Get Better Prepared for Your First Day on the Job With These 4 Tips

You’ve got a new job! Congratulations. It’s an exciting time.

First days are exciting. It’s important to be prepared and do a great job to impress your new employers.

Here are some tips on how you can be better prepared.

1) Know Your Route to Work

Don’t wait for the first day to figure out how to get to work! That increases the chances of delays — and means you might either be late to your first day or very stressed when you get there. Neither will make a good first impression.

If you’re driving, do a practice run to see how long it takes you. Drive at least several days before at the same time as you’ll be driving to work. Why? Because if there is heavy traffic or construction on the roads during those hours, you want to know that! You may need to give yourself more time than a map indicates to get there. You don’t want to find out the first day.

If you’re taking a bus or other public transportation, do a practice run at the same time you’ll be catching public transportation. Again, you want to trouble-shoot potential problems that could make you late. Does the bus show up when it should? Can you find where you catch it?

2) Be on Time

Showing up on time is probably the most important thing on the first day of a new job. Why? Because the company sees it as a sign of how reliable and responsible you’re going to be. Whatever happens, you don’t want to be late.

In addition to knowing your route to work, get everything else you’ll need ready the day before. Lay your clothes out. Make sure they are clean and pressed.

If you’re going to be taking a lunch, get it ready the night before.

Set your alarm in plenty of time to get ready. Give yourself a buffer so that if there are any hitches, they don’t make you late.

Plan to be to work at least 15 minutes early. It makes you look organized and on top of the situation.

3) Make Sure You Have Your Work Supplies/Required Tools for the Job

If you’ve been told to bring any supplies or tools, be sure you have them before the first day on the job. Get them in plenty of time before the new job. Don’t wait until the day before, as they might not be available.

Be sure to pack them and bring them. Write yourself a note and stick it on the refrigerator or other place you know you’ll see it so you don’t forget.

4) Report to the Right Person

The person you’re reporting to needs to know you are there. Don’t just tell the first person you see.

Get the name of your report from your staffing agency. Make sure you find that person and let them know you’re here, on time, and ready to work.

A Staffing Agency Can Help You Find a New Job

If you’re looking for a new job, we can help. Stride Staffing’s goal is to build stronger connections between employers and individuals by doing staffing differently. Really.

Contact us today for our employment agencies in Mesquite, Texas and other locations.

5 Tips for Writing Your Best Resume

A poorly written and improperly structured resume could eliminate you from consideration for the position you’ve been hoping to land. Recruiters and hiring managers don’t have the time to completely read every resume during the first round, so they scan through them. And if your resume is not easy to read and follow, it could be rejected immediately and never make it to round two.

There are different ways to format your resume, and the format you choose will depend on where you are in your career. For instance, if you’re a recent college grad, you will highlight your academic accomplishments. If you have gaps in your employment history, you’ll focus on your skills to draw less attention to those gaps.

Of course, having the right credentials for a job opening is critical. But the importance of creating a resume with a solid structure cannot be minimized. Here are some ideas.

1. Make it readable

Since your resume will likely be scanned the first time, make sure it’s easy to read. Use a standard font—Arial or Helvetica—and stay at 10 or 12 point. Use italic and bold typeface where it’s needed to guide the reader’s eye, and use bullet points to call attention to your qualifications and accomplishments.

2. Choose a format and tailor it to the industry in which you’re applying

The chronological format is the one most people use. It lists a reverse chronology of your work history. In other words, your latest job is first on the list. A functional format lists your skills instead of dates of employment. A combined format lists your skills with your employment history below them.

 3. Choose accomplishments over a job description

Companies are looking for candidates that can help them solve their problems. Show them how you can do that by focusing on how you solved similar problems in your former jobs. Explain to the hiring manager what you did in the job, not just what the job was about. A short job description should be followed by a list of what you accomplished in the job.

 4. Emphasize your work experience

Unless you have recently graduated from college, list your job title, company, and dates of employment under the “Work Experience” section near the top. List your accomplishments and responsibilities for each job using bullet points instead of paragraphs.

List your education at the bottom. If you have previous work experience, you can omit GPA’s and any honors you received since the main thrust of your resume is your work experience, skills, and accomplishments.

5. Have a “Career Summary” instead of “Objectives”

Objectives tend to sound the same: “I’m looking for a challenging position where I can use my skills…” But a Career Summary can grab their attention by telling them what you have already done and how your accomplishments show that you will be able to meet their needs.

Need help with your resume?

Having an attention-grabbing resume is critical to landing your next job. We can help. Contact us today to learn more or search for a job.