Human Resources: How to Adjust to a New Job

When you’re hired for a job, it’s because of your resume and your skills. An interview for the job would’ve lasted about a 10-15 minutes. In most scenarios, that’s the only time you every interact with your boss or the HR rep at that office. All of a sudden, in a few days, you get the job and you’re there at the office. Adapting to a new job is going to be tough. Being in a new environment, you’re not going to know anyone, and the working styles of that office will take time to get adapted to. Moreover, if your HR rep isn’t that great, then you won’t have anyone helping you out. So what’s the best to way to tackle this problem?

Firstly, observe how your colleagues communicate with one another. Some prefer emails, some prefer texting, and some may even video chat with one another. In order to understand the culture of the office, and how all of them work with another, you have to analyze how they communicate. Also, understand how their meetings work. Many offices have round table meetings, but some have smaller, specific team meetings (sales, accounting). In some offices, the boss would gladly help you to get adjusted to the office. But in most offices that’s not the case. The boss has too many things going on so they’re more focused on their own things. So as an employee, you have to understand how to communicate to your superiors. Some are fine with formal emails, but others are okay with text messages. Getting adjusted to a new place is tough, but at the end of the day, you’ll get used to it.

Another great thing to do is to understand how your office makes decisions. Offices have formal meetings, but they make big decisions (ex: info about clients) on their own time. Also you have to notice how an employee’s concerns are heard by the boss. When in a meeting, and your colleague makes a suggestion (which your boss accepts), you have to make sure whether or not that was implemented. And it was, to what extent was it proven. Hence as an employee it’s important to know your role in the office. If you want to take initiatives, but your boss disapproves all of your ideas, you have to come up with another way to approach that problem. On the contrary, you may have no idea on what to do, but your boss seems enthusiastic and gives you space to think and work on something.

Ultimately, adjusting to your job is quite tough. Understanding how your office works is detrimental in your success, as that shows how long you will last at the office. Furthermore, important aspects such as decision-making, and communication have to understood and analyzed by the new employees. This may seem a bit overwhelming, but at the end, it’s your decision. The more work you put it in at the start, the easier it will be to transition efficiently into the job.

By Chari Govindarajan