Help me prepare for my new gig!

January 21, 2011 9:09 AM

I'm looking for some tips and advice on preparing for a new position

I'm very close to accepting a new job. I am currently in an entry level administrative position for a large corporation. While the company is amazing-my particular job is not. It’s not exciting or innovative-and frankly-it's boring.

My new position is a more advanced position and using all my technical knowledge and education.

In general-I do not like change. I understand that it's a part of life-but change is hard for me and I'd like to take steps to prepare for this big new (exciting!) chapter.

The new company is corporate-but smaller. My particular office would have about 40 individuals working there. The atmosphere would be entirely different (I work on a floor with about 200 people) and I'm terrified that I won’t have the resources that I have at my current company.

Additionally, my current role is...easy. I am not worried about failing at my job and I'm not stressed out. My new role would involve alot more skills and alot more responsibilities. I'm confident that I can do the job-but I'd like to prepare even more.
How do I make plans to start adjusting to the new environment (smaller, less resources, no contacts yet..)

Should I do any "pre" prep work for the position? i.e. Download the exact version of their software and know it cold. Or do I go in with my current knowledge and just plan to get trained on their particulars in and out. (Again, I have the technical knowledge for the job-but I'm worried about the particulars. In my current role-I really didn't have to ask any questions. I did about 1/2 hour of training on my first day and just went running with it from there)

Any advice or suggestions for preparing for a new company and role would be greatly appreciated!

posted by duddes02 to Work & Money (2 answers total)

The best thing to do in a brand-new environment like this is to ask a ton of questions. Ask what the resources are, and how the most successful people at the company use them. Ask about the software and what hacks the best users of it employ. Ask how the company culture works, then observe how it works for many weeks before thinking you understand it at all.

I went from nothing but huge corporations to a 20-person firm a couple of years ago, and it was an enormous change in culture. It's challenging, there's never the resources you expect, your job definition is much looser, and it's pretty scary to think about financially when the cash on hand can be counted in such a small amount of days out. For all that, it's much more interesting and fulfilling of an environment for me.
posted by xingcat at 9:19 AM on January 21, 2011

It's not going to hurt to know more about the product - you certainly don't need to know it cold, but it might make you feel like you have a little more control if you know more about it.

To put it another way, you don't need to do anything but show up on your first day. But for your own comfort, research their products, see if there's anything more you can find out about the company or their clients - brush up on anything that will make you feel confident. You can do it, of course, but it'll be great to feel better oriented to start with.
posted by ldthomps at 10:15 AM on January 21, 2011