As the saying goes, "You only get one chance to make a first impression." A first impression is important because it sets the foundation for your relationship with your coworkers, managers, directors, and more. If you start off on the wrong foot when meeting someone, that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll never get in good with the person in question, if just means that doing so will take a considerable amount of work.
Truthfully, until about five months ago I really didn't believe that this was true. Then, a new member of our team started. I had such high hopes for her first day. I just assumed that she'd come in and we'd click. After her first day I was really upset, she didn't seem to have taken to me like people usually do right off the bat when they meet me. I explained my disappointment to my husband, and he made me reiterate what she had asked in our 1x1 that first day and how I answered. In astonishment he exclaimed, "It sounds like you made a terrible first impression!" I wasn't too concerned because I figured, well, there's always tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that... But my husband knew better, he explained to me that he didn't get started off right at a job he had had previously, and that it took months of working his butt off to prove that he was indeed a knowledgeable, hardworking, trustworthy employee. I just sunk!
As is usually the cae, he was right! I have been working ever since to get in good with her. Here are some tips so that you don't find yourself in the same dilemma:
- Dress appropriately
- Focus on the positives of your job, not the negatives (right away at least)
- Don't take criticism of the processes as criticism of you
- Never assume that the reason you have always done something a particular way is because it's actually the best way to do it
- Be open to change
- Know your strengths and how they benefit the team
- Have some stock ideas ready to discuss that would improve your job/the company
Who else has had to recover after making a bad impression? How long did it take? How did you do it?
