What to expect on your first day in a new job

Your first day in a new job can be a daunting and nerve-wracking experience. Its understandable that you may feel overwhelmed being in a new environment and meeting new people. Hopefully outlining what to expect on your first day in a new job can help alleviate some fears you may have.

Meet your line manager 

Whilst you may have already met your line manager during your initial interview, your first day will be more of a chance to meet them properly and get to know them. You may also wish to thank them for inviting you to be part of their team. Your line manager is likely to be the manager of the team or department you are joining depending on the structure of the organisation. For instance, if you are joining the marketing department your line manager is likely to be the marketing manager. 

They will talk you through what your day to day tasks will be and what is expected of you. This is a great opportunity to ask any questions you may have. 

Meet your buddy 

Most companies assign new employees a ‘buddy’ who is a member of staff usually of the same rank as you. Your buddy will answer any questions you have (including those you don’t want to ask your manager), show you how everything works, help you settle in and be available if you want to discuss anything. 

Tour of the premises 

Your manager, your buddy or someone else from your team will take you on a tour of the premises. They’ll show you where you will be working, where the toilets/break room/canteen are, where each department/team is located and about any processes such as signing in and out. 

Induction to your role

The company will want you to spend some time learning about the company policies and processes. Someone from HR may talk to you about this or perhaps you’ll be given some training videos/documents to work through. I know this sounds rather dull but it’s important you learn about this. Large organisations with several new employees may have formal induction processes including welcome events, talks from senior leaders,  training courses or networking events. You’ll also likely spend some time with your line manager and coworkers talking about the work you’ll be doing, current projects the team is working on and how everything works. 

Meeting your coworkers

During your first day of a new job you’ll likely be introduced to lots of new people. There may be some people who you’ll be working with on a daily basis and others who work in other areas of the business who you may not interact with as much. Depending on the size of the organisation you may have separate introductions to different teams or individuals or you may be asked to introduce yourself during a staff meeting. 

Of course, if your company employs thousands of people and has offices across the world it will not be possible to meet every single person who works there. If this is the case you’ll likely meet the people or teams you’ll be directly working with first although there will be opportunities to meet people from other areas of the business at other times. 

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Health and safety induction 

By law, you must be given a health and safety induction when starting a new job. You’ll be shown where the fire exits are, what the evacuation procedures are, first aid arrangements and any other health and safety arrangements in place. 

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