How to prepare for your first job

Study the company website

Your new workplace is a micro-cosmos. There are unwritten rules and invisible authorities and chains of command that you can’t prepare for, but have to learn along the way. Fortunately, there are also aspects you can read about before you start. IDA therefore recommends that you look at the following before your first day at your new job:

• The company’s purpose and strategy
• The company’s organisation chart

These documents can usually be found on the company’s website. Reading the company’s narrative about itself, its purpose and structure, will give you a good idea of the place you’re about to be part of. Hopefully, you’ll discover that a lot makes good sense right from the start if you have a good grip of the basics.

Video: The days leading up to your first job

The first six months

You are used to study life, where other rules apply. In normal working life, you can’t take a yoga class at 12:30 on a Wednesday. You can’t wash your clothes when you want, and you can only lie in at weekends. On the other hand, you spend virtually all your waking hours as a function in your new job, so there is no time for much else.

This is a radical change, and it’s common knowledge that few things are as stressful as starting a new job. Therefore: If possible, put off trying to learn how to play the piano, don’t buy a house in the country to fix up just yet, and generally try giving yourself space to get to know this new part of your life. You can join Red Cross as a volunteer in a year’s time, but not until you’ve settled into your new working life.

Obviously, you shouldn’t forget the rest of your life. It’s also important you get to see your friends, take a minibreak to Prague and talk to your mum on the phone (which is an excellent opportunity to evaluate your job). But you should put off any major changes.

Even after six months, there may not be enough room for the same things in life as when you were a student. So, make sure you choose carefully what you want in your life – and remember to nurture the relationships you want to keep.

Everything will be different in a few weeks

The honeymoon period is overwhelming. You will meet a million different people, learn to use a lot of new systems and you’ll constantly be a little too busy. Unless you’re being treated downright badly, you can’t really trust your gut feeling until after a couple of weeks. Perhaps even expect to be disappointed about something, for example you don’t like Jonathan from HR or the staff cafeteria doesn’t serve vegetarian alternatives after all. But don’t make any drastic decisions until you’ve properly settled in. In a few weeks, everything you thought you knew will be different anyway.

The first week

The first week in your new job is crucial for the following period. Make sure to be well rested and stock up your freezer. Moreover, IDA recommends that you:

• Arrive on time – and preferably five minutes earlier – so your colleagues can see you are punctual and someone they can count on
• Invest energy in building relationships with your colleagues. Make small talk, ask for advice and compliment others on their work. Relationships will improve your well-being, but also your possibilities to develop professionally
• Wait a while before making constructive suggestions for improvement, so that you don’t criticise other people’s work. It’s easy to become too keen at the beginning and you will want to show what you can do, but it can be a good idea to stay humble and size up the workplace first
• Say good morning and goodbye to your colleagues every single day, so they see that you are attentive and loyal.