Starting a new job can be an intimidating step forward. It's like swimming against a tidal wave, hoping you don't get swept away. You don't want to get to the end of the first month only to find out that you have burnt out, fatigued, and considering starting up the whole job-seeking process from scratch.

To avoid this hellish scenario, these are a few pointers you should bear in mind once you start your new job, and with luck, you can avoid that premature burnout.

• Know Your Values, Know Your Organisation – No one expects you to know your new company off by heart. But it would help if you identified the key values that drive your organisation forward. This will trim a lot of uncertainty from your mindset so when going about your day-to-day tasks, you'll have a good idea as to how to align them to your organisation's values.
• Fishing Names Out of the Sea of Strangers – It always feels quite intimidating when you come into work and you don't know the Joe's from the Jane's. But you're going to be spending eight hours a day with these people. You're probably going to be more familiar with them than your own family. So it helps to get to know them. Find out what their jobs entail, bond over discussions of personal life. Remember, they were once in the same position as you.
•  Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses – With some areas of work, you will be able to take to them like a duck to water. Others, you may find yourself struggling. New concepts and practices always threaten to send your head spinning, which is why you need to pin down quickly which areas you have no problem and which areas you feel you need to get your head around a bit more. This will save you a LOT of trouble down the line.
• Set Yourself Realistic Goals – No one's expecting you to go out and conquer the world in your first month (unless you have a very demanding employer). But you need to be able to tell yourself that you are making progress in your job. You need to have a set of goals that are fairly testing of your abilities without leaving you feel like you are climbing a mountain. Maybe you want to get a certain amount of work done. Or maybe you want to familiarise yourself with a new process.

 The first month of work is ALWAYS the hardest, on account of the seemingly endless foot-finding you have to deal with. And it's easy to forget that a new job should not be the bane of your existence, but the start of the next chapter in your life. And these suggestions will help you go a long way towards making the end of that first month feel like a win.