CANADIAN NEWCOMER 17
Get Comfortable: Your First Days on the Job During Covid
A Flying Start to Your New COVID-era Job
As a newcomer, you will have faced many obstacles on the path to Canada.
This year (2020) is when pandemic became an everyday word, and COVID-19 became another obstacle as you try to settle into your new Canadian life.
Several of my previous articles have covered searching for work in-person (pre-COVID) as well as remotely.
In the last entry I discussed how to get ready for, and start-up, your new job.
This time I would like to cover the first few months at your new workplace, whether you are remote, or in the office, and some tips on how to settle in quickly.
Ready, Set, Start!
So, how can you prepare for a WFH lifestyle in your new job?
I would recommend taking the following steps, starting before your first day!
Before Day 1
Practical
Build the relationship with those coworkers who you are in contact with even before you join up. Keep in touch with HR, and definitely make sure to talk with your hiring manager.
From either/both of them, confirm the work from home and in office procedures in advance.
Make sure you know where to be on Day 1, just as if you were starting a typical job, and know what is expected if you start from home.
Check the dress code! Even if you are working remotely, some companies may have expectations of formal business wear, business casual, or “anything goes”- check in advance!!)
As much as possible, make sure what is the expected start time for your day, and find out how to call in or access the VPN ahead of time so you aren’t late on Day 1. If you are joining in-person, confirm how to access the employee car park.
Make sure you have all the needed ID, information, and paperwork whether you are joining remotely or in-person (passport, bank details, etc).
Lastly, set-up your working area at least the night before your first day. Make sure you have everything to hand that you think you would need (pens, paper, chargers & cables) and make sure you are comfortable and ready to go.
Mental
You can start on-boarding even before you join the company! Make sure you know what you are getting into by preparing even more thoroughly than you did for the job interviews!
Train yourself through company research, by searching for company news, looking up your future coworkers on LinkedIn and finding out what they write about, read financial reports from the previous year. Then you will have some idea of what your coworkers and company culture will be, how successful the business is, and what they might be working on.
Investigate about the industry- research the market here in Canada (it will probably be different from the country you just left!) and find out what makes Canadians do business with your new employer. Find out who are your competitors, look into recent trends, and try to understand how your company fits into the marketplace. Are they #1, Top 10, or a start-up just finding their feet?
Knowing these things will help you start strongly out of the blocks on Day 1!
Day 1
If you are remote, then start-up your computer, turn on your phone, and get logged into the system/VPN at least 5mins ahead of your starting time. Drop a note to your boss that you successfully started. If you had problems, make sure to contact your boss for advice, and they will point you to the HR or IT person who can help fix your issues!
If your boss hasn’t already scheduled one, request a 1-to-1 meeting with them for at least 1hr and try to understand your role, the role of your team in the organisation, and who you report up to, as well as who reports in to you. Then reach out via your boss, or directly, to everyone within your immediate circle to set up some 1-to-1’s with them in the coming days.
Also make sure to check-in with HR or admin, and go through all of the newcomer training materials or processes you need to complete. Take your time and make sure that you do everything right the first time. Set up a to-do list as people give you things that need completing, and make your way through the list step by step (mistakes are harder to correct from home!).
I also recommend scanning (or taking photos of) your important documents onto a cloud account like Google Drive, as a backup if you should lose your company’s VPN connection, if that is permitted. Also make sure you have your boss’s phone number noted down (and they have yours!) should you run into internet issues.
The easiest thing to advise if you are in the office is to follow all of the above steps, but in-person!
Week 1
Remote
Concentrate on two areas, People, and Data.
- People
If you were able to start scheduling 1-to-1’s with coworkers, hop on Zoom/Teams and start meeting them. I strongly suggest that camera’s be on for the initial meetings. Take notes (I use OneNote for almost every meeting) about their backgrounds, the projects they are working on, how you are connected to their work, and what problems they have that you can solve.
Much like a suggested rule for networking, after you have met 1 coworker, ask them to also make an introduction for you to at least 1 more new coworker. It should be easier to have introductory meetings with several team-members in your early days, when you don’t have so much project work to occupy your time.
When you have 1-to-1’s with your boss, you need to set the expectations. Personally I dislike micromanagement, so I was clear about that up front. To avoid missed expectations or disappointing your boss, proactively set regular 1-to-1’s with them, choose the agenda for the meeting by yourself, and have your questions ready to go. Bring your own work plan, show your calendar of actions/who you will talk to/where you need help. If you drive the discussions, and show your initiative, then they will trust you to do the work.
- Data
Facts & Figures will help you throughout your career, but they can kick-start your first days on the job. Ask you boss and coworkers for any reports, project information, data or files they can share with you.
Read everything, make notes, ask questions, and figure out how it all links together. This will help you understand your place in the organisation, and what you can start working on to make the fastest contribution.
In-office
Much like the above, try to work your way around the team-members in the office and get to know about their work as well as their personal side. Understand how you fit into the organisation, and read any reports or files provided. Being in-person will enable you to grow your relationships more easily than being remote, so focus on the people side of things in the beginning.
In Both Cases
As you go through your first week, make sure any admin tasks are taken care of as soon as you can. Don’t hinder any of your work progress, or delay a pay-check, because you didn’t submit an email on-time
Month 1
Remote
This is still your learning phase. Keep going with the 1-to-1’s and making connections with everyone around you. Start working hard on at least one project so you can begin delivering value. Normally you have fresh eyes as you view all the work being done, so you might find something to change/improve on a project. Talk to your boss and understand how best to bring it up with the responsible person (e.g. if an email is ok, or if a phone call or video call is better).
Try to also claim responsibility for a project or job. Make sure everyone knows that you are working on that “X” job, and then it will give you a reason to interact/learn from even more coworkers.
In-office
I would follow the above suggestions, but again in-person gives you a chance to observe more processes and work on the floor. It also enables you to meet and interact with several more people in a shorter time that by doing it all remotely, so try to make the most of it if you are lucky enough to be in your office!
Months 2–3
Whether at home or in the office, by now you want to concentrate on strengthening the relationships you have made so far. Have occasional 1-to-1’s with other coworkers to talk about your work, ask their advice, or to discuss what they are working on.
Encourage a bit of small talk at the start of team or individual meetings, so you can get to know people better. Popular office chat topics here are weather, sports, public transit, or the roads you take to get to work!
Make sure you keep a strong relationship with your boss if you are working remotely. I recommend scheduling weekly touch-bases with them just to report on what you are working on/the progress, to ask for help if you are stuck on anything, and to get their advice for what steps you can take to keep growing your knowledge and presence in the company.
Summing Up
Immigrants to Canada go through a lot to get here. Finding a job during COVID is a massive challenge. Starting a new job from home because of it is also tough, but possible. The above tips should help you start strongly and smoothly from home.
Again, I hope everyone lucky enough to be able to work from home is able to adjust to the situation, has understanding family to provide a quiet place for you, and has understanding co-workers that let you turn off the camera sometimes! Make sure you take breaks from the screen periodically, and try taking a call with a coworker on the phone while you go for a walk outside.
Good luck!
Other Articles in the Series:
- Pre- & Post-Arrival Services
- Your LinkedIn Profile
- How to Structure Your Job Search
- Prepare for Your Job interview
- The Interview (In-person and Video)
- Connection Request on LinkedIn
- Networking
- Building Strong Relationships
- Resume and Cover Letter Tips
- LinkedIn Power Details
- Follow and Unfollow
- Informational Interviews
- Mentoring & Associations
- Bridging Programs
- Dealing with Rejection
- Starting a Job During COVID
- First months on the Job During COVID
- Planning your Job Search, Plan A, B, C to Z
- Canadian Experience
- Finding Temporary Accommodation
If you have requests for any more topics, or want to add information of your own, please don’t hesitate to reach out! Good luck with your journey as a newcomer and job-seeker here in Canada!
Who Am I?
Hello, I am Garry. Nice to meet you. Here is my LinkedIn profile. After 15yrs living in Japan, I moved to Canada in late 2019. Since I got here, I have learned a lot from friends, great mentors and advisors, pre- and post-arrival services, and good old-fashioned internet research! I would like to share that advice with you and help you on your journey here in Canada.
Also earlier this year I talked about some of these things in a LinkedIn article, and in a webinar with NewCanadians I discussed with some smart people about the newcomer’s job search and the impacts of COVID-19. Please check them out!
