Careers Advice: Creating a good impression with new employers
When taking on a new challenge and moving job, everyone is faced with numerous challenges and few are as daunting as wondering how you can make a great first impression. During the recruitment process, you have likely had two, sometimes three, interviews in the company offices and yet the nerves still appear as you walk through the business entrance on day one and your mind wonders how can you please everyone!
Making a good impression with a new employer is something we all want to achieve and is an experience close to home for myself having joined a new firm in August. There are no ‘golden rules’ to follow to ensure you will be universally loved but I do have some useful tips.
Be yourself. It is not only your ability to do the job at hand that ensures you are successful when finding a new job but the personality behind the CV and skill-set that makes a real difference. During the interview process, the hiring manager will have decided that they are confident you will become a valuable team member likely to contribute to the workload but also their office culture so don’t go changing the personality that got you there in the first place. A growing business is great for new and existing employees so walk through the door with your biggest smile and get ready to let them know who you are, where you’re from and what you’re going to achieve.
Get involved. Your first few days are normally filled with repetitive conversations regarding your name and old workplace alongside the usual introductions to the fire alarm procedure and computer systems, but take every chance you get to engage with your new colleagues. This piece of advice doesn’t mean you need to keep it completely about work either, although I am sure they would welcome professional help! Are you a Game of Thrones fan? Well, join in that lunch-time theorising about who will sit on the Iron Throne at the end of series eight. A football fan? I am sure there will be plenty of opinions on whether Neymar is worth the money. In short, there will be plenty of conversations for you to join and these always allow you to get to know your new colleagues better and for them to get to know you.
Let your new colleagues know your strengths as a planner. My clients hire to improve their teams, meaning they feel you will make a difference and, most likely, add value to the projects. It may sound bold but I would suggest drawing on your confidence and getting involved where needed from the offset: your colleagues will appreciate the additional input and you’ll soon feel at ease with plenty of work to get through.
Taking on a new challenge professionally is something to relish so don’t succumb to day one nerves, get out there and enjoy yourself and the new opportunity and always remember, your new colleagues are likely as nervous about making a good impression on you!
Jason Moore is associate consultant at recruitment consultancy Kingsley