Making a great impression on your 1st day University of Manchester Careers Blog

Making a great impression on your 1st day We all know that the process of getting a job can be stressful with application forms to perfect, assessment centres psychometric tests to excel at, not to mention the dreaded interview to survive.   But for many securing a job brings with it new worries and concerns about working life and especially abou making a good impression on your first day. So if you’re concerned about what to do when you arrive, whether you’ll be good at the job or are having nightmares about falling up the stairs in front of you new manager (yes this happened to me!) read one as I’ve put together your 1st day survival guide. Before the big day Make sure you know where you are going and know how long it will take to get there! It might be a good idea to do a dummy run at rush hour either on public transport or in your car to make sure you get your timings right and know when you will need to leave the house to get into the workplace on time. The night before Get your outfit together. Plan what you will wear, make sure it’s ironed and hang it up. Set alarm. Set, check and double check your alarm! Take into account the time it will take for you to get ready, have breakfast and travel into the workplace. Have an early night. Go to bed at a reasonable time you’ve got a big day ahead of you. On the day Have a good breakfast. Although you stomach might be churning a good breakfast is essential to set you up for the busy day ahead. (OK I’ll stop mothering you all now!) Arrive early or at least on time to make a good first impression and start how you mean to go on. Have a notepad and pen at hand during the day to jot down important information. It will send out the message that you are organised and ready to learn. Don’t expect to remember everything. During you first day you will have a lot to take in, With a bewildering amount of information, names, faces, buildings and instructions thrown in your direction you won’t be expended to remember everything . Ask as many questions as you need to.   As a new member of staff you have a ‘free pass’ so feel free to ask as many questions as you like/need to. Don’t worry if you think you question is stupid chances are it’s a perfectly reasonable. Ask for clarification. If you either didn’t catch what someone said or didn’t understand what they meant by a certain acronym don’t be afraid to ask for clarification you can’t be expected to know everything. Continuing to impress over the next few months you will hopefully settle into your role and the structure of working life but it’s still important to continue making a good impression. Say yes to getting involved in work projects/teams. It’ll show willing and a desire to help achieve the aims of the organisation. It may also be a good idea in the first few months to accept as many invitations to go out for lunch or visit the pub after work, simply to get to know your colleges and settle in fully. Make suggestions. Even as a new recruit your opinions are still valid. If you   spot problems or have suggestions that could improve any aspect of the work you are carrying out talk to your  line manager. If you would like to find out more about what the transition from student to young professional and what to expect from working like I recommend you have a read of this article from Guardian Careers. All Graduate