Your First Day at a New Job: Infographic Checklist

Congratulations! After an arduous and potentially stressful interview process, you’ve accepted a job offer. Now it’s time to step back, take a deep breath, and start preparing for your new role.

Here are a few tips to help you prepare for your first day on the job.

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Your First Day Checklist

Be Confident: The first thing to do is remember to be yourself. If the hiring manager didn’t think you would be a valuable addition to the team, you wouldn’t have received an offer. Go into your first day with professional confidence.

Be Punctual: As they say: timing is everything. You definitely don’t want to be late on your first day, but you also don’t want to arrive too early. Similar to your interview, you want to arrive only 5-10 minutes early. Use a map app to estimate how long your commute will be and add a few minutes to that time to be safe.

Dress for Success: You want to be dressed appropriately for the new office culture you’re entering. If you’re unsure what level of dress is office appropriate, lean more towards dressing formally. The age-old mantra of it’s better to be over-dressed than under-dressed still holds true.

Grab Lunch: If your manager or team members invite you out to lunch, accept! Yes, even if you brought lunch for the day. This is a great way to get a better feel for your new teammates and start bonding with them.

Ask Questions: It’s not unusual to have a lot of questions on the first day. Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification on topics or seeking answers that will help you perform your new job better or help you settle in more quickly. Bring a notebook and a nice pen with you to take notes.

Listen: On your first day, you want to spend more time listening to your new coworkers than speaking. This is a time to absorb information and learn about how this office operates. Now, this isn’t to say you can’t offer an opinion or start a dialog with your coworkers if you’re jump-starting a project. But don’t start stepping on people’s toes on your first day.