Making the ‘first day fear’ as painless as possible

March 9, 2020

Your first week in a new job can easily become stressful and full of panic – but only if you don’t make sure that you’re totally prepared for your first day in your new role. As the newest member of HR180’s super team, here’s my top tips on how I managed the ‘first-day fear’.

Be honest!

Avoiding the dreaded first day panic begins far before you’ve got the job. Whilst it can be tempting to overemphasise (or make up!) skills during your interview because you really want the job, as this will only leave your new employer with unrealistic expectations of you and leave you trembling the night before you go to begin your new job, on the promise that you’ve flown a rocket to the moon before! Don’t do it to yourself!

If you say that you can do x, y and z with your eyes closed when that’s not entirely true is going to leave you with nothing but a lot of late-night internet searching and a morning of fear on the first day. We all want to look amaaaazingggg on paper… but don’t end up shooting yourself in the foot.

Instead, just be honest! Tell your new manager or your when you’re confused by something but be sure to let them know that you’re willing to learn. It’s a two-way street and your employer may not have the means to train someone and your exaggeration could end up causing problems for everyone – you don’t want to be sat with mountains of work piling up with people thinking you’re already trained on how to do it. It’s better to wait for the right job for you!

Take notes

Make sure that you’re writing down the answers to the questions that you’re asking, to make sure that you don’t have to ask your colleagues numerous times. Having your own notes will also mean that you can be on the road to confidence and autonomy much quicker, as you can always flick back and take a look. Make a note of anything interesting that you hear that could be useful in the future!

Ask lots of questions

It’s never embarrassing to admit that you need some help or aren’t sure of something – it’s the reason that induction plans exist! Ask as many questions as you need to until you feel comfortable enough to continue on your own. So often people, including all of us at HR180, can worry that we’re being annoying by asking questions, but it’s a hundred times better than muddling on forward and ultimately making mistakes and potentially wasting precious time. After all, it’s quicker to ask and answer a question than fix up all the work you did based on what you thought was right. (Don’t worry – mistakes will still happen as you learn but at least you asked and tried rather than doing it whilst not having a clue if it was right or wrong!).

Be yourself!

Lastly, always remember to be yourself and give it your all – you can’t do better than that!

Leeds based HR180 is a team of superheroes in HR Outsourcing, Projects and Consultancy committed to work in partnership with organisations of all sizes to establish working policies to go above and beyond Employment Law requirements, to protect both employees and employers alike. We love to hear from you, so call us on 0113 287 8150 or hit the Rescue Me button.

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