New Job? You Better Practice This.

As the first day of your new job approaches, you probably have a lot of things on your mind: What will I wear? Should I bring a lunch? Where will I sit? What will my team be like? But I bet there is one question that isn’t on your mind: how will I introduce myself?

Over the course of your first week–and even the first few months–you’ll have to introduce yourself over and over and over again. You shouldn’t assume that everyone has seen a copy of your resume or even knows what new position you’ve been hired for. But if they did it would be great, right? That’s where your practice comes in.

Before the first day, come up with a few sentences that you can repeat to anyone you meet at your new company. Here are some bits of information that are important to include:

• your first and last name
• which position you were hired for and what department you’re in
• who your boss is
• a basic explanation of your responsibilities
• what company you came from
• any other relevant information about your background (Did you just move here? Have you been in the industry for 15 years? Did you just finish a masters degree?)

Bonus Tip: Connecting with the new folks you meet on LinkedIn can help them understand who you are and what you will be doing at the company, as well as–most importantly–how you can best work together.

Image via Aidan Jones/Flickr.