1 Make sure you know where and when to report on day one.
Be early: first impressions count.
2 Try not to ask too many questions about pay day. Plenty
of time for that.
3 Listen, learn and ask intelligent questions.
4 Identify the major problems and headaches.
5 Keep a notebook. Write down names, procedures, contact
numbers. Learn the names of key people. Be nice to the people who can make
your job easier, or can make it hell.
6 Try to spot your homework - company information you can
take home and absorb, so you can learn about products, initiatives, supply
chain, customer contacts ...
7 Discover the cycle of routine activities: there's nothing
worse than being totally unprepared for an end-of-month report.
8 Learn as much as you can about policies, procedures,
standards – the rules . Conformity may be boring, but it keeps you out of
trouble.
9 Work out the key tasks of your job - how you do things.
Pay particular attention to the amount of authority you need to obtain to
do or buy anything.
10 Familiarize yourself with where things are and who does
what. Make friends with somebody who knows everybody (e.g. the office
messenger).
