Sabrina’s Money Matters

So the job search is over, YAY! Now you have a new job to go to…this is always a strange time, unless of course you do it frequently.

At this point you should have knowledge of several things for your first day, including a contact persons’ name and number, you should know what the dress code is, and also your job title and duties. By this time, if you’re going to be on a probationary period with this employer, you’ll know it.

This means that the job isn’t “yours” yet. You have the time period they gave you (typically 30 - 90 days) to prove you should be hired beyond the probationary period. A lot of companies are opting to do this now because sometimes you just can’t find out everything in an interview. Legally.

Y’all know what I mean, tardiness problems, bad hygiene, bad attitude, improper dress, chronic illness, laziness….family drama that spills into the workplace…it’s a long list that gets longer everyday because of those sorry people who don’t take their jobs seriously enough to actually earn the money they make.

They give good employees a bad name, like you and me. To be perfectly blunt, this is why personality tests and credit checks are becoming commonplace in the interview process. Bad habits and choices spread across your life, they don’t just affect your home life.

Anyways, when you go to work somewhere new, it’s difficult because you don’t know a soul. Just smile at people as you walk by, that alone can do wonders for other people’s impression as you’re shown around your new workplace. Make sure you keep a pleasant look on your face.

As long as you’re going to be surrounded by other people, working for someone else, you need to be an adult and make the best of it, learn what you can, take opportunities that are available and grow. Corporate America has things to offer, you just have to recognize it. All employers have something to offer beyond just a paycheck.

Part of the first day on a new job is the fear of not being liked, of making a bad impression. How do you combat it? Your smile can disarm even the hardest of arses.

Use it often, make sure it looks good of course, but use it as a tool, don’t be greedy with it, a smile will light up your face and draw people to you. Seriously.

Additionally, don’t ask one person every question you have. If you don’t know where the bathroom is yet, use that as an excuse to introduce yourself to a coworker, “Hi, I’m Sabrina and I’m new here and haven’t been pointed to the bathroom yet, do you mind?” Simple as that, and when it’s lunchtime ask someone where a good restaurant is, or where the cafeteria is, whatever you’re expected to do for lunch, ask another coworker a question, but most importantly smile.

Say thank you and please, and be very agreeable. This trial period isn’t just with your boss, the people around you have a little bit to do with how your co-existence will be, make no mistake, if you’re a snot and your coworkers don’t like you, it will be known and you may not last past your probationary period. Nobody likes an arsehole.

I’m posting this on my first day at a new job too, so I can understand all the things going through your mind, and it’s going to be fine. It’s just another day, another dollar - another window of opportunity is open for you now. See it for what it is, a new, fresh day with opportunity in your path. Who wouldn’t want to be you?