The Beginning of a new job is never easy. A new chapter in the book of life is about to be "written". But people who started a new job in march, april or may, probably have had a rather special start into the new position. This is what happened to me as well, when I started working at FAIRTIQ on the first of May 2020. My first day took place at my kitchen table, the first getting to know each other via Google hangout.
A certain nervousness is a natural part of a new job, as well as a certain joy for the new tasks. A big part of this excitement is the first day, because you enter the office as "the new one" and you have a whole full day packed of new people, new workflows and tools ahead of you. Usually you go home with a completely overwhelmed feeling and ask yourself: "How can I remember all of this in the future?" But soon it becomes clear that many things are actually much simpler than expected and finally everything works out fine.
FAIRTIQ is already above average in many areas, for example with regard to the working models. Even before the corona epidemic, home office and flexible working hours were already a big part of the company's philosophy. Thus, many working steps and practically all necessary tools were already available to start work from a distance without any problems.
The first working week usually includes many different introductions of all departments, meetings to get to know each other and first smaller tasks. When you are already in your home office, there is no direct support, as you will of course have many basic and spontaneous questions at the beginning. During this time, I also noticed that my inhibition threshold is higher when I have to ask a person something multiple times in a row via chat, than to ask someone five times over the shoulder. You have a feeling that you don't want to disturb anybody or appear incompetent. Nevertheless: If you do not understand something, ask! Fortunately, FAIRTIQ has a very pleasant working atmosphere and I quickly realised that questions are always welcome everywhere.
Another aspect that made the first few days a bit more difficult was the lack of physical presence of people. This means that you get to know many faces, but not much more. Is someone tall or short, lean or strong? Even the characteristics of a person are hard to evaluate, then during a business meeting, people tend to be very serious and you don’t really get to know them. All these different characteristics help you at first to remember people better. In addition, at online meetings, people's gestures and facial expressions are difficult to read, especially if you are new to the business. Therefore, if you are uncertain, it is better to ask: Was that ironic or not? ;)
When you start in a new position in a new company, it takes a moment to get the vision and philosophy of the company right. Therefore, I advise you to take your time to look at what the company has done so far. This will help you to better understand current processes and workflows. This also includes trying to understand the different structures of the company, for example, the folder structure, where the different departments store their documents. Just click through all the folders and old campaigns and documents will also appear. This gives you a brief understanding of how the company works.
In addition, in order to get into the new work faster and to fill the empty periods at the beginning of the job, which sometimes occur even more frequently, I also advise you to organize various meetings with other employees. Telling each other which responsibilities you have in the company helps with future questions and so you are already in contact with various colleagues. Furthermore, our team website helped me a lot during the first few days and was one of my most visited websites at work, as I looked up what people look like, with whom I was in contact or what concrete positions people have within the company.
One general homeoffice tip I still have is to dress as if you really go to work every day. Means, jeans and a sweater instead of a tracksuit. The tracksuit bottoms are a quick way to get into a "comfy" habit. In addition, it helps to be able to switch off your head better when you slip into a pair of trainer pants just after work.
Starting a new job from home is very demanding for you as a new employee. A lot of personal responsibility is required. It is always a good idea to collect as much information about the company as possible in advance. For example through the companies website, social media channels and a good old classic Google search. In this way you can quickly absorb the vibe of the company and you can also integrate yourself sooner in meetings and have a say in what is going on. After three months at FAIRTIQ, I can say that I have arrived, also because I have been able to go to the office by now.