The New Job Chronicles - Prologue - The Night Before - CareerAlley

The New Job Chronicles - Prologue - The Night Before - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. Chinese Proverb When you land your new job and are counting the days until you start, you will have mixed feelings of excitement (finally getting a job) and apprehension (a new job? Now what?). What better than to report on the trials and tribulations of someone starting a new job? The articles (periodically published) will include the good, bad and ugly experiences as the author joins his new company, takes on new responsibilities and begins the challenge of starting all over. Prologue The Night Before Its the night before I start my new job and it almost feels like the way I used to feel at the start of a new school year. Lots of hard work led up to this: countless job applications, telephone calls and interviews. For those who have been through a job search (or are currently going through a job search) you will know just what I mean. My overnight success (as in tomorrow I start my new job) took 8 long months of pounding the pavement (really, the Internet) and I experienced many interesting conversations/interviews (and my fair share of not so good experiences). I lost count of the number of times my hopes were raised, only to have the rug yanked from under me. But enough of the whining, I finally found a new job. So, a little background on me to help put it all in perspective. I am in the later years of my career, having worked for over 25 years in financial services in and around New York. For much of my career, I seem to have had the timing of a misaligned metronome arriving too late to make the big bucks but just in time for a downsizing, divestiture, merger, bankruptcy or some other man-made disaster which was a prelude to yet another job search. Not that Im complaining (okay, maybe just a little bit). On the positive side, Ive always managed to land on my feet. Sometimes taking several steps backwards, but always restarting my forward career drive. In the end, it was my network that helped me land this opportunity. I had quite a few potential opportunities that were introduced by recruiters or by direct response to job postings (yes, you do get responses every so often), but in the end they did not pan out. While Ive always valued my network, I did not actually believe that my network would be the source of my next job. But more than anything else, I found that there is a direct relationship between the time you spend on your job search and the number of potential opportunities that present themselves. So, here I am, Sunday night 11pm (yes, I should be sleeping) thinking about all of the things that could go wrong like oversleeping, a late train, spilling coffee on my clothes on the way to the office. Lots to do in a new job and, even for the most confident of personalities, a little apprehension. Proving yourself (once again), learning a new corporate culture, planning to have a number of successes before you have your first miss (we are all human after all). Time to get some sleep. I look forward to writing about my first few days on the job in the next installment. For those who are also experiencing the night before (or will any day now), some links to articles to help smooth the way follows. Required Reading for New Jobs: Starting a New Job Getting Used to Your New Role Starting a New Job: What to Expect on Your First Day 5 tips you can use now to overcome new job nerves Thrive from the start: your first day in a new job Good luck in your search. Browse thecareer cartoon bank at JustJobs.com. Visit me on Facebook