got new job, terrified!

[MissSMcc]

i recently got a new job as a care assistant, i have my 2nd shift tomorrow, my 1st shift was on friday. it went surprisingly well, but i know they went easy on me because it was my first day, i just basically followed one of the experienced workers, watched what she did and did what she told me. anyway im terrified i wont be any good at it once they leave me alone, because i pretended i was confident in the interview. i went on an interview skills course last month which gave me loads of great tips for getting the job, but now im worried about keeping it. i really need this job, im a single parent and cant afford to not be working. is it a case of continuing to fake it til i make it? that worked through the interview but im dealing with people here and im so scared im going to mess it up!

[superfox]

1. Well done!

2. Everyone is nervous initially! Don't worry about it. Make a point of asking what you should do if you're stuck rather than muddle on. It takes a while to get used to doing things their way and every day will get easier I promise you!

 

Single parent here too and three weeks into my new job so I know what you're going through!

 

Also, if one of the leaders is free at the end of the day just ask her how it went and what you could have done differently. Best of luck and congratulations x

[itsallgrand]

Congrats on the new job!!

 

It's a matter of relaxing. I am always nervous when I start a new job, no matter what. But once you are in a few days, you will most likely start to relax a lot more and things will start to seem so much more navigable.

 

I agree with asking if you don't feel like you know what you are doing about a specific task. No one expects you to know it all to start; even with a killer interview and skill set. It's a new place, new people, and it takes some time and getting to know how things work there. I like it when new hires ask questions and for feedback and aren't afraid to speak up to double check something; it's a good sign that the person is willing to learn.

 

Bonus: as a single mom, you probably have developed a lot of the skills and special attributes that really help in caring for people. With your child, you probably don't even think about it as you doing all these great skills and showing all this patience and learning, but you are, and a lot of that is going to be transferable to working with others. So if you get hung up on nerves.....just think about your child and how you'd approach a challenging situation with her! You feel that surge of caring about someone, and self consciousness and nerves make way for whatever needs doing, right. Exactly how it often has worked for me in working with helping people. So in a way if that is faking it til you make it, yeah, do it. Until you get your groove.

 

good luck and congrats.

[MissSMcc]

thanks everyone

Bonus: as a single mom, you probably have developed a lot of the skills and special attributes that really help in caring for people. With your child, you probably don't even think about it as you doing all these great skills and showing all this patience and learning, but you are, and a lot of that is going to be transferable to working with others.

 

yep, i used almost these exact lines to big myself up on my covering letter lol!

[catfeeder]

As long as you never claimed to have performed a critical task or procedure that you never really performed, you're golden. Learning care is intimidating for everyone--and that's natural. Don't put yourself into mind-spins doing 'What Ifs' because that's not helpful to learning and only derails your focus. Trust yourself to learn as well as you possibly can, and that's all you need to expect of yourself. Learning a new job is a process that needs to build up over time--allow for that, because everyone else will.

 

Congrats!

[MissSMcc]

thanks catfeeder, i didn't lie about anything (i wouldn't do that) and even openly admitted that i had concerns regarding certain aspects of the job, i was really surprised i even got it, they were interviewing from 10am til 2pm (about 15mins per interview) for a single post and i got it. very weird, i have no idea why, i have no experience or history relating to the job. i keep reminding myself that everyone has had a first day at some point, and i'm no different to them. i have to say though, i've fallen in love with the residents already, after only one day.

[catfeeder]

[...] i have to say though, i've fallen in love with the residents already, after only one day.

 

They've got intuition about this stuff. They picked the right woman.