Tip #1. Your First Day on the Corporate Job

Try to arrive 15 minutes early, but don't call for the person who is supposed to meet you until 5 minutes prior to your scheduled time. And your smile and a firm (but not too firm) and professional handshake go without saying. These are professional courtesy rules, but it's worth remembering those on your first day at a new job.
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You landed a great job right out of college! There is a good chance you've interned there, and maybe even more than once, so it feels you have it all covered. All the uncertainty, nervousness, the need to impress is over. Now you can relax and enjoy. Is that so? You've probably guessed that the answer is "no", Your journey is just starting. It's a multi-year journey with a goal of discovering yourself. A journey to a successful and rewarding professional career full of accomplishments and failures, achievements and disappointments. Some days you will feel victorious and some days you will come home defeated just to learn from your mistakes and accomplish even greater success.

The goal of this web site is to support you in building your trajectory for success, in helping you discover your strength and use them to achieve your professional dreams, in being yourself and learning from you past experience, and in realizing your professional dreams and "casting the shadow" that will make you proud. Our objective is to support you in being yourself and making a difference. Your first day at a corporate job is your first step on this path, and even if it may feel that you are well prepared, this may not be the case. What is it that you need to know? 

Below are seven rules to make your first day at your new job super successful: You can turn this into a checklist or even build a plan around it - use the option that works best for you.

The way to approach the list below is a 3-step strategy:
- read the list and think it through (answer the question "What does it mean for me?");
- make it your own (some items need more details, some are less relevant);
- plan for it (as you think it through and then apply it to yourself, create a task list and plan for the time you need to implement those tasks. The best way to plan it is in reverse chronological order from your start day or any vacation you are taking prior to that):

1. Do your research. You may think you know everything about the company but chances are you do not. Re-review their corporate site, onboarding materials if available, google for the company and your department. Learn corporate values and be prepared to recite by heart and reference them.
2. Connect with HR and find out where/when to show up and what to bring in on your first day. Normally you need to bring your passport or other way of employment authorization.
3. Get in touch with your boss. Reach out by e-mail or via LinkedIn, express your excitement about joining the organization, your loyalty and dedication.
4. Get internal advice. Reach out to people you know within the organization via internships or previous experience (e.g. your former college mates) and ask for their advice as you are joining the company, Check the Glassdoor reviews, 
5.Connect with people you know within the organization. Check LinkedIn for any 1-degree connections and reach out to them. Schedule lunch or informal get together with them, if they are available and welcoming.
6.Create a list of people you would like to meet with. Use LinkedIn, your interviewing experience, and the advice you got above.
7.Write down your long-term and short-term career objectives. Where you want to be in 3 months? 1 year? 3 years? Write this down for yourself. If you have enough information, plan your first 90 days. Check this blog for an experience report on the first 90 days planning.

I did not include obvious items such as dressing right on your first day, bringing a notepad and a pen and ideally, a nice professional folder to keep your papers in. I get a lot of questions about how to dress for your Day 1, and my advice is to dress one tiny step up from what you observed when you came to the office for your interview. If the dress code is casual and relaxed, wear slacks but not jeans on your first day. If the dress code is business casual, wear a shirt or a blouse but don't wear a tie or a dark suite. If it is business, this may require a tie for men and formal business attire (skirt or pant suits with a blouse) for women. It will all depend on your new company's dress code and the cultural norms of your office. 

When I come to a new job, besides bringing passport and Day 1 supplies, I take my coffee mug with me because many companies have gone green, and you won't find a paper cup in their pantry when you grab a coffee there with your new colleagues, but this may be an overkill. Other than the coffee mug, I do not rush into bringing my personal items

Feel free to share any experience or advice that you have below.