Before you lies a different kind of challenge and one just as important to the job-change process - adjusting to the new job. Your indoctrination may go well - I hope it does - but it constitutes another period of emotional pressure. Your new challenge will be exciting, but it also can be traumatic. You'll be adjusting to a new company which has different ways of doing things. You'll find some things you didn't or couldn't anticipate, and your performance will be closely watched not only by your boss but by the organization as a whole. For a short period of time most people will probably go out of their way to be helpful, but eventually the honeymoon will end.
There may be unusual upset in your family. If the new job means a change to a new location, it could unsettle everyone, particularly teenage children. Even if the job doesn't involve a move, it still can mean upset to your family (different hours, greater pressures, more traveling, sometimes reduced salary, and so on). All of this puts additional pressure on you over and above the problems of getting settled in the new position.
The best way to prepare for all this is to take time off. You and the whole family deserve it. If your job search was a long one, try to have a vacation away from home. It may seem a poor time to do so financially, but it will enable you to begin the new job refreshed and relaxed. A couple of weeks away will give you all a chance to catch your breath. If you can't travel, just a couple of weeks at home doing the things that you like to do could be a real help in making a successful transition.
The next step is to make the job a success. One of the more sophisticated screening processes for selecting people for key positions is the professional draft of various professional athletes. Certainly it is one of the important factors in a team's future success. Each team has highly trained people scouting prospects, developing the most sophisticated statistics on each player's attributes, computerizing the information, and extensively observing movies of individuals. Yet the results are quite spotty. Often first-round draft choices don't even make the squad, while players at the bottom of the draft list, walk ons, or players cut from other teams, turn out to be stars. One reason for this mixed bag of success is the use of poor judgment on the part of the screeners, but a key part is the determination of the players. Often the difference between those who are marginal but make the squad and those who are considered shoe-ins and don't, is that the former psych themselves up so that they are absolutely determined to make the team, whereas those who fail are not so well motivated. Before you start your new job, develop the determination that you are going to make it a success at all costs. And at this time you have a lot going for you. When you come aboard, your boss and the others involved in your hiring want you to be a success - by hiring you they placed their reputations on the line.
Your first objective is to win the confidence of the people who are keys to your success on the job. You should have become a better salesman of yourself in the job-hunting process, since you convinced key people in the organization to make you a good offer. On the other hand your coming on board creates some problems - you may be a threat to the future aspirations of others, you may be looked upon as someone who got a job they felt they deserved, you may have taken over duties that someone considered his or hers, or you may be getting rewards or benefits others don't have or didn't get so quickly. So you have a new type of selling job to do - to affirm to the key people that they made the right choice, and to win the acceptance of the others. The selling techniques of really listening to your associates' needs and responding to them are your best tools. Several other skills that you probably have improved considerably in your job search are key management tools on any job. For example:
- Producing good work in a highly competitive environment.
- Communicating effectively (in writing, on the phone, and in interviewing).
- Dealing with emotional upset.
- Identifying your weaknesses and overcoming them.
- Being self-disciplined.
- Managing your time.
- Developing and working toward specific goals.
