Getting off the blocks
Settling into the job
Initial issues

Getting off the blocks

Landing a job is one thing, making a success of it is another.
Once the euphoria has worn off, the real work starts. The impact you make in the first days and weeks in a new job can have a lasting effect, first impressions count. You can however create a positive impact with a little careful planning.
Before you start, revise any information you already have about the organisation.
Consider phoning your new boss to ask for any additional material that might help during your first days.

In the early days with a new employer, concentrate on building good relationships within your team. These are the people who can help you establish yourself, alert you to pitfalls and provide you with a useful pool of experience. Don't forget that this is a two-way process and be on the lookout for ways that you can provide some support to others.
Your early network may prove to be invaluable as you move up the career ladder.
Make sure that you know what is expected of you. It is pointless working hard in one area only to find that your boss or the organisation does not consider this important. Clarifying your targets early on can save a great deal of time and frustration.
If you are worried about any particular aspects of your work, talk things over with your boss. It is often easier to sort out potential problems at an early stage, rather than waiting until there is a real crisis.
If this is your first job working to deadlines may be new to you.
If you are set deadlines make sure that you meet them. Falling at the first hurdle is not the impression you want to create, so ensure that the deadline is realistic.
Managing your time effectively will help you, make each hour count. Don't spend ages trying to find something out for yourself, when asking a colleague could point you in the right direction.
Most people will be pleased to help. However if this is a problem for you or them structure your day so that most of your questions can be dealt with at a convenient time.
Plan your tasks or objectives on a daily/weekly basis, write them down and stick to them.
A little careful planning can go a long way. Good luck!

Settling into the job

Before you commence your new employment, do all you can to increase your awareness of the new organisation. It will boost your confidence, give you a positive frame of mind and reduce the steepness of the learning curve when you do begin.
Build up your information resources from:

• Research which you undertook before the selection interview.
• Knowledge gained at interview.
• Any further familiarisation, which your new employer can provide after you have accepted the offer: for example, literature on products and services, visits to familiarise yourself with procedures, technology, systems, etc.
• Any reading or experience which you or your existing employer can arrange.
• Reviewing your self-assessment profile. What could you do differently this time around to build a stronger career and avoid some of the weaknesses of your past, eg to delegate or meet deadlines more effectively, relate better to colleagues, maximise your potential, etc? You may find it helpful to strengthen your resolve and formulate some strategies here by talking these issues through in advance with a friend, mentor, counsellor, etc.

Initial Issues

Before going in on the first day, consider what 'image' the employer feels is appropriate to your job - appearance, clothes, life-style, attitudes. If you deviate from these, know what you are doing.
Soon after starting, try to establish:

• The organisational structure.
• 'Who's who' - formally and informally.
• The relationship of your job to others.
• Communications: up, down and sideways; 'dotted lines', support services available - eg, personnel department.
• Preferred communication networks: word of mouth, memos, E-mail, committees, etc.
• What sort of procedures or rules operate - written or oral - eg concerning health and welfare, discrimination, etc.
• The geography of the organisation.
• The history of the enterprise.

If you do not already have a job description, ask for one, and then try to define as clearly as you can the boundaries of your job. You are not seeking to establish the minimum acceptable benchmarks, but frontiers within which you can make your best contribution.
Do this constructively and as soon as you can. The first month is ideal. Six months later is too late; your questions will be interpreted rather less generously.
Find out:

• The limits of your authority.
• The parameters and main objectives of your job.
• The expectations of your superiors and colleagues.
• The kind of feedback you will receive from superiors.
• The limits of your responsibilities - personnel, products, services etc.
• The way your job meshes into any quality system in use.
• The resources you will have.
• The priorities in the job and the proportion of your time you should be giving to each.
• The main problem areas and the 'uniqueness' of the job.

Do start by:

• Listening a great deal.
• Being modest.
• Exercising tact and diplomacy.
• Being a 'Day One' performer.

Don't start by:

• Constantly saying how you used to do it in your last job.
• Criticising your new, or former, employers or colleagues.
• Joining a clique or hitching your wagon to a star before you're sure you've got the right one!
• Encouraging stories about your predecessor.

Curled from www.careermanagement.co.uk