Your Week 1 Checklist
You’ve got the job, your first day is Monday, now what? There are a few things that you should do before clocking out on Friday to set yourself up for success in the coming months.
1. Identify and Introduce Yourself to Your Team: First impressions are critical, and you’ll only get to meet your new teammates for the first time once. Try to be friendly, open, and take a genuine interest in them. If you’re feeling the first day nerves, ask a lot of questions so that they can carry the conversation. If possible, go deeper than just people’s roles and responsibilities. Take an interest in hobbies, interests, and when appropriate, family.
2. Understand Your Role and its Expectations: It’s hard to hit a target if you can’t see it. Sometime in the first week chat with your leader about their vision for your first few months, what success looks like, how you’ll know if you are or aren’t meeting expectations. This will not only give you a clearer picture of your role, but help put some of the fear of the unknown to bed.
3. Get Your Money Sorted: Get all your tax documentation sorted, set up direct deposit, figure out how to record your time, and, if eligible, set up an automatic contribution to tax advantaged retirement/health savings account(s). At the end of the day a job is a job, and you need to make sure you’re set up to receive that compensation you negotiated.
4. Enroll in Benefits: In the United States, a new job is a qualifying life event for enrolling in benefits outside of the open enrollment period. Take a look at and make selections for health, dental, vision, disability, life, and other types of insurance your employer may provide if you’re not currently covered by a partner or your parents. I mentioned this in step 3, but it is worth repeating to also set up enrollment in tax advantaged accounts such as a 401k or HAS if those are available to you.
5. Set Up Your IT Environment: Set up your computer account, download critical software, set up your email and calendar, and request any additional hardware you need. Having a work stoppage to download a huge software package is an enormous drag, so having everything in place ahead of time will boost productivity on the back end.
6. Start Building Relationships: Fresh out of the gate is a great time to start building deeper relationships with people at work. Try to set up one or two lunches or coffees with members on or adjacent to your team. If possible it’s always better to have your first contact with someone be casual or social, rather than asking for something you need. This is also a great time to get additional perspectives on your role, team, or project.
Did you start a new job recently, or do you have a start date coming up? Which of these do you think is most critical? Let me know at YourSTEMMentorBlog@gmail.com!