First impressions are important, especially in a new job.
10 things you should do within your first two weeks:
1. Establish credibility early. Try solving a small problem within the first week. It’s doable.
2. Keep track of tasks in a spreadsheet. Columns should read: task, priority, deadline, description, status, team. Send your boss your spreadsheet every two weeks, and adjust course as needed.
3. Archive completed tasks in a separate tab, and add a “results” column. Use these accomplishments in your performance evaluation.
4. Set expectations early. Know in detail what your role entails and ask LOADS of clarifying questions.
5. Hold informational interviews with everyone on your team – with a clear goal! Understand what they do, their role in relation to yours, previous roles, and skills. Take lots of notes and ask lots of questions.
6. Learn from experts. Find mentors early (perhaps outside the team).
7. Remember names.
8. Read through legacy files, operations manuals, drawings, plant descriptions, etc. – anything available to get an understanding of your process.
9. Figure out what resources you have available (like databases, people, training). Keep a running log of these resources.
10. Be confident and speak up in meetings!
Good luck ;).
