Starting a new job is usually an exciting time with the anticipation that your new gig will be a perfect match, and will allow you to cultivate and sharpen your skills while making a positive contribution to the company. At the same time, it can be very stressful, especially within the first three months when you are literally on trial and don’t know if you will make it to the other side of your probationary period. With different management styles, it is a challenge for people to figure out whether they are doing a good job or not. The following are five ways to tell if you are doing well at your new job:
1. You Have Greater Ownership Over Your Work
Obviously, you were hired to do a specific job, and if someone else has to do it for you, why do they need you? Truth be told, when you are just starting out, there will be a lot of hand-holding as you get acclimated to your new role. Your direct supervisor is going to offer you a lot of guidance to make sure that you are on the right track. But as you get better at your role and your team starts to trust you, they will more often give you the ball to run with. This is a great sign and shows that you are doing well at your new job. The sooner the hand-holding stops, the better you are doing. The hope is that the hand-holding stops closer to your first month than to your third month, because if it takes 90 days for your team to trust you, then Houston, we have a problem.
2. You Are Being Given More Responsibility
Another sign that you’re doing great at your new job is when you are given responsibility beyond your current role. It’s one thing to get your management team to trust you with your role, but once they start trusting you with projects that are beyond the scope of what you were hired for, you know that you are doing pretty awesome. Some may look at this as unfavorable; however, a little more work won’t hurt anyone, and if it is a place where you are looking for longevity, the more areas that you make yourself valuable, the better.
3. Your Colleagues Rely on Your Opinion/Expertise
They say opinions are like Facebook pages because everyone has them. But in the workplace, valued opinions are few and far between. When you start being the go-to person for your opinion and expertise, this is a good indication that you are doing spectacular at your job. It’s one thing to be trusted with your own duties or given extra responsibility, but when that graduates to people trusting you with what they are responsible for, then you are closer to becoming a permanent team member. Establishing yourself as a trusted resource doesn’t come easy, especially when you are new. So if it starts to happen, be sure to take it as sign that you are doing things right.
4. You’re Asked to Represent Your Company
First you are being trusted with your own work, then you are given extra responsibility, and after that people trust your expertise and opinion. But when your company starts to ask you to represent them in public, it’s clear that you are well on your way to becoming a permanent team member. This is a big deal, because when you first start out, the mistakes that you make internally stay within the company, so most new employees are never given the opportunity to go out and publicly represent their employers. But when you are sent on speaking engagements to talk on behalf of your employer, if you are asked to head up a meeting with external partners, or when press opportunities arise that you’re asked to fulfill, you are given the leeway to relay the company’s message to the masses. This is the holy grail of trust and comfort with your higher-ups.
5. Your Boss Is Starting to Lean on You More
“Can you handle this for me?” are the six most important words you can hear from your boss as an employee, let alone a new employee. What the boss is responsible for is not only important for the company but also for their reputation. When you are being trusted to handle things on behalf of the boss, you know that you are there to stay. Being the first that he/she turns to, being mentioned as the alternative contact in out-of-office messages, and/or being told “You got this, I trust you” is the ultimate grand prize of awesomeness at the workplace! You are officially an asset!
Note: Original article posted on Popsugar. Click here for original