ou’re starting a new job at a new company. You don’t know their internal processes or culture yet, and your role may be different from what you’ve done before.
You do have some information from the interview, but the reality of a job often doesn’t match the job description. Even if the interviewer previously held your position, day-to-day tasks are often glossed over in favor of more memorable, less frequent events.
Your own checklist
The first thing you need is a plan. But how do you make a plan when you feel like you know nothing, and every company is different?
While that’s true, it’s not the whole story. You do have past experience to draw from. If this isn’t your first job, you’ve likely seen some recurring patterns. Use them.
If you're lacking knowledge, your first step is to identify what you need to learn and figure out how to begin. You don’t need to know everything at once—just the next step.
Think back to your previous experiences joining a new company, learning a new skill, or starting a new activity. Identify the common patterns and turn them into a personal checklist. Everyone’s list will look a bit different, but in case it helps, here’s mine:
My checklist
Some of these may seem obvious, but writing them down can calm your nerves and give you direction. It’s a way forward.
Remember: your weakness is that you know nothing, and your strength is also that you know nothing. You bring a fresh perspective.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you struggle to phrase a question, note down what you’re unsure about. Then, once someone finishes explaining, ask for clarification on that area.
First steps
List the answers—or how you’ll get the answers—to the following questions somewhere handy.Who can you go to for help?
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What resources are available to you?
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What can go wrong? What are the signs you need to escalate, and what are the first steps in responding?
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What are the preferred communication channels?
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Are there any pain points in existing processes? Sometimes teams are so used to workarounds that they avoid fixing broken systems.
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Is there a skill or responsibility that’s being neglected? Teams often skip essential tasks when there’s a gap in ownership or expertise.
Onboarding and Tutorials
Document your onboarding experience—especially anything that’s missing or incorrect. The next person in your role will appreciate it.
Review existing tutorials step-by-step. Most people dislike writing tutorials, and few are trained to do it well. Unless there’s a dedicated team of technical writers, documentation may be poor or nonexistent. Even with technical writers, problems can arise if they aren’t closely working with subject matter experts.
These tutorials often include too many steps. That can be improved by streamlining the process and defining defaults for the most common cases. This is easier if you own the process, doable if no one owns it, and possible (with some lobbying) even if someone else owns it.
A common flaw is the curse of knowledge: tutorials are written from the expert’s point of view, focusing on implementation details or listing every feature, regardless of frequency of use. It’s better to write from the user’s perspective, focusing on the intent and organizing information by use case, not internal structure.
Communication
Set up email filters. In some companies, you might receive dozens—or even hundreds—of emails a day, many of them automated. It’s easy to miss important messages in the noise.
Don’t accept meeting invitations blindly. Understand why you're in the meeting. Meetings are useful for coordination, but they’re also expensive. The more people and the longer the meeting, the greater the cost.
Frequent retrospectives are key to continuous improvement. The most valuable outcome of a retro is the action items. Track them.
Use the team’s preferred communication style and tools.
First suggestions
You might wait to make suggestions until you understand how things work. That’s normal. But don’t wait too long—you may lose momentum. The first 90 days often set the tone for your future at the company.
Ask yourself: Are there any obvious gaps or pain points?
Some of my biggest career wins came from tackling problems others were avoiding—areas where I had no experience. If the existing solution is missing or poor, your lack of expertise doesn’t matter much. The bar is low, and you’d be surprised how far you can get with a fresh perspective, persistence, and a willingness to learn.
It’s also easier to make changes when a task has no clear owner—you’re less likely to step on toes.
If a process is painful, people are usually open to change. Fixing it can greatly improve efficiency and effectiveness. Even small improvements in frustrating workflows can have a big impact.
