Four simple steps to a good first day:
1. Allow plenty of time to get ready—check and double-check your appearance before heading out the door!
2. Make sure you know where you’re going! It sounds obvious, but you should find out exactly where you’re expected to go and how to get there, so that you can arrive on time (or better yet, early).
3. Be confident! But… not too confident. Whilst confident people inspire confidence in others, there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance, which is a line you don’t want to cross on your first day.
4. Don’t forget to smile! It’ll give people a good impression of you and, more importantly, it’ll also make you feel more positive.
Four simple steps to fixing things if you had a rubbish first day:
1. Spend some time getting to know the people you’re working with (and identify the ones who are precious about their coffee cup).
2. Prove yourself a little bit more each day—show people that you know what you’re doing, but still be willing to ask for help if you need it.
3. Show that you’re a team player! Offer to make the tea, accept an invitation to lunch and generally demonstrate that you’re keen to fit in.
4. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Chances are, you’ll be much more sensitive to any possible slip-ups than anyone else was. They were the new guy once too, remember.
James Innes is a best-selling careers author and founder of The James Innes Group.