Your job is reviewing you. Are you reviewing it back? ft. GloRilla

 When I started my role, a mentor pulled me aside and told me to spend an inordinate amount of time learning the company and talking to as many people as possible. Contrary to what I thought, this advice was not only to help me be effective in my role, but also to determine if it was indeed the right job for me.
 
I want to pass on some of my learnings to others who are navigating the early years of a new job. I'm going to do a series on career strategies that center alignment, trust, and proactive guidance for your first two years in a role.

Let's get started. Here’s what to do in the first 6 months:
 
🔍 Observe:
• Who actually holds decision-making power in your group (not just titles)?
• Is your team overworked, underutilized, or just right?
• What’s unpleasant vs. what’s actually toxic?

💭 Consider:
• Does this job deserve your time, effort, and abilities?
• Is the job description adding up to the real-life role?

🧠 Keep in Mind:
• You do need early wins, but they come from listening and learning and not always doing.
• It might not feel like actual “work” to learn the company’s history or have coffee chats, but it’s a critical part of the job.

✅ Do:
• Build your own org chart based on who you meet and what they do.
• Schedule recurring 1:1s with potential collaborators.
• Join an ERG, not just for community, but for organizational context.

And if you’re already getting the feeling that this job is fundamentally not aligned, then it’s not too soon to consider next steps. Remember, consider your needs just as much as the needs of the job because, like GloRilla said: “Soon as I feel like my time [is getting] wasted, then it’s time to go."
 
What’s one thing you wish someone had told you in your first 6 months? Let us know below, someone might need it!👇🏾