3 Uncommon Hacks To Impress At Your New Job
By using your lead time wisely
Ben recently landed a role he desired so much after searching for a job for a while. He could start looking into the future he wanted and start planning for the career he wished his parents had had in their early lives.
Such news comes with great excitement. Sometimes you wish you could start the following week and start impressing your new team.
Ben wasn’t going to start the new role until after three months. The team decided they needed to implement new measures to allow the new team onboard successfully.
Three months is a long wait. It can be good, and it can also be boring – it depends on how you look at it.
Most people wait until D-day.
Here’s what Ben can do to 10X his first 30 days at work to keep off on an excellent note.
Be like Ben.
1. Start Preparing Ahead
A good lead time before a new job can be very helpful.
If used properly, this time can be used to prepare you ahead for what’s to come. It’s a good time to dig deep into the possible projects you might be working on and go online and read a lot more about the organisation, team, and projects.
If you have a good time lead time, use this time to research what you need to know and start preparing ahead.
Identify any issues that might hinder you from focussing on the main tasks when you get started and resolve them if possible.
2. Learn The Tools You Need
This lead time is also good for brushing up on your hard skills. That way, you are up to speed with the tools and software used by the team.
You need to learn the tools you need for work or sharpen the existing skills that might have gone stale because you haven’t used them in a while.
For example, when starting a new role a few years ago, I realised I might be creating dashboards. I only had two weeks before my start date, but I did some Power BI and Tableau crash courses to understand the basics.
I knew it would be any of these two tools because they are probably the most popular in the industry. That decision paid off in the end. On getting in, I realised they had some dashboard projects to complete. The preparation time before I started this role helped me a lot.
So, find out what tools you will use if you start a new job and brush up on these tools ASAP. You will find yourself well ahead of the game won your first week, rather than spending another few weeks learning the basics.
3. Accelerate Into Your Crucial Tasks
Most teams have immediate challenges for new hires to solve almost immediately after they start work.
Often, there are pending responsibilities, new projects, or some pain points the new hire will be required to get hold of and resolve ASAP.
If you didn’t ask during the interview, this is a good time to check in informally to understand what you might need to solve ASAP. Most managers will reveal this information since you are the only thing to get up to speed on crucial tasks.
Remember, use your lead time wisely by understanding what crucial tasks are ahead of you and planning how to resolve them.
Closing Thoughts
Using your lead time wisely, you can easily make a good impression on your new job.
You need to start winning from the first week.
If you are starting a new job and have some lead time ahead of you, use this moment to prepare beforehand, learn the tools you need and accelerate into crucial tasks.
It’s okay to take some time off to refresh and do nothing. But don’t fall asleep because you finally landed a job. There will be more challenges ahead if you fail to prepare.
Maximise the waiting period and get off to an excellent start.
I wish you the best.
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