6 Must-Read Tips for Assimilating into Your New Job

After you finish your job search and are ready to start at your new position, it’s important to assimilate to the situation. Sometimes, integrating into the company culture can be difficult. It’s important to jump into your job and become a part of your new position so that you fit in, and can quickly become an important part of the team.

Ford R. Myers, a career coach and author of Get The Job You Want, Even When No One’s Hiring, offers six tips that can help you assimilate to your new job within 90 days.

1. Establish and Maintain Positive Relationships with Your Coworkers

First, do your best to establish positive relationships with your coworkers. But it doesn’t stop there. “Develop good communication habits to maintain those relationships,” Myers suggests. This is one of the best ways to become part of the company culture and begin finding allies and partners in your new work environment.

2. Produce Tangible Results and Keep Commitments

Next, look for ways to produce tangible results. Show that your contributions are valuable to the company, and keep your commitments. This means that you need to know your limits, and avoid making promises that you can’t keep.

3. Communicate Well With Others

This goes beyond just maintaining positive relationships with your new coworkers. You need to be able to communicate with your superiors as well. And your communication goes beyond just keeping them informed. You need to carefully communicate the progress you are making as well, so that your bosses can see that they made a good decision in hiring you, and so that you feel the sense of accomplishment that will allow you to continue enjoying your work.

4. Build Your Network

“Begin building your in-house contact network by cultivating connections with everyone,” says Myers. This doesn’t mean that you have to be everyone’s best friend, but it does mean it’s a good idea to find common ground, and develop professional connections with as many people as you can. Integrate yourself into the team, and be helpful. You’ll gain a good reputation and others will want to work with you.

5. Balance Your Work Life and Health Life

Myers understands that part of enjoying your new job is maintaining your work/life balance (classic article link, think about smartphones . . . ). While you do want to give a good portion of your energy and effort to your new position, it’s also important that you remember to enjoy life. You will be more productive and happier at work if you take care of your life needs as well. Plus, you can avoid burnout if you are careful about maintaining that balance.

6. Review Your Job Description with Your Manager

Finally, make sure you have a meeting with your manager a couple weeks into your job to evaluate where you stand. You can also work on fine-tuning your job description and responsibilities. That way you can fit yourself into the job better, and maybe even work on helping the job fit you. This discussion can ensure that everyone is happy with your integration into the company.

Ultimately, though, says Myers, you need to move beyond the day-to-day work tasks. “This is the approach that is so essential, not just to maximize your chances of success within the first 90 days, but also for successful, long-term career management.”

How are you assimilating into your new job? Is it going okay? Leave a comment and let us know!

Miranda writes about personal finance almost every day. An experienced freelance writer, she's covered your money online and in print from every angle and is always looking for new ones.

All posts by Miranda