“How’s work?”
“How’s the new job?”
Those were the two most common questions asked when a new chat window pops up these days (given the fact that I don’t have to meet anyone in person yet due to the pandemic)
Starting a new job really triggers a complex mix of emotions, especially during a pandemic. Very often that familiar imposter syndrome, that same uneasiness creeps up amid the excitement of a new beginning.
Being the worrywart I naturally am, I was worried about being put on the spot or worse — putting someone else on the spot unintentionally. Constantly overthinking if I will be able to handle the workload and living up to expectations that my recruiter and hiring manager had of me. Heck, I was even nervous over what to wear on my torso so that I can “fit in” during my video work calls. Onboarding remotely feels very different as well, who ARE these people behind the screens?! Fortunately I have a great supportive social network that I could depend on, many have shared their experiences and words of encouragement during the past weeks.
In my inaugural 30 days, here are my top 3 takeaways
- Understanding that insecurity is inevitable, leverage it
Personally I see this sense of insecurity as a form of motivation. It is natural to feel discomfort when you’re in a new environment and learning new things. You can be good at what you do but that doesn’t mean you are growing, if you’re not being challenged. Prior to starting my new role, the biggest fear I had was the fact that the company is all about building the internet economy infrastructure, payments and other financial knowledge that I am not equipped with. Simply put, I am the kind of person who shuts down on numbers — will I be able to survive here? What if they find out how bad I am even with my own finances? What if they regret sending that offer to me?!
Let’s just say that I am still not a fan of math and it still confuses me 😅, yet it is an intriguing industry and I love that I am learning something new. Convert that fear to fuel your growth.
2. Checking that assumption, question it
“Be a sponge and just absorb” was a common suggestion given to me when I first started. Very often we enter a new role with assumptions that you know what you’re hired to do and immediately diving into action. I’m definitely guilty of anxiously getting myself involved and start on projects. But the beauty of being new is that I join the team with a fresh perspective, I get to ask questions (and a lot of them) and unravel so much context just to understand what we are trying to optimize, what are the motivations, what are the challenges faced by others. Reminding myself not to let my past experience haunt me prevents me from jumping into conclusion. Sometimes what works in the past may not be suitable in this new environment and perhaps there are reasons behind why the team is operating at its current state. Nobody likes a smart alec introducing unnecessary changes.
3. Re-discovering what you love, embrace it
Being an event planner at heart, I am constantly investigating new ways to be more productive. I come to realize how intense my obsession to be as efficient as possible gets and how insane it sounds when I have to do lists on top of my to do list. I guess I give the impression that I’m a workaholic but I feel that work becomes part of me when I truly enjoys it. I love the fact that I get to start brand new, committing to a more regimented schedule and level up my productivity hacks. I learnt more about myself and what I enjoy doing — building new processes, designing work flow and building organisational structure for better project management. I may not be an expert on this but I have no qualms sitting in front of my work-in-progress doc brainstorming and experimenting different platforms for hours.
Another thing that I used to love was writing. I sunset that old blog of mine when I joined the workforce because I was constantly finding excuses for myself — no free time, no idea what to write on, English isn’t my native language, people are going to judge etc.
To my delight, my current workplace has a strong writing culture and it definitely encouraged me to start typing my thoughts down again. I hope my sharing can help someone in the future but if there’s anything you’re curious about or would like me to share on, feel free to leave a comment!
