As many of you know, I recently changed jobs and moved to a new city. Changing jobs can be tough, even for “experts”, but I’ve learned a few things over the last month or two you might find helpful.
Here’s a few of my tips for making a smooth career transition…
1. Be confident and patient. You may not know everyone or everything right off the bat, but they hired you for a reason. Don’t forget that reason. Learning a new environment, organizational structure and culture takes time. Nobody expects you to move mountains on day two. If they do….more confidence, less patience 😉
2. Listen. Take in as much information as you can. Educate yourself and take notes. Eventually the pieces will start to come together and things will make a lot more sense if you can put them in some context. Also, you don’t have to do all the talking to look confident. People will appreciate your input and expertise more when you know where they are coming from.
3. Stay organized. Perhaps you’re coming in at a slow time. Or maybe you walked right into chaos. Either way, identify your priorities and create an agenda. Maybe nobody is telling you what you need to do, or maybe you have a million things to do and don’t know where to start. Regardless, you need to take your job into your own hands and organization will help guide you.
4. Bring candy! My former coworker and good friend gave me a bag of peanut butter cups as a parting gift…not for me, but for my new coworkers! Genius. Bring some goodies to your new job, one week in. The goodies will help you meet (and remember) new people, plus who doesn’t like the person who brought candy?
What tips do you have for a smooth career change?
Ditching Dull 