Starting A New Job: 10 Things You Should Never Do

By Barry Chignell

Starting a new job can be equally an exciting and a daunting experience. With a new career come new faces, new responsibilities, and a whole new environment.
For many, the first few months in a new workplace are largely spent learning the ropes, trying to decode a whole new office language, and finding out how to fit in best with the company and the many people that work there. To start, you should think of your first few months on a new job as an extension of the interview itself.

It's a time for your superiors and coworkers alike to learn, understand, and appreciate the value you'll bring to the table. For this reason alone, it’s important to make an impression during this phase, and even more important to make the right kind of impression. You may know of a few things you should do to make the experience a positive one, but what about the things that might be detrimental to your success?

Here is a list of some things that you should never do.

 

Not introduce yourself to your co-workers

When you encounter the people you'll be working with, don’t go without taking the time to properly introduce yourself. Don’t just wait for the opportunity to arise with nonchalance. Approach the team first, and offer a quick handshake and a friendly smile. Share with them a little about your experiences and goals.
Show interest in their roles and contributions to the group. It will benefit you to introduce an immediate friendly atmosphere amongst your peers. It also gives you a chance to create and instill your personal brand – the type of association to your name and the view of what you bring to the table. This is vital to creating a positive relationship to your work group.

Employee engagement and the productive vitality of teamwork are also an integral part of a company’s overall success. Showing that you are committed and immediately part of the team helps to ensure your longevity with the company and it increases your personal success.

 

Arrive To Work Late

In the category of fairly obvious yet always worth noting, at a minimum, your first few months at a new job need to be free of a tardy entrance. Your overall reputation depends largely on your ability to come prepared for each day’s tasks and to arrive on time.

Something as simple as tardiness can have immediate and residual repercussions, not only with the impression you make but also on the dependability of your future with the company. It would be wise to make it a habit to always arrive early and leave late, in order to make the best impression.

 

Act Before Asking Pertenant Questions

Despite what you might think, diving right into your work in order to make a good impression with your tenacity for your job is not always a great idea. Not taking the time to ask the necessary questions to ensure that you’re following the proper protocol can sometimes be detrimental to your success.
Don’t go forward on an important project without making sure the directions and the actions you take are valid and beneficial. In fact, in many cases, asking the right kind of questions can be extremely beneficial to your career.

 

Be Arrogant or Overconfident

Even if your new job is a position within the management team, approaching a new team with an egotistical approach can be off-putting to most. Be sure not to project your thoughts and ideas with demand or expectation, especially right off the bat.
Relationships and trust should be built before you compile expectations of the people you work with, and a little humility goes a long way in a team environment.
Create a space where others feel as if you value their contributions, and one where you invite collaboration and assistance.

 

Not Organise Yourself And Your Environment

Don’t put off organising your work areas and categorising your work plans. Being disorganised is a great disadvantage to you, especially when you are just beginning a new job.
Practicing good organisation can help you to keep track of your progress and appropriately plan your upcoming tasks, contributing to your overall ability to succeed.
Creating an activity log and maintaining a filing system that is most effective in boosting your daily productivity levels are good ways to start.

Using simple organisational skills can go a long way to improving overall communication, getting more done through specialised time-management, and maintaining a sense of order in otherwise stressful work situations.

 

Post About Your Job Online

With the increasing desire and the ease in which to share all aspects of our lives with the networking world online, there comes an increasing risk to your professional reputation.
While it may be exciting to share your new career you’re your friends and family, there are some thing you should remember before running to your status bar.

Social media is not the place to post your woes about your new job, especially when managers can catch wind of your rants so easily. Many companies generally frown upon posting about work on social media, especially things that may jeopardise confidential or proprietary information.

It’s important to understand your company’s policy on social media and refrain from using it as a place to vent any work frustrations you may have.

 

Ride the Gossip Train

Just don’t do it. Even if you think going along with the newsworthy tale of a certain coworker’s mischiefs might get you brownie points with a few, gossiping does not reflect well on you.
You might also think simply listening and responding to others telling a tale is harmless, but this supports and promotes the gossip in general. It’s best not to engage with employees that go beyond idle chatter and spread webs of harmful information.

Keeping busy and steering clear of the known gossipers can help, but it's also wise to approach management if it continues unchecked. Gossip is not only bad for your own reputation, but it can have adverse effects on the whole team as well.

 

Criticise Your Company

This is another big no-no. There is never a good time to criticise the practice or dealings of your organisation, but doing this in your early term is especially dampening to your internal success. Similar to refraining from sharing your frustrations on social media, you should also refrain from critiquing the company practices from within the company as well.

Coworkers and superiors alike do not respond well when criticised, and your reputation can easily be tarnished by something as simple as telling someone you think their work is flawed.
It should be fairly obvious that a company will favor employee advocates and those that choose advocacy over condemnation. While it's important to offer advice and insight, there is a fine line to the realm of degradation, so be sure not to cross it!

 

Play Favorites

While getting along with your team is vital to your success within a new company, choosing only a handful of employees to engage with on a regular basis may not work to your advantage.
Don’t fall into the clique mentality and play favorites among your peers, as it can reduce moral and cause separation. Of course it's understandable to like some people over others, but when you are at work, these kinds of distinctions are better to stay at the door.

Whether you are the boss or an employee within the team, playing favorites is just not a good thing to do.

 

Be a Work Hermit 

Don’t be so introverted. Though much has already been stated in the way of refraining from gossip or playing favorites among your peers, being generally social is often very helpful to your career.
The camaraderie and friendships found among the team you work closely with can be directly tied to your productivity and success as a group. So join your coworkers for lunch and a chat, and create situations to mingle.

There are many ways in which you can socialise at work, even if you are not naturally social. Though there are sure to be people that you have little in common with or whose views you may not agree with, finding common ground and small talk can help boost your relationship with the team, and it can help you to be prosperous in the early days of a new career. 

 

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