Five tips for transitioning into a new job

Moving from one job to another is never an easy task. The final few weeks at your current position will involve lots of goodbyes to colleagues, emails to external contacts you want to stay in touch with, and of course, wrapping up your unfinished projects.

And, all of this needs to happen while you are preparing to start your new challenge.

The temptation to inform your network of your move immediately will be hard to resist, as will many other things. Follow our five top tips to make your last weeks (and your first ones in the new job) as easy to manage as possible.

Announce your move on your last day

On your last day in your current office, share an update with your professional networks such as LinkedIn and Xing, explaining that you are leaving for a new challenge, while acknowledging everything you learnt from your former position.

Try to keep this type of social activity to a bare minimum on your first day at your new job; after all, you don’t want to start work (or be on lunch) with your head buried in your mobile, responding to messages of congratulations.

Do the same with your internal mail on your last day, to let people who might not have heard you are leaving know. This is also a great chance to highlight your professionality to your soon to be former colleagues, leaving them with a good memory of you for the future.

Don’t talk badly about your previous employer

As tempting as it is to be negative about a company you have just left, remember that nowadays our virtual (and ‘real’ world) comments can follow us around for a long time. The last thing you want to do is create a bad impression in your previous company, after all, people move jobs frequently and you may end up working with the same people again.

Keep your thoughts to yourself and use them as a basis for working out what went wrong, to ensure the same situation does not arise in your new job.

Find a mentor

Now would be a great time to start building up a mentoring relationship with a respected colleague from your former company – they should be pleasantly surprised you asked! Mentors are an amazing way to learn from an experienced peer, and this will cement your professional relationship with them for the long-term.

This could also be an idea for your new company, but for a little bit further down the line – after all, the first 90 days will be a learning curve, so don’t make it more difficult. 

Set goals for your first weeks

Make a point to establish (with your new team), goals you should accomplish in the first few weeks on the job. They could be related to learning new products, gaining certification on a programme you will use, or simple efficiency skills.

This will help you understand your new team and role quicker, and let your new colleagues know you are serious about hitting the ground running – to the right targets.

Have fun!

Maybe you left your previous role because it was stressful, or you didn’t enjoy the work, or, more likely, because you didn’t get along well with management. Remember that you took this opportunity because you wanted a change – so, embrace it, and let yourself enjoy the challenge!

Discover more practical tips and tricks around your job search in our advice section.