Friday is finally here which marks the end of my first week at Staffroom Education. For me this week has gone incredibly quick and I cannot believe Friday is here already. Having only graduated a few months ago being thrust into the world of work was as exciting and thrilling as it was terrifying. You begin to doubt your capabilities and whether you will ever be able to find a job.  It was then by chance I came across the position at Staffroom Education and as you've guessed it the rest, as they say, is history.

Monday

Although we are in March the Beast from the East that just keeps on giving, gave us some more snow on Monday. This meant that when I arrived Monday morning the office was a flurry of activity helping schools find supplies to cover those who we unable to get to work. Although I wanted to hit the ground running I needed to learn to walk first so I spent the day familiarising myself with the systems and testing out a few social media posts of my own. In the afternoon one of my co-workers let me sit in on one of our interviews and showed me how to input all the documentation needed to set up a new candidate. I had made it through my first day in one piece and was looking forward to coming into work the next day, which is always an encouraging sign.

Tuesday

Now that my first day was out of the way, I started Tuesday raring to get on with my work and start carving out my own style on the Staffroom Education social media accounts. As a social media marketer, it is imperative that you reflect the ideals and values of the company, so I used my Tuesday morning looking back at previous posts on social media to gain an idea of the personality and feel that Staffroom wanted.

Wednesday

The day which is deemed the worst of the week started with excitement for me as myself and a colleague were heading to a networking event at Cardiff University. Another day and another first for me. Although I have attended many networking and job events during my time at University it was strange to suddenly be on the other side. It was a busy day and at the end we had quite a few interests in signing up with us so Wednesday ended up being a successful day for me.

Thursday

As Thursday swung into action, I started to feel more settled and began bouncing ideas around and testing out a few things. This included mocking up a few mailers for Easter which will hopefully be posted out soon. Our mid-morning also consisted of setting up our nice new computers and naming them after superheroes with respective background wallpapers. I decided to name mine She-Ra whilst my colleagues went with Storm, Hulk and Thor.

Friday

And here we are. It is Friday and I have almost completed my first week at Staffroom Education and to celebrate we are all going out to lunch. This week has been an eye opener; busy, but incredibly satisfying. I am doing a job I love with a team which are supportive and encouraging and I look forward to the future and seeing how I develop here.

Below are a few tips that I found helpful when starting my new job.

1. Relax
The hard part is over. You aced the interview and have been offered the position. Now you can relax and enjoy your new career.

2. Ask Questions
There is no such thing as a stupid question. You are here to learn, and it is better to ask than to sit in silence. So, Ask Ask and Ask some more.

3. Get Organised
Always be prepared. Whether it be simple things such as notebooks and pens to hand, to bringing lunch on the first day just until you find out what facilities they have.

4. Offer Help
Until you learn the ropes and how things are done, it will always help to just offer any help to your co-workers and boss. It can be simple things such as offering to make tea or coffee to helping a co-worker input data. This will help you build a rapport with your co-workers and show initiative.

5. Be a Sponge
Now is your opportunity to gain as much knowledge as possible. If a co-worker is doing something, ask to be shown how to do it too. This will help later down the line when you may be asked to complete the same job.