First Impressions Last!

The following article by Siobhan was published in The Kilkenny People 29 February 2008

EVERYONE knows that starting a new job is stressful. You want to make the right impression and want to be able to do your best. You may be having the following worries:

• What are they going to think of me?

• Will I impress the boss?

• Will I be as good as the person I?m replacing?

- What if I don't know how to do the tasks they give me?
My question to you is: Are you a mind reader? If you are, get in touch with RTE. If not, then you are causing yourself undue worry. You can never know what someone is thinking and you can never control it either. What you need to do is focus on the job and prepare for it.

Here are a few things to get you in the Dolly Parton mood and start on the right foot.

1. You are only human. It takes on average, three months for a new employee to settle into their job. You cannot be expected to know on starting how the company runs, who makes the decisions and how projects are carried out. Remember this and you will learn a lot more without stressing yourself out.

2. Start as you mean to continue. If you start volunteering for every task offered up so as to make a good impression, you are risking the chance of burning yourself out which is going to effect your work in the long run. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

3. Don't be having doubts. For many those first 3 months can be very uncertain with all the new information and changes happening. It is important to stay positive and give it your best shot even if things are no going to plan. If after the first 3 months, things are not going to plan e.g. your job role does not match that of your contract, then you can express your conce
s to your employer.

4. Prioritise. Know what your key tasks are so that you don't get all caught up in proving yourself with shows of genius. You may have saved the company 100 euro a month by changing paper supplier but when it comes to your six month review, you need to show you did the tasks that were assigned to you. Keep the other achievements for wage increases and proving why you are valuable to the company.

5. Work is not everything. There are several different areas in your life other than work such as health, family, friends, hobbies and so forth. You need to keep a health balance or it will start to effect your work too. So keep your healthy balance and you'll shine.

These are just some but above all of these you need to be yourself and you can't go wrong.

To check out Siobhan's Blog, go to: www.siobhansims.ie