5 Things to Do When You're the New Person at the Office

Starting a new job can produce feelings of fear, excitement, anxiety, and a combination of other emotions. You want to start out well and make a good impression, right? Well how do you go about this?

Here are a few tips:

1. Accept your emotions. No matter how you're feeling understand that it is fine to experience some fear or anxiety when starting a new job. If you don't accept these emotions you can end up being too harsh on yourself, further increasing your anxieties or fears and causing you to struggle longer in the job.

2. Seek out a mentor. This doesn't have to be your direct supervisor, but find someone who can mentor you through your initial period of adjustment. Maybe it's someone who's been at the company a long time and can help you understand the company culture and power dynamics specific to the company or your particular area or division.

3. Get to know a wide variety of people. Don't eat lunch alone. Take the initiative to invite others for a coffee or out to lunch, and get to know people from all areas of the company, and people with differing areas of expertise and levels of seniority. This will help you better understand the job and your place in the company, increasing your comfort level.

4. Be humble and ask questions. This is often the easiest time in your career to ask questions and learn. There are no expectations that you know everything about the job so do what you can to learn as much as you can about the work you're doing. Don't be afraid of looking like you don't have all the answers; you don't and you just started. And that is fine.

5. Volunteer to help out. Offering to help others provides a great opportunity to get to know your colleagues and increases your understanding of your work.

3 Things To Do When You've Been Passed Over For a Promotion

Several years ago I was passed over for a promotion I had been expecting and preparing for over the previous few years. My supervisor had made it clear that she intended for me to replace her.

However, after she left, and I went through the interview process a surprising thing happened. I did not get the promotion.

Unfortunately, my response to getting passed over was not helpful and soon after I left the company for a new position. It turned out to be a bad career and personal decision.

So here are three things you can do differently if you are passed over for a job promotion:

1. Allow yourself to feel ... angry, frustrated, sad, and any other emotion you experience. However, only allow yourself to focus on these feelings for a limited period of time, say 48 hours, and then move on. Dwelling on those feelings will have you experiencing bitterness and make it more difficult for you to make a good decision about the future of your work.

2. Ask, listen, and fully understand. Seek out a meeting with the manager who made the decision about the promotion. Do your best to go into the meeting with an attitude of curiosity and a genuine desire to understand why you did not get the promotion. Listen carefully and say very little. Do not attempt to persuade the manager that he or she made a mistake. Do not attempt to defend yourself against any shortcomings the manager identifies. Leave the meeting on good terms with the manager.

3. Humbly apply what you've learned. If the manager provided you with some specific and concrete ways to improve your performance and develop skills to make you more qualified for a promotion develop a plan to meet the objection identified. If you take a serious approach to dealing with any shortcomings identified you will likely find that another opportunity for a promotion will make itself available.

And then you will be ready for it.