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<1 min | Posted on 23/08/2016

5 Questions to ask at your new job Right Away in 2021

Reading Time: 4 minutes Let us start by congratulating you on your new job. Finally, your relentless preparation for the interview has paid off....

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Let us start by congratulating you on your new job. Finally, your relentless preparation for the interview has paid off. Great work there!

But as the initial euphoria and celebrations start to wear off, your focus shifts towards the role you’re about to engage. There are a million little things running through your head. Things like making the best first impression, understanding the responsibilities of the new job, and fitting in with your peers.
But wait! Don’t let these personal issues cast a shadow over more important professional concerns. Only thing you should be thinking about is preparing a list of Questions to ask at your new job .
Why you ask?
Well, it is no surprise that everyone is on their best behavior in the first meeting. Same goes for your recruiters. While you were busy putting your best foot forward in your interview, your interviewer was doing the same.
Understandably, the idyllic picture HR painted of their company is too perfect to be true. Employers practice as much caution as you do during interviews. It’s imperative to them that no dirty secrets leak out that might be damning to their reputation.
Therefore, to see how things stack up at your new workplace, figure out some real Questions to ask at your new job . It will open up a friendly communication channel for you and prevent complications later.
After all, you are going to be spending a major chunk of your day at your office. It’s only fair to know if you are a cultural fit in the organization and make sure your employer has no reservations about you. Asking Questions to ask at your new job also demonstrates your enthusiasm and interest in your new job.

To assist you, we talked to our wide base of recruitment executives and came up with some crucial Questions to ask at your new job.

What challenges are you working on right now and how can I assist?

This question is a double-edged sword. In addition of informing you about the project dynamics, it also forces the HR to disclose actual expectations from you. This is one very important Questions to ask at your new job.
Before joining, you can’t know exact specifics about a project or how your future team operates. Hence, your expectations out of the role might differ greatly with that of your team.
Asking about their biggest challenges in a project helps you measure your skills against the ones needed. This could be of great help if you don’t have some of the required skills: you could ask for a mentor/guide to help you through your initial days.
Never underestimate the role of a mentor, they can help you immensely improve on the areas you lack in.
Professional skills to learn while waiting for your offer letter.

How do assessments, ratings and appraisals work?

Do not shy away from readily asking how your new employer reviews performance of their employees. Every company has a review policy, some have a structured policy while some practice a loosely defined style of assessment. This is one very important Questions to ask at your new job.
Nevertheless, it is always beneficial to know them in advance so you can prepare your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals accordingly. Most employees who refrain from asking this at their new job suffer later when appraisals are announced: they couldn’t proactively highlight areas where a little extra push was required.
Know how frequently performance reviews are conducted. Ask about parameters on which your employer measures success and progress. These can either be hard targets that need to be met each week or soft metrics which indirectly boost your project.
These nuggets of information will help you shape an effective plan, provide a blueprint for your workflow, and ultimately save your hide when appraisals are around the corner.

How do you do?

Get to know your peers.
Showing interest in your teammates is the surest way to earn social capital. It’s your peers who’ll show you the way around the office and how things work there. Don’t just ask them about work but talk to them about their interests outside of work. This is one very important Questions to ask at your new job.
You’ll feel a lot less stressed and more productive if you work with friends than with traditional colleagues. Communicating better at your new job will take a lot of  load off you.
Working with an encouraging and dynamic team energizes you and promotes skill development. If people in your team pursue hobbies, get involved with them. Pursuing activities outside of work is a sign of passionate people and their company can accelerate your learning profoundly.

What happened to the person who filled this role previously?

By asking this question, you’re looking for clues to whether your employers hires and fires quickly. Alternatively, if your predecessor was promoted, it informs you of the future growth prospects within the organization. This is one very important Questions to ask at your new job.
If this question gets your employer uncomfortable, well that’s a dead giveaway about their character. Be wary of employers who hide things from new employees.
But if they advanced within the company, it tells you something about the direction your career might be heading and you can look forward to great things in the future. A company showing trust in its employees by giving more responsibility and enabling growth is a great boost for your career trajectory.

What’s the deal with office politics?

As you enter your new workplace, one of the first things to take care of is to ask your manager this question. Goes without saying that it should be asked in a subtle way, preferably in a private conversation. This is one very important Questions to ask at your new job.
Knowledge of associations and friendships in your office helps you navigate through the maze that is your workplace easily. How people manage relationships in their workplace affects your ability to trust your colleagues and hence your work.
As hard as it is to stay untouched by office politics, we advise you steer clear off of it as much as you can. It wastes too much of your time and energy. Although your manager might not be totally unbiased, you can learn about how your team is treated by various departments. This will help you understand the bigger picture instead of personal rivalries. Which in turn may help you form strategies to leverage this friction to your benefit and not getting fired.

Here’s a brief to what we learnt about important Questions to ask at your new job:

There are a million Questions to ask at your new job ranging from company policies to permissible attire in the office that you can ask on your first day. But we encourage that you first get Questions to ask at your new job mentioned in our list out of your way. They generally do a good job in demonstrating how far off your employer is from the vision statement that’s hanging in the lobby. 

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