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.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Things to Do When Starting a New Job

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

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• 5 Things to Do When Starting a New Job: "If there's a project or task no one wants to tackle, volunteer to do it and give it all you've got.... Early in your job and career, there are very few jobs that are below you. Remember: Everyone has to start somewhere."


• 5 Realistic Tips to Be More Positive: "Over time, accentuating the positive becomes a habit, not just an overly sunny expression. You will be able to easily identify when you feel the strongest and most effective."


• How to Job Hunt While You're Working: "A stealth job search takes time and energy. What’s the point of that time and energy investment unless you’re going to a better place?"


• How to Become the Smartest Person in the Room: "Take in what’s around you, and listen to what people have to say. That’s going to give you both the information and insight necessary to put it in context."


• 7 Ways to Increase Your Charisma: "Confidence is a huge component of charisma. People will admire you for your confidence, usually because most people struggle with being confident themselves."