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11.1: The First Day (and Weeks) of Your New Job

  • Page ID
    152968
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    Congratulations! You applied for the job you wanted. You aced the interview and you got it. Now what?


    To some extent, it all depends upon the hiring process where you are working. To use a personal example, when I was recruited to The Wall Street Journal’s copy desk many years ago (I’m the “hunchback” in the picture below), the hiring process was that the company brought the prospective employee all expenses paid to New York for a week.

    clipboard_e3e459b7cacd3b268ab9a14f7b5c3c534.png

    Photo copyright Dow Jones & Company. All rights reserved.

    Wall Street Journal copy desk, circa 1968. (author’s collection)

    For the first three days, the candidate edited Xerox copies of stories that were going into the next day’s paper. The chief copy editor (in the “slot”) took them home, marked them up like a college professor and went over them with the candidate the next day. If the candidate was successful, for the last two days he edited live stories for the paper. If that was successful – and if he got along with the other copy editors – toward the end of the fifth day, he was made an offer. During his week in New York, the candidate was given brochures and booklets describing the history of the company, benefits, etc.

    When the new copy editor reported to work a couple of weeks later, he filled out some personnel forms and began to work. He’d already been introduced to the culture of the company.

    On the other hand, the first day on the job at Boston Beer Co,, maker of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, begins in the company pub with an address by the founder and chairman, Jim Koch, describing how he founded the company and how it grew. Next was a tour of the company’s brewery. One of the unique things about Boston Beer is that Koch wanted every employee – whether she was a brewmaster or an accountant -- to be able to conduct a brewery tour. And the first day ends with happy hour in the pub. If you work for a beer company, you better like beer!

    At other companies, your first day may begin in your hiring manager’s office where you would fill out a ton of personnel forms, and then be walked over to your work area, introduced to your co-workers and your team leader, and you’re off and running.

    How to Succeed in Your First Job

    Tori Dunlap graduated from the University of Portland, and in her first job at the age of 22 was the head of marketing communications for a Fortune 500 company. In this video, she explains how to succeed in your first job out of college:

    How to Succeed in Your First Job Out of College

    • Make a list of her four major tips, and the subpoints under them.

    You’re always being evaluated for your next job, and sometimes that includes jobs that don’t even exist yet. So you want to make a great impression from day one. Adriana Girdler, one of Canada’s leading efficiency experts, explains how to make that great impression here:

    First Day at Work (START WITH CONFIDENCE)

    • Make a list of 5 tips she shares that resonate with you. Be prepared to discuss in class. If an online class, submit the list to your instructor.

    Of course, many jobs today are virtual. How does starting a 100% virtual job differ?

    Slay Your First Week (Remotely)

    • Watch the above video with Jennifer Brick, make a list of her tips and be prepared to discuss both how to begin a job conventionally and how to begin a job remotely. If you are in an online class, make a list of the tips from the three speakers that are the same, the tips that seem to apply only remotely and the tips that seem to apply only in a face-to-face setting.

    11.1: The First Day (and Weeks) of Your New Job is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 1.3 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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