How to make the most of your first day in a new job

Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash

Starting somewhere new can be quite daunting if its not something you have been in the same place for a long time or are just starting your career. Here are my tips for ‘being new’ and how some small tasks can help you flourish and settle in quickly.

1. Research the company, what are their main businesses, where are their revenues coming from (check financial statements), what are their biggest costs, what have they been in the news for recently, watch a recent video of a talk the CEO gave on youtube
2. Look up your interviewers, future line manager, colleagues on LinkedIn to understand their backgrounds, experience and skill set. Its good to get context
3. Make sure you have some basic ‘office’ skills down — MS Outlook (learn how to schedule meetings), MS Word, MS Excel and any other software which may be relevant for your role
4. Find out the office location to start your first day and work out your commute (if you are going into the office). Take a pen and some paper with you, although you can pick this up from the office stationary cupboard once you are in
5. Make sure you’ve completed any pre-requisites for security to obtain your pass to the building and access to your computer
6. Find out where the toilets are and how to get in and out of the building with your pass — I recommend testing your pass out early in the day in case of any mix ups
7. Prioritise your compliance / HR trainings — companies take this stuff very seriously and failure to complete this on time can result in sanctions to you or your boss
8. As soon as you get to your desk, get familiar with the software (find your e-mails, MS Word, Excel, make sure all the basics are installed or ask for them)
9. Have a review of the intranet (the internal hosting site for the organisation usually when you open up explorer) and see what internal news and events are on and coming up that you might be interested in
10. Find an organisation chart to see where you and your team fit into the broader organisation
11. Find a process flow / operating procedures for your team — this would typically show the data and physical process flows that are being used to support your team’s function e.g. if you are a payments settlements team at a Bank it will show the inputs, processes and outputs of payments
12. Start making a list of people to speak to, acronyms to check, processes to understand