To help ensure that you make a good impression, what should you send to a potential employer

Once the interviews and salary negotiations are over and you’ve accepted the offer, it’s easy to believe that the most stressful steps of your job search are behind you. But you’re not out of the woods yet. During the first few weeks in your new position, you’re laying the groundwork—and establishing relationships—that will prove beneficial to your future success and happiness within the organization. Below are seven ways to make a good first impression.

1. Arrive early, leave late: To ensure you’re conveying excitement, commitment, and a willingness to learn, arrive a little early and stay late during the first few weeks on the job. You don’t want to be the last one to arrive each morning or the first person out the door each evening. Pay attention to the company culture and follow the lead of your co-workers as to when they arrive and leave for the day.
2. Dress appropriately: First impressions matter and it’s not good to be viewed as someone that doesn’t follow the rules. 80 percent of managers believe apparel choices affect an employee’s chances of getting a promotion. Therefore, it’s important to follow the company dress code policy starting with your first day on the job—even when working remotely.
3. Be friendly and positive: A big part of a new job entails relationship building. Your co-workers and team may not have met you during the interview process so it’s important to focus on their first perceptions of you. When you introduce yourself to your new colleagues, be positive, smile, and look for ways to form mutual connections and bonds.
4. Avoid negativity: The last thing you want when starting a new job is to get caught up in anything that will reflect negatively on you or cause animosity toward you. Avoid gossip, drama, and office politics.
5. Listen and observe: The first several weeks at your new company should be spent learning the corporate culture to get a feel for what day-to-day life involves within the organization. No one likes a know-it-all,” so it’s important to listen and observe before making process change recommendations. LinkedIn found that during the first 90 days at a new job, 33 percent of people make the mistake of acting like a know-it-all and 17 percent try to impose their ideas before they even learn the job. Listen more than you talk and don’t try to change things before you have a thorough understanding of how things operate.
6. Ask for help: There’s a lot of pressure to prove yourself when starting a new position—which leads some workers to view asking for help as a sign of weakness. Even if you’re extremely knowledgeable in the job tasks and skills, there’s still a learning curve when you join a new organization. In the first 90 days at a new job, 21 percent of people fail to ask questions and clarify expectations. When you’re new, there’s no way that you can know everything, and a willingness to ask for help will go a long way in making a great first impression and proving you’re eager to learn.
7. Be a team player: Your co-workers have more than likely been pitching in and working together to complete the tasks required of your position while the company was going through the hiring process. Now that you’re on board, ask your team members how you can take some of that burden off of them while getting up to speed and learning your new role. Focus on what needs to be done and how you can help.

Summary

Being new is both a challenge and an exciting opportunity. Your first few weeks should be focused on making a positive impression while navigating expectations and learning the company culture. Be positive, exude confidence, and ask for help if you need it to ensure you make a good first impression and set yourself up for success.

This blog was written by Acara’s Recruitment Specialist Lanee Davis.

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