YOU wowed them with your CV, impressed them at your interview and have been offered the job. Now you can relax, right?
Wrong. Starting a new job can, in its own way, be just as important as the interview process - at the very least, for the first few days all eyes will be on you.
So it's vitally important not to make any heinous errors in your first few days or weeks on the job - or you may find that one minor indiscretion is remembered for the rest of your time with that employer, however long or short that time may be.
For a start you'll do yourself absolutely no favours if you turn up late for your first day in your new job, whatever your excuse.
Rolling up 20 minutes late looks like you aren't taking your new job seriously - and it will be remembered. And complaining that you didn't realise how long the journey into work would take just won't wash - presumably if you got the job, you weren't late for the interview!
If you described yourself as a team player on your CV, it makes sense to put in the same hours as everybody else. Also, when the end of your working day arrives, don't just down tools and walk out, especially if nobody else does. Just hang back and see what the company culture is - and don't be the first to go home.
Some people need no excuse to moan about their job and work place and most of us do at some time or another - but complaining on your first day is just no good.
However strong the temptation to moan about that uncomfortable chair, the colleague sitting next to you with the personal hygiene problem or the air conditioning that's so loud you have to shout to be heard, don't. You'll immediately be marked out as a whinger.
