Tips for your first 3 months in a new role / internship

Start well and build long-term success.

Shirley Tricker
14 min readSep 2, 2020
Coffee cup that says Begin, on a table
Photo by Danielle MacInnes

The start of a new job is a mix of excitement, anticipation and uncertainty. You’re keen to get started but also wondering what the new team and environment will be like, and hoping to do a good job.

I’ve had lots of practice being the new starter. I’ve moved a lot and have had many first days in my long career in the tech industry. I’m also quite introverted with strangers so the first few weeks can feel like a lot, with so many new people to meet and so much to learn.

Here are some practices and tips that I’ve found helpful to get a good foundation and have an enjoyable and successful first few months.

First I’ll share general tips on being new in a role, and at the end are prompts to help with regular progress in your first few months.

1. Being the new person

👋🏼 Introductions

You will need to introduce yourself so think about what you’d like to share. The easiest option is to say something relevant to the role and something about you.

“Hi, I’m Abby. I worked at Air New Zealand for 2 years, starting as a Junior Dev mostly worked on APIs and a bit of front end. In my spare time I love playing football. It’s nice to meet you all.”

“My name is Desi. I moved here from Indonesia 5 years ago. I had a few customer service jobs which I enjoyed but I’ve always wanted to work in a creative role. I’ve just completed a UX design course, and this is my first real UX job!”

2. Getting started

You’ll have many new names and details to absorb — people, systems, projects, processes and goals. Unless you have a photographic memory, you won’t remember everything but taking notes gives you something to refer back to and shows people that you are focussed and professional.

I take a booklet or I create an online document ready so it’s easy to make notes as I go.

I write down the names of people I meet and key things I’m told. I also ask people to “draw a picture of how things fit together” — this could be reporting lines, or how systems work, or processes — and I paste it into my book. This is some of the most useful information I get as it provides useful context and gives me mental models that make remembering much easier.

Another benefit of taking notes is that people appreciate not having to explain simple things again. There will of course be things you’ll need to ask people again but if you’ve taken notes you’ll have something to refer back to before you ask.

🔗 Gather important info

Usually your first day is full of introductions, overviews and getting access to systems. A very valuable thing you can do is collect a list of the links and resources that are sent to you. I create a folder to my browser and add the links there.

Top tip for future you:

The next time someone new arrives, give them the list of links! I’ve never had an employer or teammate give me the important stuff all in one place. It usually gets sent through ad hoc. If you can do this for the next person to join your team you’ll be seen as the most organised, thoughtful and valuable person on the team 🤩

ℹ️ Understand Team and Company Context

Employers all have different approaches to induction and onboarding. Some have a clear plan and process, while others are less structured. Whatever their approach, use the ideas below as a checklist of things you can ask about.

The goal is to understand the context and needs of your new team and to start on the tasks you need to do.

Hopefully, your new employer gives you a good overview of key people, processes, systems and tools. If not, fill in the gaps by asking about each of those areas.

Information to gather:

1. Who are the people I need to know?
2. What are important processes I need to follow?
3. What systems or tools do I need for my role. i.e. what software and logins to do I need for my role? What software is needed for the company (e.g. tracking leave, timesheets or expenses)?

If you aren’t clear about your goals and next steps ask your manager or team lead “What would success look like for me in the next few months?

3. Make a good impression

It’s the simple things that create a good impression and build trust. To do this:

❓ Check in early and often

Be sure that what you’re doing what is useful.

I’ve noticed that new employees often feel embarrassed about showing unfinished work. They want to show something that’s polished and looks good so they keep things to themselves until it’s nearly finished. But by then it’s possible they’ve done a lot of work that may not be what their team or managers had in mind. They might even end up having to re-do work. This is especially true in tech where things move fast.

The key here is to start — do some thinking or preparation — and then to check with someone else who knows more than you.

This could look like asking a colleague or manager“For the XYZ task, I had a look and this is how I’m thinking of doing it. Does that sound right?”

Or “Here’s a quick sketch of what I’m planning. Am I on the right track?”

You will be much more successful if you can get used to sharing your work early and often, until you have enough knowledge and context to be sure you don’t need to.

🗓️ Admin

Confirm the non negotiable items such as admin, timesheets, or must-attend meetings. No manager wants to have to remind people about these essential tasks and if you are good at admin, you will make them very happy.

Make sure that these tasks get done by setting a recurring time in your calendar.

This can work for things like Teams, Slack or emails too — set asides regular times to check and respond on those communication channels.

👍🏻 Be visible

This may seem weird to mention, but many of us work remotely now so it’s more important than ever to find ways to be visible. Think about it … if you’re in the office and someone asks if you’ll be at the meeting, they’ll see you nodding. Online is different. Silence could make people assume you’re not paying attention and this decreases trust that you’re doing your job.

For example, someone posts on Slack or Teams “This week’s team meeting is on Friday instead of Thursday“. They won’t know you’ve read it unless you respond — you could add an emoji or reply (in a thread is best).

Or someone sends an email to ask you to fill in the HR forms — reply to say “Thanks, I’ll do that before I leave today”.

Be proactive at posting — what you’re working on, successes, asking for help.

These small actions let people know that you’re engaged, paying attention to the team and the work and that you get stuff done — these are all attributes that people notice and appreciate. These are tiny actions that go a long way to help people see you as a valuable team member which in turn helps them trust you and want to support you to grow your career.

💬 Catch your thoughts

There are times you’re sometimes going to feel out of your depth or think that you aren’t performing at the level you should be. Every person, no matter how long they’ve been working, feels these fears and doubts, especially when doing something new or unfamiliar or when they make a mistake. The good and bad news is that tech is full of learning, unfamiliarity and chances to make mistakes.

The best thing you can do is try to get used to those feelings and to re-frame them as what they really are: an indicator that you’re learning. Your fears or insecurities are trying to protect you but they don’t know the real situation. Any time we’re doing something new, we won’t have feelings of confidence and certainty — we need to get used to things before we can trust our abilities.

If your thoughts pop up to say you’re no good, remember they’re trying to protect you but they are not used to change and growth that comes with tech jobs. Instead of trusting those thoughts, say to yourself ‘Thanks, but this is how it feels to be learning”.

And if you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t feel this way, lend some of your confidence to others — support and encourage people around you so they don’t feel so alone.

4. Personal retrospectives

Perhaps the most impactful thing you can do at work is to make time to reflect, to catch any issues while they’re still small, and to be intentional about what actions you want to take.

It’s a similar concept to how an agile team has a regular retrospective in order to reflect and improve the team’s work — except this is all about you!

The easiest way to do this?

Create a recurring 15-minute appointment in your calendar at the end of every week. During this time you’ll reflect on how the past week has gone using these prompts:

  • What’s working for me
  • What’s not working or didn’t go well
  • What have I achieved
  • What are a few things that are important for the coming week
  • Choose one goal for this week and 1 action to take towards that goal

I’ve found that when I’ve had time to think, there are usually a few things that stand out and this is what I focus on. I don’t try to do all the things!

Doing this sets me up well for the next week, it gives a sense of progress and areas of learning to focus on and keeps me tracking towards my goals.

This is a generic way to reflect at work no matter your role or seniority. Below, I’ve provided specific prompts for your first few months which are such a crucial time of getting up to speed with your new role, the team and wider company, the product and customers, etc.

Conclusion

I’ve shared some useful things you can try in your new job. You don’t need to do them all … choose the ones that make sense to you. You can always try other things in future jobs to find what works for you.

Having a specific focus on your first three months helps you to start well, to do work that’s useful, to grow in the role, and to be seen as a valuable team member.

I’ve found it takes about three months to feel settled and productive in a new role; to be at a point where you understand the work context and are able to answer other people’s questions rather than being the person asking. So, be gentle with yourself in those first months — you can’t know everything all at once but being proactive and professional while you’re learning the ropes will build a solid foundation.

Prompts for your first 3 months

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

As mentioned, making a regular time to reflect is a powerful way to reduce stress and overwhelm, it gives a sense of my progress and means you focus on what’s important.

Do this:

1. For your first month: create a calendar task twice a week for 15 minutes — one at the start and one at the end of the week. Instead of your calendar it could be in a tracking tool such as Trello, or in your diary or a note in your phone. The key is you need something that will remind you, and you need to assign a time to do it.

2. Paste the prompts and notes below into the calendar task.

3. After the first 4 weeks, you move to monthly task for the start and end of Month 2 and Month.

My process:

I have a physical notebook for my reflections. When the reminder pops up, I go to a blank page in my journal, write the date and jot down answers to the prompts.

For the action I want to take in the coming week, I make sure to put it in my work calendar otherwise it won’t get done.

An open calendar
Photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash

Okay, over to you to set up the tasks 😊

Prompts for Reflection

Week 1

🎯 Your focus: Start gathering information from your manager and team.

  • What are their expectations of you or the role?
  • What are the pain points or goals are you helping to solve?
  • What reporting / check ins / approvals are expected from you?

✨ Remember that it takes time and practice to get better at anything new (a job, a sport or hobby etc). It’s completely normal to feel uncertain or not ready or that you don’t know enough. Your goal is to make progress, to learn and grow. Don’t focus on the ‘doubt’ feelings, focus on what you can do, what you’re able to practice and learn.

🤔 End of week reflection

Think about what and how you did in the past week: what went well and what didn’t. Jot down some notes. Decide an action you want to take in the coming week that will be of value to you or the team*. It should be just one, small task that you can fit into your week. Book a time to get your action done.

*The value of deciding an action is that it is intentional and focussed. Choosing just a small task means it’s likely to get done. Over time you’ll build confidence and pride seeing your consistent progress.

Week 2

🎯 Your focus: Reflect on the ways of working at your employer.

  • Notice where people communicate, how decisions are made and how the team agree on what work needs to be done.
  • Notice team processes and how work flows through the team. Where is it smooth and where are blockers?

🤔 End of week reflection

Make some notes about what and how you did in the past week. Did you get your action done, what went well and what didn’t. Decide an action you want to take and book a time to do it in the coming week.

Week 3

🎯 Your focus: For this week, think about goals, outcomes and value.

  • Understand what you and the team are measured on. Get an idea of skills you’d like to grow — this could feed into your company’s development plan or into my own goals.
  • Start getting an idea of the needs of the team and/or company. What’s important? What drives the business? What measures do they care about?
  • Reflect on what you, your team or others doing that is valuable. This is about ‘why are we doing this work’ (outcomes) rather than ‘what are we doing’ (output). How are you or others making an impact and creating good outcomes?

🤔 End of week reflection

Think about what and how you did in the past week. Did you get your action done. What went well and what didn’t. Make some notes. Decide an action to take and book a time to get it done in the coming week.

Week 4

🎯 Your focus: This week you’re expanding your view beyond your immediate team.

  • Get an idea of the project/technical environment — bright spots and hot spots.
  • Start to more deeply understand the team’s internal and external customers. Who needs the work you do, who uses it, who relies on it, who is impacted by it?
  • Look at bottlenecks or blockers that need to be addressed for you to do your work or for work to flow smoothly. You don’t need to fix them, just to start understanding them.
  • Connect with key people, to better understand your team, the product and the company.

🤔 End of week reflection

Think about what and how you did in the past week. Did you get your action done. What went well and what didn’t. Make some notes. Decide an action to take and book a time to get it done in the coming week.

Week 5 / Month 2

It’s time to move from weekly to monthly reflections.

By the start of your second month, you‘ll hopefully have a good idea of the team and processes, and goals. You’re getting into the swing of things and doing the work without as much input.

✨ This is often when people make what seems like a ‘rookie’ mistake because you don’t yet have the insights that other people do because they’ve been around longer. Remember mistakes are all part of learning. Learn from the mistake, adjust, and just keep doing work is valuable.

🎯 Your focus for the month: Look at your growth and goals.

  • Decide areas you’d like to grow to be able to be more useful for the team
  • Consider the qualities and values that you care about. Think of a few and then think of ways you can bring those values into your role. This is an excellent way to feel engaged and motivated. The key here is that the company doesn’t have to exactly have those values — you can bring your own values to your work.

🤔 End of month reflection

Think about what and how you did in the past month. Did you get your action done. What went well and what didn’t. Make some notes. Decide an action to take and book a time to get it done in the coming month.

The start of Month 3

This is often a ‘sweet spot’. You’ve been in the role long enough to not feel like a newcomer and you can get on with the work.

🎯 Your focus: Be intentional about expanding your scope:

  • Check in with someone on your progress and decide your goals for the coming three months.
  • Think of 1 way you can support someone else or make things better for the team. Make a plan to do it.
  • Now that you’re settled, how could you engage with the wider community at work or outside of work? Learning about other areas of the business is always useful, or perhaps there’s a Meetup you could join to connect with the community.

🤔 End of 3 months reflection

Think about what and how you did in the past month. Did you get your action done. What went well and what didn’t. Make some notes. Decide an action to take and book a time to get it done in the coming month.

Also, think back you your first day, 3 months ago and what you knew at the start compared to now, all the things you’ve learned and the ways you’ve grown. 🎉

You can decide if you want to continue your regular monthly reflections / personal retrospectives as a useful way to keep growing.

Photo by Miquel Parera on Unsplash

That’s it. Now you have my tried and tested tips on how to start in a new job, and some prompts that help with reflection, focus and growth. I hope this information has been useful for you or has sparked some ideas, and I wish you all the best in your new role.

This page get a lot of views and I often tweak it from your suggestions and questions so feel let me know what you think.

👏🏻 If you found this useful, please consider giving it some Claps so it can reach more people, or help fund my coffee addiction with a Ko-fi tip 👏🏻

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Shirley Tricker
Shirley Tricker

Written by Shirley Tricker

I write about how to navigate tech careers and how to do well at work. I give practical advice, templates and checklists.

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