Part 4: Todd arrives for his first day at work

For this blog series, I’m going to focus on a coaching client of mine who has seen the highest highs and lowest lows in the past year. In Part One, Todd was fired from his job as an animator with a major movie studio. In the second installment, he began a job search that would bring him back to his roots as someone who drew for a living. Once he learned, in Part Three, he would have to change careers, Todd got a job and was ready for a new professional adventure.

When seeking out a new adventure, it’s good to have some parameters. The world is a big place and you can easily get overwhelmed if you don’t narrow down your choices based on passion, ability and work/balance life. Todd (and his wife) decided to stay in Los Angeles because she had a good position with a financial firm. Equipped with only a film studies degree as old as the TV show Seinfeld, Todd knew he’d probably have to stay within the industry somehow.

Taking one afternoon off from his job search, Todd attended a viewing, lecture and short reception featuring animation that was nearly 100 years old. He may not have been competent to make new animation, but he knew everything about the old and loved talking “old cartoons.”

Apparently, his questions and reception conversation impressed the lecturer, who was the film archivist of a very impressive museum in Los Angeles. The day after the reception, he got a call and was asked if he’d like to be an assistant archivist, focusing on animation and musicals.

You’d think this was the end of a happy story, but I got a frantic text from Todd the Sunday night before he was set to begin his new job. He was scared to death. When we’re young, we start new things all the time, but it had been over 20 years since Todd had a “first day at work.”

In order to calm him down, I urged him to do the following:

Begin building a relationship with the boss: This is the person who has your fate in their hands. Recognize that they are going to tackle problems and opportunities different than your former boss. You’ll need to figure out some very basic things like: how they like to receive information, how often you should be checking in with them and how they define goals. Try to leave all of your judgment at the door.

Prepare an elevator speech intro: The “elevator speech” concept is one where you have to pitch an idea to somebody important, but you only have the ride in an elevator to time to get it done. On your first day of work, you’re going to meet a lot of new people. Try to remember their names, but admit if you have trouble with that. More importantly, have a 10-to-15 second speech of a few sentences about yourself prepared because a lot of people will request you “tell us about yourself” that day. If you’re practiced, it won’t cause anxiety.

Just take things in: And this is a good idea for at least your first month. The best leaders appreciate a new perspective on things, but understand how they do things before chiming in. For Todd, he knew the content of the films, but not the job. I urged him not to try and reinvent the wheel on his first day. There will be plenty of time to suggest changes later.

Take notes: You should never have to ask anything twice. On your first day, or your last.