Top Tips for Your First Day at Work

The first day of a new job is a pretty nerve-racking experience, so we thought we’d try and make it a little bit easier for you with a few hints and tips on first day etiquette.

Take a Breather
Take some time off in-between leaving your old job and starting your new one. It would be great if you could get a week off in-between roles, but sometimes, that’s not always possible. Even if it’s just for a weekend make sure that you switch off and push your old job to the back of your mind. Come Monday morning you’re going to want to be feeling your best.  

Be the Best you can Be
Be the employee that you want to be, not the one that you were, use your new role to get rid of any old bad habits from your former job.

Social Media
Use your social media outlets to connect with your new colleagues, add them to your LinkedIn profile and follow them on Twitter. (We’d probably leave Facebook alone until you know them a bit better).

Practice Makes Perfect
Make sure to practise your route to work before your first day. You can Google map all of the different ways to your new office until your heart’s content, but unfortunately Google doesn’t have a rush hour button, so you’re not going to know how long it takes until you get out there and experience it for yourself.

Dress the Part
Your clothing choices play a huge role in first impressions and can ultimately change how you’re initially treated. Someone who looks clean and sharp will be perceived a whole lot differently to someone who appears scruffy and unkempt.

Ask Away
It’s okay to ask questions on your first day! (We still ask the occasional question every now and then) It won’t make you look incompetent and it’s much better to ask and know how to do something than to assume you know how and do the work incorrectly.

Listen
Part of listening includes learning names. Depending on your learning style, you might want to jot them down discreetly as the day goes on. Nothings worse than fluffing a new colleague’s name.

Don’t be too hard on yourself
Everyone knows that it’s your first day at work. So there’s no need for you to feel the slightest of pressure.

Confidence is Key
Try to be confident, it can be pretty daunting not knowing anybody and feeling like you have a lot to learn. But try not to show you’re scared, be friendly with people and show you’re keen to get started and learn. Nobody expects you to know anything on your first day!

Most Importantly
ENJOY YOURSELF!