This article appeared in this week’s edition of the Dublin People Newspaper

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You’ve got the job. Now keep it

The interview has gone well and you’ve accepted an offer to start your new job. You breathe a sigh of relief and relax. It’s all downhill from here. Not quite. While a lot of the heavy lifting is done securing the position in the first place, that doesn’t mean that your new role is guaranteed for life.

Most jobs require a 6 month probation period. This is a time for the company to assess your capabilities, and is important in making sure you are employed long term.

Starting a new job gives you the opportunity to establish yourself as a valuable member of the team. First impressions are important and you only get to make one. Good first impressions allow you to establish yourself as someone who is smart, motivated, and has the potential to progress. The chances are that you have never met most of the people you are working with, so you have a clean slate with which to stamp your mark on a new job.

For the first few weeks of a new job, people will cut you some slack. They assume you don’t know everything about new systems or work practices, so use this time to ask questions. Bring a pad and write down questions. Wait until the end of the day to make sure they haven’t been answered already by then and ask. Familiarise yourself with how things work, ask pertinent questions, and look for training early on, because whereas as people are happy to help when you first join the company, if you are asking what your login to the computer is after 2 months their patience may begin to wear thin!

Its important to introduce yourself around in a new organisation. Get to know who does what, and who makes the decisions. Knowing who the key players are allows you to better do your job. Try to avoid getting sucked in to the gossip about co-workers. Be polite to those who are spreading it, but take people as you find them. This is an opportunity to mark yourself out as someone with potential to progress, so don’t make enemies when you don’t need to.

During the early part of a new job, try to have an input in meetings and during work. Come up with suggestions and insights that mark you out as someone who is sharp, confident and who knows what they are doing. Be careful not to come across as a know it all, or to impose yourself to aggressively, and remember not to say things like “this is not how we used to do things in my old place” You aren’t in Kansas now! People are interested in what works now in the company, not what worked in your old job.

Finally don’t rest on your laurels. It should be said, that probation periods are two way streets (allowing the company to assess you, but also allowing you to see if the job is really what you want), but once you decide you want the job, don’t let your performance drop after you are confirmed as a permanent employee. Keep contributing and mark yourself out as one to be watched. A new job is a fresh slate. Be confident, make yourself invaluable and you might find opportunities present themselves not just for increases in salary, but for progression.