What the first week is actually for

You will not be judged on output in week one. Nobody expects work from someone who does not yet know where the files are. You are being judged on whether you will be easy to work with, and that judgement forms fast and is slow to change.

What people are quietly deciding about you:

Do you listen? Do you write things down? Do you turn up when you said you would? Do you ask when you do not know, or guess and produce something wrong? Are you pleasant to sit near?

None of that requires skill. All of it is within your control from day one, and it matters more in the first month than anything technical you do.

Write everything down. Names, systems, passwords, who does what, the name of the client, the thing your manager mentioned once. Asking the same question twice is the most avoidable bad impression there is, and a notebook prevents it entirely.

Learn people before processes. Who actually decides things. Who has been here longest. Who is helpful when you are stuck. Who is busy and should not be interrupted before noon. The organisation chart tells you none of this and it matters more.

Ask about expectations directly, in week one. *"What would a good first three months look like to you?"* Most people never ask, and most managers have an answer they have never been asked for. Their answer is the thing you will actually be measured against, and it is frequently not what the job advertisement said.

Do not criticise anything yet. You will notice things that seem inefficient. Some of them are; some have reasons you cannot see yet. Week one is for questions, not verdicts.