How To Make A Lasting Impression At Your New Workplace?

When you’re starting a new job, you need confidence, smarts and these expert-backed tips.

- Hemchhaya De

Ritika Das, 25, started thinking she might be a misfit at her new office. She had joined a new tech firm in Pune after working for a couple of years in Bangalore. Ritika has tattoos on her upper arms and a piercing on her chin. She loves body art and has been a big fan of it since her college days. She faced no problems at her previous organisation—her body art was never a distraction, nor did it have any impact on the young software engineer’s performance and work evaluation. But a month into her new job, Ritika’s colleagues had still not stopped staring at her tattoos and piercings, and the disapproval was obvious. “I have a feeling that they won’t take me seriously simply because of the way I dress,” she says, clearly exasperated. In an ideal world, a person’s appearance would not impact how they were viewed as professionals. But in the real world, it would be naïve to ignore the unwritten codes of each workplace. And since these are unwritten, it can be tricky to manage a good first impression. But experts believe your first few months at an organisation are crucial in setting the tone for your future there. Sauraveswar Sen, founder and chief mentor, Catalyst Learning Services, a career consultancy firm in Kolkata, says, “Having a new recruit for any organisation or business is like infusing fresh blood into a system. From the moment an employer receives an acceptance letter from an employee-to-be, expectations—that of managers, team leaders