So let's talk about it.

If we haven't met, my name is Cassandra, and I am a career coach who has helped people go from hating work to happy work.

I love helping people change jobs and get into that right fit for them.

So if you are here, it's probably because you already just got a job or you're new in a job.

Congratulations either way.

Hooray.

So before we get into the one thing you have to do a couple of weeks in a work, there are some things leading up to that that we need to talk about.

So number one, make sure in those first couple of weeks you're really becoming familiar with your role, where things are, and who does what.

This sounds like, no duh, Cassandra.

Like, why wouldn't I do that?

Of course.

But people don't.

After the first week, you kind of get in the rhythm of things.

The first two weeks, you sort of get in the rhythm and you forget like, oh yeah, I don't fully know that process, or I don't know where something is located.

Take some time to review your notes, read through a training manual again, skim the Google Drive files or your Dropbox or whatever to kind of see what's around and what's out there that you're really getting familiar with the lay of the land.

Then the second thing I recommend doing is make your own systems.

So please hear me.

You should always use systems, processes, procedures that the company has laid out, right?

I'm not saying go change things up and go, oh, well, I decided to do it this way.

No, no, no.

I'm just saying sometimes companies will have trainings for you that are on videos.

And when you have to go do it, you don't want to go watch a whole video again, right?

We don't have the time for that.

Or they have step-by-step descriptions of how to do something with the pictures showing you the screen of then you click this button, and then you click that button, and then you do this thing.

And it's almost like too much detail that, again, we might not have time when we're in the actual moment to go through all that every time.

And maybe you just need a checklist of first I do this, then I do this, then I do that.

Whatever works for you.

Maybe it's the opposite.

Maybe they've just given you a checklist and you're like, I need to see some screenshots of where things go.

So you're gonna flip it and make the opposite version.

Essentially, make your own training manual, or really to me, this is like making your own study guide when you were in college.

Did you ever try and study off a test off of a friend's study guide?

And then on the next test, or maybe on a different situation, you made your own study guide?

Half the learning comes in the making of the study guide.

I couldn't sound nerdier right now if I tried, or more academic.

But it feels like you're saving time by just using a friend's, but it was actually harder probably to learn and memorize because you didn't have to connect the dots and organize the thoughts.

I did not mean for that to rhyme.

When you make your own study guide, you're in the process, you're connecting the dots and you're putting things together in a way that makes sense for you.

And that's where a lot of the memory comes from, the reflection comes from, et cetera, is in the process of creating it.

So that's kind of the same reason why I want you to be making your own training manuals, guides, et cetera.

Just start making the things that will help you be efficient at your job, even if the company didn't make those things.

Okay, the next one.

Start keeping track of what you're working on and what you're doing.

I have started not one, but three jobs where my supervisor was out of town either the week I started or the week after I started.

And they come back and they don't know what I've been doing, right?

They trust I'm doing something.

No one was a micromanager, but I just always wanna make sure I have some proof of like, hey, this is what I've been working on.

And so just start keeping a list, tracking like this is what I've learned, this is what I've been working on, this is how I'm spending my time.

It doesn't have to be ultra detailed.

If you are an ultra detailed person, by all means, go ahead.

Just know it doesn't have to be, but we wanna keep track of kind of what we're learning and doing so that we can show that if necessary.

And then I suggest start a wins file now.

A lot of executives do this.

I had a boss tell me to do this, but always keep a file of when people send you thank you emails for your work, or if there's anything you're really proud of that you've done or in a meeting, someone said you had a great idea, et cetera, write all those things down.

If nothing else, this is going to help you when you have a bad day.

When you have a bad day or someone didn't like your work, you can go look at that file and remind yourself, no, look, I do good work.

This was one bad day or one bad moment in a day.

And look at all the other good things I've done and look at all the other people who appreciate.

So keep it for yourself, but it's also really helpful when you come to your annual review, you can present some of these things.

It's gonna help remind you when they make you do that pre-survey thing and stuff.

So just start doing those things now.

But the number one thing I want you to do is you're going to ask for a 30-day review.

Now, some companies have amazing programs set up that they do 30, 60, 90-day reviews with all employees all the time.

But what I have learned is most companies, even if they have a 30-day review, oh, I'm busy that week.

Oh, I'm out of town that week.

Oh, this is happening.

And all of a sudden, your 30-day review is on day 90.

So make sure you email your boss and just say, hey, I would love to get 30 minutes on your calendar just to do a 30-day review.

I'd love to just check in and see how I'm doing.

When you have that meeting, come prepared with that list of things you've been working on, things you've been doing, and any questions you have.

We may not end up presenting everything, but you just kind of want to have it ready just in case, just in case you start to hear them say like, well, you know, I haven't seen you working on that much of this.

And then you can go, oh, actually, I've been doing this, this, and this.

And you can get it figured out, right?

You can see where there might be some recalibration needed between both.

Ask them, what have I done well, and where do you think I could improve?

The nice part about doing this at 30 days is we can't take the feedback too personally.

Like, you're too new to get it right.

When they tell you things you need to improve, it's like, well, yeah, of course, because I've only been here 30 days.

But it also helps you know, these are the areas that matter to them.

So this is where I'm gonna focus my time on improving.

So it's kind of a really nice time to get that feedback, because it's nothing that you've worked on for three years, and now you're just learning they didn't like it.

It's, oh, yeah, I've done this for a couple of weeks.

Great, I didn't realize I need to learn more about this area.

I'll learn more about this area.

To me, it's giving an opportunity to your boss to address some things that maybe they didn't love how you were doing, and they wanna fix it, but it didn't feel big enough for them to say anything.

But if it went on and on and on, it's like, oh, no, then it becomes a big thing.

And instead, we can just nip it in the bud right now and figure out the best ways to work together.

You're also probably gonna hear really great things that you've been doing and why they appreciate having you on the team.

So don't think it's all gonna be like doom and gloom feedback.

It rarely is, but it's just a great time to kind of get those things under control before they get out of hand or become bigger issues than they needed to be had they just said something to you in the beginning.

The other thing that's great about this is it's going to show automatically that you can handle feedback, you can handle some criticism.

Hopefully, it's useful feedback.

And if it's not, that's another video, really, but you get to choose what you do with the feedback somebody gives you.

But at least in the moment, it's gonna show, hey, I can handle feedback and I can handle some criticism.

Not to mention, it shows you have a desire to succeed.

This proves to them like, wow, they really care about being here.

They wanna do well.

They wanna hear how to do better.

That's great.

They're not just clocking in and out or checking their watch for the end of the day.

It's going to signal to them, I care about this job and doing my best at it.

So that's a wonderful thing.

And then one small note on this, I highly recommend not making this meeting on a Friday.

I have just learned that getting any sort of feedback, learning any sort of big news about a company, any of those things, anything that could change your role in any way or the direction of the company, people need to quit making those meetings on Fridays because what do we do?

We think about that all weekend.

And so now not just one night is ruined until we move on, our whole weekend can be ruined.

So while I don't think you actually will get any crazy hard advice in this meeting or crazy feedback or criticism, it's only been 30 days, I still don't want you to have the time to sit and stew on it all weekend.

You wanna put this in the middle of the week or the beginning of the week so that you learn about it and then you have days where you can work on improving the thing immediately.

We don't have to wait.

So that's just a little bonus tip for you.

Now, I have two other videos where I talk about ways to start off on the right foot in your job.

You can watch those here and here and I'll see you in the next one, bye.