Difficulties at Your New Job? 5 Tips to Adapt
Do you have a new job? Congratulations, as this is always a reason for celebration! However, everything has its ups and downs, and this is no different. Difficulties in your new job may arise when you feel insecure about whether you will be able to adapt to the company’s expectations, learn the tools quickly, and get involved and get along with your work team.
All these worries are normal, as you’ve just left your comfort zone and must go through that period of adaptation that we’ve all experienced when we have a new job. As Mario Alonso Puig, doctor and author of several books, said on his Twitter, “when you leave your comfort zone, you will feel worse but paradoxically will also feel better,” and this is something you should always remember.
What are the difficulties in your new job?
There are several difficulties in your new job that may appear, but for each person, they will be different. This is why we recommend that you take a pen and paper and make a list of everything that’s bothering you. It may be the fact of not connecting with your new co-workers, the fear of being too slow, or the fear of not being able to learn everything you need to do your job right.
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A fear of the unknown and the new is something that always accompanies us. In addition, in the event that you’ve wanted to be in that job for a very long time or simply have managed to get an interview that ended in an employment contract, it puts you in a position of maximum responsibility. After all, you don’t want your superiors to be disappointed with the decision taken. Relax; this must be put into perspective.
Difficulties in your new job are normal at the beginning, and you must assume from the get-go that you will make mistakes. Those around you and all the professionals you admire have also been in the same place as you, and that’s okay. Keep all your senses alert, learn from all the mistakes you make, and ask any questions you may have. You’re still adapting; don’t forget this.
Tips for adapting to your new job
It’s easy to recommend all of the above, but it’s more complicated to put this advice into practice. Despite this, we’re going to offer you some extra tips that will allow you to overcome the difficulties in your new job so that you can adapt in a better way. We’ve all been there, so we speak from experience. We hope these recommendations are as useful to you as they are to us.
1. Get as much information as possible from the company
This is something you should have done before the interview to learn about the company’s website, its philosophy, and values, how they like to work, what the goals they want to achieve are, etc. However, don’t worry if you haven’t done this; now is the time. Find out what you’re expected to bring to the table and the skills you should bring to the table, among other possibilities.
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2. Don’t be afraid to ask
Another tip that will help you adapt better to your job is to ask both your superiors and your colleagues for their advice. Sometimes, you may feel embarrassed, ashamed, or even feel like you’re too much of a pain in the ass for asking too many questions. However, this is a good thing. Others will see you as someone who’s looking to learn, do things better, and have a proactive attitude to adapt to the position.
3. Ask for feedback even if you don’t get it
In some companies, they may not give you feedback on how they’re seeing your progress or how you’re doing in the first few days in your new job. If this is the case, it doesn’t hurt to ask others how they see you and to highlight areas where you could improve. This will give you some insight into what you should focus on so that everything continues to improve.
4. Network with your colleagues
Have you been invited to a birthday party? Does everyone go out for drinks after work? Don’t isolate yourself, even if you may feel that groups are already formed and people get along very well. You’re the newcomer, but surely they’ve suggested that you go out to lunch together or go for a walk during the break, among other possibilities. Don’t miss out on the opportunity and get involved. There are wonderful people out there waiting for you!
5. Don’t keep quiet
In meetings, speak up and make proposals. Keeping quiet isn’t an option, and this just builds on the point where we advised you to ask questions. The company has put its trust in you for a reason. They want you to be useful to them, and to do this, you must be proactive. In addition, others will get to know how you think this way, and this can help you make friends with a colleague.
The difficulties in your new job will always be there, but you can overcome them in the best possible way and start off on the right foot thanks to the above recommendations. We hope that these tips have helped you and that you can enjoy this period of adaptation to your new job during which you’ll surely learn a lot and have very interesting experiences.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Havriluk, L. O. (2010). El Teletrabajo: Una opción en la era digital. Observatorio laboral revista venezolana, 3(5), 93-109.
- Nusshold, P. (2019). Pensar la acción: Acerca de cómo cambiar el trabajo. El trabajo: entre el placer y el sufrimiento, Lanús, Ediciones de la UNLa, 223-251.