersing yourself into being a student. You will be introduced to new systems, new ways of doing things, etc. and it’s vital to your success to dedicate the first week or two to purely listening. (P.S. you can start to raise your voice and prove your value in the second and third weeks - make an impression once you know your stuff!)

2) Smile & Remember Names

You’ll learn a lot of people - try and remember their names. It goes a long way when you pass them in the office and you know their name. It will help you build relationships faster. Smiling obviously makes people think you’re more approachable, but more than that, it shows you are interested and engaged at work. People don’t know you yet, show them you’re worth knowing.

3) Take initiative

While this week should be dedicated to meeting people, learning all you can and getting adjusted, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take initiative. I’m not up to taking on tasks or assignments yet, but I am making investments by asking for advice, asking for meetings and asking for tools to help me learn. When you show initiative in the sense that you’re looking to learn, it again shows you’re engaged and will help you ramp up to your full workload.

4) Arrive early, stay late

This first week is not like syllabus week in college. Your focus should be on your new job. Arrive early, get settled and start studying. Stay late, make connections and review your day. This is almost like a study period - look over your trainings, learn new terms, read up on your industry. Take the time this week to build your knowledge so you can impress the following weeks. Take this extra time to do that.

5) Believe in yourself

The first day at my new job, I felt so overwhelmed and kept thinking “what did I get myself into?” “can I do this.” By the third day, I had a realization and was like “girl snap out of it!” You were hired for a reason - they saw something in you. It’s time you see that too. You may have a strong learning curve, but you have skill sets that can add value. Let that start shining through. Believe you can do this, and you will do it.

Boss Babe, I’m so proud of you for taking this step in your career growth and future. You’re amazing, you’re talent and YOU CAN DO THIS! Happy first week!