Sometimes we think simply arriving on time for our day and keeping busy with the work in front of us is what counts. It’s the lead most of us follow when we finish up with the new hire orientation or onboarding process that comes with starting a new job. However, this is simply not the case. One of the recurring themes among my clients is, “I don’t know how this happened,” when they are handed bad news about their performance, bullied, or even fired.

How does this happen? It’s truly the difference between managing your career vs. letting someone else do it for you.

So let’s go back to the example of starting a new job. You arrive at your job day one extremely excited, highly energized and just charged about life. The world is a super sparkly place, right? The question is: What do you do in the first 30 days… 60 days… 90 days…to take charge of your career, right out the gate? Changing your outlook from, “What can you do for me, new employer?” to, “How can I start planning and managing my career from day one?” is a good place to start.

Let’s take a look at what you can do, DAY ONE, to become an active participant in your career:

• Take full advantage of the new hire orientation/onboarding process and begin developing relationships with your HR points of contact and build your relationships. HR can suddenly seem very far away and even daunting should you need something critical, or even a simple question answered down the road. Keeping a connection with HR will lessen the procrastination that comes with uncertainty about what to do when it comes to deciphering a company policy or dealing with something more serious, like a difficult colleague.
• Set 30, 60 and 90 day goals. Establishing goals right off the bat allows you to recapture some of what you talked about during your interview. During the interview process we are often full of great ideas as to how we can make something better or put something into motion based on our unique skill set. Writing down your goals early on is a great way to start strategically managing your career and it allows you to make an impact sooner than later.
• Get clarity on what is expected of you and of your team, and how it fits into the organization’s goals. Knowing this is key to successfully aligning and executing your professional goals.

Let’s discuss how you can better manage your career from Day One.

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©2014 Traverse Career Solutions | Ellen Dunagan