How can I impress my new job?

This summer, if you are beginning a new job or internship, you may discover that it is completely different from what you had envisioned it to be like. This might be a good thing. Your first day of work can take place at your home office, at the table in your dining room, or, in the case of new college graduates and interns, in the bedroom you grew up in.

But you can still create a great impression and stand out on the job, even if you're not stepping into an office where you can rub elbows with your new boss and colleagues. This may be accomplished by working digitally.

First impressions in the workplace have been the subject of research conducted by Trevor Foulk, a management professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. He claims that although if the present rules for work-from-home in a variety of sectors and vocations do impact the experience of newcomers, they also provide possibilities for new workers to create a positive first impression.

According to Foulk, "since it arrives in smaller, more scheduled bits, you have the opportunity to control that better than you may have otherwise had the chance to manage it otherwise." Being purposeful in relation to it is essential.

Rachel Loock, who works at Maryland Smith as a career and leadership coach, is of the same opinion. Students and working professionals have been seeking her and her coworkers in the Office of Career Services at Smith University for guidance on how to distinguish themselves while beginning a new employment that would be performed remotely.

"You can shine just as brightly as you would in person; you just need to put more thinking behind it because you don't have the luxury of seeing people every day in a professional setting," she adds. "You just need to put more thought behind it."

The following is some guidance that Foulk and Loock have to offer in order to produce a fantastic first impression from home:

Get a grasp on the expectations. According to Loock, the first step should be to discuss the expectations that have been set for you and your position with your supervisor. Deliverables, timetables, and exact deadlines should all be clarified. Inquire about the frequency of your interactions with your supervisor and whether or not you should plan ahead for such check-ins.

Be transparent. "There's no harm in being forthright with your supervisor about your work-from-home situation, but don't use it as an excuse," advises Loock. "There's no harm in being upfront with your supervisor about your work-from-home situation." "Communicate any kind of disagreement or concerns as soon as they come up or in advance, if that's at all feasible."

Just ask. You will not have the opportunity to make observations based on random interactions in the corridor or by the water cooler. According to Foulk, "It's still incredibly necessary for you to understand the norms, the culture, and the dos and don'ts of your new workplace," and "it's still really vital for you to learn the dos and don'ts of your new workplace." "Think through anything that you could have picked up on simply by being in an office environment for the first week or two, and be sure to ask those questions directly. This will be an opportunity for you to stand out. You are telling your prospective employer, "Look, I really, really do care about being a member of the team," which is a really positive message to send.

Do not make any assumptions; instead, inquire about the regular start and finish times of people's days, the appropriate time for you to be at your computer, and what you should be wearing. Ask the manager who is directly responsible for you if they know who can best address your questions. Also, refrain from making any assumptions. "Can you imagine not asking, and then being in a Zoom meeting and referring to the CEO as 'Jim,' only to find afterwards that everyone else refers to him as 'Mr. Roberts'?"

Put out the image of oneself that you would want others to have. According to Foulk, when a person does not have any knowledge on you, even the smallest things might become a significant part of what they believe about you. "If you show up for your first couple of Zoom calls with your new team, and behind you, there's your unmade bed with a pile of laundry, these are now the subtle signals you're sending that become very difficult to pull back even when we go back to normalcy," says the speaker. "Even when we go back to normalcy, it becomes very difficult to pull back on these subtle signals."

According to Loock, if you are going to participate in a video conference, you should make sure that you are in a calm and distraction-free part of your house. Be sure that your camera is at the appropriate height, that the lighting is adequate — with the light source in front of you rather than behind you — that you are muted when you are not presenting, and that you are aware of your body language and facial emotions while the meeting is in session. Consider the elements that are in the backdrop. Just follow our lead here.

Watch what you're doing. "Listen and observe, maybe even more so than you would in an office environment, because you're not going to be there all day long – it may just be a weekly 30-minute Zoom meeting," adds Loock. "Because you're not going to be there all day long, you'll want to make the most of your time there." Pay attention to how your coworkers communicate with one another and how they tackle different tasks.

Be a good member of the team. She advises, "Be kind, pleasant, and helpful - all the things you'd want to do in person," and this is exactly what you should be doing. In addition to that, doing so will go a long way toward fostering connections with your coworkers. Bring a positive attitude and excitement to any phone conversations or online encounters you have. It's possible that you'll need to pay heightened attention to the manner in which you present yourself throughout such encounters.

Put out the effort to succeed. Take part in any and all of the virtual coffee klatches, lunch gatherings, happy hours, and other social activities that are arranged by the firm. According to Loock, you should make use of them so that you may get to know individuals and allow them get to know you.

Make an additional effort. Things that used to occur spontaneously all the time, like going out to lunch without prior planning, are not possible at this time. According to Foulk, the formation of these partnerships will need greater work. Make contact with a few coworkers and offer that you all get together for lunch, coffee, or happy hour on Zoom. Newcomers and interns are strongly encouraged to schedule casual informative interviews with members of the team using Loock. There are occasions when sending a concise set of questions in advance through email might help start the discussion rolling.

Take the initiative. You should check in with your boss or other members of the team as often as possible up to the point when you are told that you are doing it too much. According to Foulk, the likelihood of people wondering why you are doing it is lower than the likelihood that they would wonder why you are not doing it.

Think about things from the point of view of your coworkers. Foulk recommends that you give some thought to what you, as a supervisor or another member of the team, would want from a new employee, and then find out the most effective methods to collaborate with your new team.

According to Foulk, "in this context, the single most important piece of advise I would offer to anyone, but particularly a novice, is to participate in the practice of perspective-taking," and this is the counsel that he would provide to a newcomer. "Remember that you are not the only one who is feeling stressed out by this scenario — this is tough for everyone. This is something that everyone is going through. Having a new employee or colleague that you can't see, coach, or get to know in person is difficult not just for you, but also for your new boss and the other people who work with you.