Mental Note for Your First Day at Work

On Your First Day

Arrive On Time, If Not a Little Earlier
The last thing you want to happen is for you to be late on your first day at work. Learn alternative routes to your workplace, just in case the one that you know could not be taken that day. This way, you can minimise the risk of running late and creating a bad impression.

Bring All the Things Required of You
On the day you report for duty, you should have with you all the things required of you, be it additional documents or forms which you brought home to fill and passport-size photographs.

Know Who To Report To
You should know who to report to on your first day at work. You should have asked this question prior to you reporting for duty to avoid awkward situations on your first day.

Smile, Not Grin To Your New Colleagues
Smile to the person seated next to you. If that person does not smile back, do not fret. Refrain from grinning or you will appear as trying too hard to please, which may subject you to possible manipulation or bullying by the office bully.

Be Mentally Prepared
You are all excited to start work and leave your books behind. It is your first job and you are about to earn your own money.

However, most first timers have no inkling of what to expect in the workplace or what are expected of them once they start work. Coming out straight from the academic world, most of the time, "freshies" find it hard to adapt to the working world.

The workplace is no longer a classroom or a lecture hall where the students only need to listen and absorb what is being said to them and complete several assignments and answer scheduled tests.

They then feel dispirited as they have to drag their feet to work each morning and hope that each working day would end quickly. Hence, it is very important for them to be mentally prepared for the working world with realistic expectations.

Change your mindset, attitude
More often than not, students took to the last minute frenzy to complete their assignments given three months before and burnt the midnight oil to complete the assignments. At work, you cannot afford to do that. In a highly-stressed job, you are expected to be on your toes and perform at all times.

Surviving Your First Day at Work