10 Tips for New Job – First Day at Work

Cracked the final round of interview and got your appointment letter in hand. Now the first day at work is arriving soon and you are excited, nervous or have mixed feelings. Wondering how it would be in the office on first day. Take a deep breathe and relax, almost all of us have similar feelings when we join the corporate work force for the first time. The trick is how you can set your first impression which is not just lasting but also has a long term impact. To help you get started and be admired for your work ethics and professionalism, we have listed down 10 cool tips for a new job or first day at work. Read on and leave your new boss and collogues impressed.

- Visit the Office Prior to Your First Working Day: Like a job interview, reaching on time for that first day at work is also critical. To make sure that you do not reach late on this important day, try visiting the office premises at least once prior to the date of joining. So that you know the exact route and can track how much time it exactly takes to reach the office. Make sure that on the first day of new job you reach at least 10 to 15 min prior to the schedule. Please keep in mind these days’ traffic excuses or any other silly excuses are considered pretty lame and does not give a good impression.

- Start Your Day with Heavy Breakfast: As this would be your first day at work and you are unaware of the lunch culture at work. It is always a good idea to have a healthy, heavy breakfast before leaving for office. Reason being you do not know what the situation would be like. If you are amongst the lucky few, possibly you’ll get to have lunch with your boss. If not than possibly you will have to suffice with coffee machine and crackers. A heavy breakfast will help you sustain your energy levels while attending meeting after meeting, and training sessions.

- Go Well Prepared – Do your Home Work: Before your first day at work, make sure that you do your homework and learn about the company profile. Do some research on the internet, visit the company website and read about their latest updates and news. This will keep you informed and you will be in a better position to understand their terminologies and facts, which they might discuss during meeting or training sessions. Other than this, if you already know who will be your immediate boss, it would be wise to do some background check on him, and learn about his interest areas, likes and dislikes. This small activity will help you gel up with him easily.

- Dress Appropriately for Success: When joining a new job, we sometimes get over excited and try to wear something, which is not our usual style. I would suggest wearing something comfortable yet professional to first day at office. Specially be very particular about the shoes you choose. Tight shoes or high selittoes which are not comfortable will make the entire first day at job experience bad and tiresome. Remember their will be lot of important things for you to worry about on the first office day than your shoes and sandals. In case while attending the job interview, you notices some sort of dress code, than it would be wise to call up the HR representative and learn about it.

- Stay Calm & Professional: On the first day at work, with so much information imparted on one single day, chances are you might go overwhelmed. Don’t let it show up. Just keep in mind slowly and steadily you will understand everything. Other than that if you are some one with a high pitch and tone, maintain your one while communicating. Keep your sense of humor in control. If others are cracking jokes during training or meeting, keeping mum and observing is a better bet here. Simply because you are new to the game and yet unaware of all the rules.

- Take Notes & Jot Down Important Names: On the first day at job, you will be introduced with lots of people, lot of training manuals and instructions would be provided. Keeping track of so much information is difficult. So be smart and jot down all the important instructions and names. You will thank yourself latter for being wise.

- Set Up Your Work Space: You will be excited to see your new work area. Decorate your work area just like you want. But bear in mind that ultimately the space belongs to the company. So be conscious while placing the photo frames, stuff toys and other décor items. Don’t over do it. Make sure to arrange all important documents properly in one closet, do not leave them on the table top or scattered.

- Take a Small Break: First day at office, we all our so over loaded with meeting schedules and it seems as if we need to do it all in a single day. Take a break and relax, have a cup of coffee and if possible take a round of the office premises. You will feel more relaxed and refreshed.

- Listen!! Listen!! : The first day at work, is mostly about knowledge transfer, trainings, introducing you to the work culture in the new office, HR policies, Insurance policies, your work profile. The best thing to do is, listen and respect others thought. Even if you have better ideas and suggestions, on a certain project or work it is always good to keep those to yourself at least on the first day.

- Do Not Forget to Thank the Office Assistant & Others: Thank everyone who helps you with anything right from helping you set up your computer or desktop to helping you with getting acquainted with the office culture. The more you use this word on the first day and than moderately latter on, better it would be for you.

How to Write a Thank you Email Post Phone Interview

Phone interview nowadays has become an initial step to the whole hiring process. This is simply because it is cost effective and requires less time and scheduling efforts. Whether it is telephonic interview or a face to face interview round, sending out a thank you note post interview is a good idea. Once the phone interview is over, ask the interviewer about the next step for the hiring process and quickly enquire about his email address. This should in turn help you send out a quick thank you email. Read on to understand the benefits of sending out a thank you note. Also have a look at the sample template for thank you email for a phone interview.

Benefits of Sending out Thank you Email Post Phone Interview:

After a long day of interviewing, chances are that the interviewer might miss your name in the crowd. A thank you note will bring your profile back to his attention. Even if your performance during the phone interview was not all that great, chances are that he may take a second or third look at your resume to see if your skill sets match the job requirement. And probably consider you for the second round.
During the course of interview it is quiet possible that in an attempt to answer all the questions right, you might have missed out on certain important points. Which you wanted to bring to the recruiters attention. A thank you email gives you an opportunity to share your key skill or experience in detail and divert recruiter’s attention towards it and showcase yourself as a great fit for the current job opening.
In an interview, many a times we end up saying some awkward and confusing things. A well drafted thank you email will give you a chance to clarify things and if needed state examples to illustrate a clear picture.
Sometimes simple gestures can do wonders. A small thank you email, clearly showcase the employer that you are a great professional who is not just respectful but also have sound business etiquette’s. They will also appreciate the fact that you took time to send out a thank you email, which many other candidates did not even consider sending.

Sample template for Thank you Email Post Phone Interview:

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Dear Mr. /Ms. [Mention Last Name],
Thank you for providing me an opportunity to converse with you regarding XYZ job opening in your esteemed company/organization. I want to sincerely thank you for your time and would like to inform you that I am very much interested in the job opportunity. Reason being, it is a perfect match to my skill sets and experience. If given me this job opportunity, I’m sure to contribute towards company goals and at the same time it will help me in setting my career path in the right direction.
Along with the necessary skill sets and experience [You can mention specific experience and examples related to the profile] required for the profile, I shall bring to the position strong communication skills, leadership, hard work, dedication and flexibility to do the task at hand with perfection.
I look forward to hearing from you soon and meeting you in person. Again thank you for considering my profile for the job.
Best Regards,

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It is absolutely important to send the Thank you note within 24 to 48 hrs after telephonic interview. So that the email reaches the interviewer on time and he can easily remember, the person whom he talked with just a few hours back. Clear chances are that your profile could be missed if a Thank You note is delayed and a great opportunity being missed. So without fail consider sending out a Thank you mail immediately after completing your phone interview.

How to Hunt For a Job like a Pro!!

In today’s tough economic times, hunting a job is not an easy task. Whether you are looking for your first job, or planning to switch careers. What ever might be the case, getting that perfect job requires time, determination and dedication. The 2 most important things to understand before entering the job market are: 1) what are your ultimate career goals and 2) study your job market niche thoroughly to understand the current market situation. Learn whether or not the recession has hit your job market segment or is it at its booming stage. Prior homework and detailed studies will help you face the interview more confidently, plus you will be in a good position to ask for appropriate remuneration as per the industry norms.

In this social networking environment, job hunt includes more work rather then just checking job classified ads in the newspaper. Nowadays finding job means a proper network, using your internet skills to the optimum level, knowing area specific job boards and much more. Here, we have listed down some quick pointers to be kept in mind while you hunt for a job like a pro. Read on to get into the groove and feel lucky!

1- Know the Job boards in your Area:

Knowing area specific job board helps to a great extent. As this should help you to look for job directly in your preferred location. For e.g. If you are looking for jobs in UK then try out uk.gigajob.com OR if you are looking for job in any other area around the world than here is a huge list of country specific job boards to help you get started.

2- Networking & Referrals:

Yes this is the perfect time, to check your contact list and jot down the numbers or email address of all the people who can refer you in their company. As per stats approx. 35% of the companies rely on employee referrals, so this is the right time to take advantage. Give them a call and inform them about your job hunt and ask them if they could recommend you or tell you about a job opening. Also let them know your area of interest, but quickly don’t fail to mention that you are flexible to change domain, if that means more learning and increasing your knowledge base. A phone call is preferred, but if you are not able to reach on the phone, then do not hesitate to drop an email.

3- Use the Power of LinkedIn:

Almost all of us know about LinkedIn. This is a great place to network with recruiters and head hunters. First of all make sure that your profile is updated and you have gathered a couple of testimonials from some of your co-workers (of course if this is your first job, then you need not worry about testimonials). Join job groups and start connecting with prospective recruiters. On LinkedIn you will be able to find all sort of job group’s location specific, domain specific…etc.

4- Job Fairs:

Search the internet and see if there are any job fairs being held in colleges, libraries in your area. These job fairs are generally open for new graduates, but sometime they also allow experienced people. Take time to connect with prospective recruiters and do not fail to collect their business cards if possible.

5- Use the Power of Twitter:

Twitter is yet another micro blogging social networking site. Here you will be able to find jobs by using the discover feature. Search for #job, #Jobs, if you are looking for area specific jobs then type in #UKjobs, #londonjobs etc and you will be able to see real time job openings. Also you can follow us on twitter Gigajob_Uk to check out latest job opening in UK.

Hope you find these how to hunt for job tips useful.

Good luck with your job search!!

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