Starting a New Job? Don’t Make These 5 Common Mistakes.

4 min readSep 9, 2020

I remember being 19 and going to my first ever job interview. I was scared, frightened, and overwhelmed with emotion. I did not know what to expect and how to overcome my fear. I knew that I had worked hard to get there, and everything came with such uncertainty, but I thought I was ready.

When I got the call that the job was mine, I was happy and so proud of myself. I thought that the hard part was over. I was ambitious and ready. In all honesty, I crashed, I failed, and I learned from my mistakes.

Whether starting the first job after university or after 10 years of work experience, starting a new job can be daunting and overwhelming. A new environment is like entering another unknown world.

Everyone knows that the first year of work is about learning and gaining experience. To be successful, people are expected to do their job, learn everything, pick up on mistakes and correct them if they can, do what they are told, keep a clear head, and show initiative.

I did not know that there were other different things you are supposed to do, too. I wish someone had told me that before.

Here are 5 common mistakes people make that sabotage their chances to learn and grow.

Being Afraid to Ask for Help

I know it can be frightening to ask for help, I have been there myself, but it is only natural to ask. After all, we cannot know everything, so we ask for help with things we do not understand.

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of willingness to improve and learn.

When I realized I had messed up because I thought I could do everything by myself, it was too late. And it caused me many days of working late and fixing my mistakes. And for a long time, my boss was not willing to give me more complex tasks. I felt I disappointed him by letting him down. And it caused me to fall behind in the queue for a possible raise or even a promotion. The trust was lost.