Advice on How to Get Through Your Probation Period and Keep Your Job - CareerAlley

Advice on How to Get Through Your Probation Period and Keep Your Job - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Most people struggle with life balance simply because they havent paid the price to decide what is really important to them. Stephen Covey In the world of the job seeker its not uncommon in this day and age to spend up to a year or more looking for a company that will take you on. For reasons were all aware of jobs are scarce. When and if an interview comes up and youre successful, the likelihood is that youll get a job offer but itll be probation/trial based. Its becoming more and more common for employers to setup short probation periods to get a better understanding of the individual, the time is used analysing whether they are the right person for the job. A standard probation period is around 3 months but may vary. For the candidate this will be a pressured time, It may feel like youre every move is being judged. There are some tips (some more obvious than others) that you need to take note of if you really want to impress your employer and achieve a permanent position. Arrive on time, or even better early, on a daily basis. Being late is not a good look and will show that youre unorganised. If theres trouble with transport or youve overslept be sure to contact your employer and politely explain why youre going to be late, then apologise once you arrive. If youre not a morning person, try to avoid going out for drinks or staying up too late on a night where you have work the next day. Being overly tired or having a hangover wont impress your colleagues. Keep your appearance tidy. Make sure your clothes are properly cleaned and ironed. Make and effort with your hair in the morning and try to keep yourself looking professional. Introduce yourself to as many people as possible, maintaining a clear, polite and confident manor. Speaking to people and building friendship bonds with colleagues will definitely not go unnoticed by your boss. The more people like you the more they will want to help you in terms of progressing with the job and getting through the probation. The are many ways to do this, for example offering if others need help, asking people if they want a drink, asking how their weekend was, saying good morning and goodbye and general conversation to name just a few. Focus yourself completely on the work required. If you concentrate on the work youve been given and do everything to the best of your ability youre showing your enthusiasm for the job. Trying not to get distracted may be one of the hardest problems. Many office based roles, for example accountancy jobs where most of the work is done on computer may tempt you to browse the internet, check Facebook/Twitter or use your mobile phone to text etc. This could get you into a lot of trouble, getting caught even once by a senior colleague could get you stereotyped as a dosser/time waster and may cause tension amongst others. Be a good learner. Nobody takes everything in first time, but try to, try not to ask something more than twice. Be sure to take notes wherever possible. Your colleagues will like the fact that youre asking questions and trying to learn so be sure to do this. But theres a fine line between being a keen learner and being a pest, try not to ask the same person the same question over and over again. If theres nothing for you to do in terms of work, consistently ask around to see if others need any help. Try not to be the first person to leave at the end of the day; this may look like youre fed up, not doing any work and keen to get home. If youre working on something that requires 10-15 minutes overtime be sure to complete it. Even if youve got nothing to do, try not to be the first to leave, let a few others go before you. As the weeks go by youll start to become more at ease and comfortable/confident with the people around you. Its important that you keep reminding yourself that youre on a probation period and that people may still be judging you. If youre lucky to find out that youve got a permanent position at the end of the trial then you know that what youre doing is right, carry on with the standard of work youve been supplying over the probation and always remember that it only takes one slip up and you could be back in the grueling world of the job search rat race. ___________________________________________________________________________ Visit Total Jobs for over 100,000 job vacancies today. Browse through numerous vacancies varying from graduate jobs to high profile baking jobs. This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search.