How to overcome anxiety on the first day at a new job?

Stress after dismissal

If the dismissal was unexpected, then the person’s experiences are related to the search for a new job. Stress after leaving a job can get worse and lead to depression, especially if you can't change jobs right away.

Simple tips to help you survive dismissal:

• Losing a job is not a reason for despair, but an opportunity to start a new life.
• Be confident. You will have to fight for your place in the sun.
• Move and walk more. This will help you maintain a positive attitude and achieve success.
• Communicate more with friends and acquaintances. Perhaps one of them has a vacant position for you.
• Look for a job. Use all the resources available to you: Internet, newspapers, television, radio, etc.

After you quit, you have more free time. Fill it with useful and enjoyable things:

• browse job sites;
• send your resume;
• play sports;
• master bodily practices - yoga, meditation, breathing exercises;
• think about a hobby.

The busier you are, the less time you will have to worry. Your confidence that you will soon be hired for a good position will help you overcome stress.

Reason for job change

The main reasons forcing you to change your job are as follows:

• Unjustified financial expectations. Low wages or constant delays in their payment.
• Complete lack of further career growth or prospects for career advancement.
• Desire to change field of activity. Succumbed to the persuasion of recruiting or headhunting companies.
• Difficulties in relationships with colleagues.
• Lack of motivation and incentive methods. You don't feel cared for by management.
• Serious deterioration in working conditions.
• Forced job change - dismissal.

Any of the reasons that led to the desire to move to a new place requires a conscious choice. However, no matter what the reason for making such a responsible decision, stress arises when changing jobs. To cope with it, you need to assess the possible difficulties that will certainly arise and try to follow the recommendations for overcoming such stressful situations.

Low salaries encourage people to look for a new job

New job

A person experiences stress when he comes to work in a new organization. Strangers, responsibilities, surroundings—you have to get used to everything. The anxiety that these changes cause is quite natural.

What fears does a person experience on his first day at work?

• Fear of change. There is no certainty that this place will be better than before.
• Fear of uncertainty. The unknown causes some people to panic. Therefore, the better informed a person is, the less worried he is.
• Fear of the new team. After familiar, established relationships with colleagues, it is necessary to build relationships with strangers.
• Fear of the new boss. It is unknown what kind of character the leader will be.

To prevent these fears from taking over your consciousness, learn to analyze your condition. To do this, try to understand what scares you and write down your fears. Then list all the expected pros and cons of the new job.

The advantages are an expansion of your circle of acquaintances, an increase in wages, career growth, etc. You name your fears, look for the pros and cons - this helps you stay calm.

In a new job, you have to re-establish connections with colleagues

Types of problems associated with job changes

Even if the loss of a job occurred recently, and another job was found quickly enough, difficulties still arise that lead to a stressful situation:

• Transport difficulties. The new place of work may be located at a considerable distance from your place of residence. Sometimes a profitable offer may come from another city or even country.
• Psychological adaptation in a new team.
• Establishing business relationships with management.
• Time frame. How quickly you need to prove yourself in a new place and whether you should stay at work.
• Family understanding and support.

How to beat stress

For one person, adaptation to a job change can happen quickly, while for another, the process of adaptation will take a long time. An active employee will easily become a member of a new team of professionals, while an indecisive, withdrawn person will need time to establish contact with colleagues.

A new job is always stressful. Your task is to reduce it to a minimum. To do this, follow some rules:

• Be on time on your first day out. The night before, try to go to bed early to get enough sleep.
• Think about your clothes in advance. It must comply with the company dress code.
• Don't try to move mountains on your first day of work. Give yourself time to look around. Feel free to ask questions regarding your professional responsibilities.
• Familiarize yourself with the company's rules. Ask one of your employees to talk about the nuances of communicating with colleagues.

• In the first days, show restraint in communication. You don't have to tell everything about yourself. Do not overuse personal conversations on the phone.
• Don't compare your previous job to your new one. If you don't like something, remain silent. Everything is different here. You just have to get used to this other one.
• Remember the names of the employees. People like to be addressed by name.
• Don't be in a hurry to go home first. First, look at how it is customary to end the working day at the company.
• Smile more often. This is a simple but effective way to please people, and at the same time lift your spirits.

Stress when changing jobs is quite normal. You can help yourself cope with this condition. To do this, be sure that everything will work out well. The calmer you are, the faster you will get used to the new company.

Changing jobs: how to cope with stress

According to working Russian citizens, there remains a steady trend in the desire of almost half to change their place of work. And although everyone is aware of the difficulties that they will have to face, making such a decision is always a strong emotional and physical stress. Changing jobs is always stressful. A new place, people (each with their own, as yet unknown characteristics), rules and responsibilities frighten with their unknown. Plus, changing jobs is a risk. There is a risk of not completing the probationary period, of not settling into the new team, of not being able to cope with the assigned responsibility.

Changing jobs isn't always stress-free

Psychologist on whether changing jobs will help avoid emotional burnout

How many entries should a good employee have in his work book? Is it necessary to change jobs after a certain period of time to avoid depression or stagnation? Is it right to work all your life and earn authority in one place? “Belka” tried to find answers to these questions together with Irina Silchenko, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Head of the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogy, Gomel State University named after F. Skorina.

Irina Silchenko.

— Psychologists advise changing jobs from time to time. Do you share this opinion?

— This opinion is popular in the West and primarily concerns workers in the fields of advertising, management, media and Internet business, where greater mobility is welcomed. American sociologists, based on research, advise changing jobs every 5-7 years.

The main message is that this will help you avoid creative stagnation and maintain your professional shape. It is believed that in the first year the employee learns all the subtleties and nuances associated with the position, and the next two years are the most productive in terms of impact. Then labor productivity drops sharply and tends to zero. And emotional burnout often occurs.

Hence the call not to be afraid to change jobs so as not to lose interest in life. After all, being always in the same circumstances, a person seems to become asocial, every new day is expected and familiar to him. When work starts to follow a rut, fewer ideas are generated. The second reason, according to psychologists, is the loss of desire for new knowledge. And this is a direct path to depression and degradation.

However, I cannot unconditionally support this point of view. Working in the same place, you can also grow professionally and realize yourself. Moreover, today in many areas of activity it is welcomed if a person maintains a job for 5-10 years or more and makes a career within the same organization. Or vertically when he occupies higher positions. Or horizontally, when he remains in the same position, but grows professionally, becoming a highly qualified specialist.

The leadership of our university and the majority of teachers completed graduate school, defended their dissertations, continued to be actively engaged in scientific and professional activities, received titles and positions in their university, they are called “genetically university.” Thus, professional growth occurs continuously throughout one’s life. By the way, I have been working at GSU for almost 40 years.

Many factors influence a person's attitude towards their work. By and large, we are controlled by our needs. For some, salary comes first, especially if you have a family, you need to raise children. Then its low level will encourage you to look for a higher paying position. For some, professional growth is more important. And you need to invest in it, sometimes initially agreeing to a small salary.

“Nowadays, many young specialists complain about low salaries, because they believe that once they have received a higher education, their diploma should immediately be paid decently.

— Any professional and career growth is associated with an increase in salary. Show yourself! A good employee will always be valued and will try to retain him, including with salary and social guarantees. You should not complain, but before applying to a university, think about what you will get out of it, what kind of job awaits you. People come to us to study as psychologists with a romantic idea of ​​the profession. The guys think that they will get a diploma, start their own practice and immediately have a queue of clients lined up for them. In fact, it is hard work associated with the accumulation of experience. You need to earn authority.

— It seems that authority is important in any job. And if you change it often, do you have to start all over again each time?

- You know, they don’t like “flyers” anywhere. Constantly changing jobs is viewed with caution by employers. Why doesn't he take root anywhere? Probably conflicted, unstable, immature, undecided what he needs in life or how to achieve it. And after 45 years, it is generally difficult to get a job, so a person will hold on to any one.

— You mentioned burnout syndrome. With creative professions everything is clear, but can it overtake, say, a turner-miller?

- Maybe there will be other reasons. Now the list of professions that are susceptible to burnout syndrome has expanded significantly. In general, burnout syndrome is called a communication disease. It concerns more representatives of human-to-human professions: teachers, doctors, police officers, civil servants, and so on. Emotional burnout occurs due to mental fatigue. When an employee must constantly respond emotionally to the needs of other people. It is not for nothing that in some countries those who have worked for many years in a teaching position have the right to go on paid leave for a year.

Take the same civil servants. “Difficult” citizens and dissatisfied visitors often contact executive committees and administrations. Communicating with them is hard work. Oversaturation with forced communication often leads to chronic stress. Work ceases to bring satisfaction, but on the contrary, it irritates and causes hostility.

A person develops a feeling of his own incompetence, helplessness, and specific professional achievements actually decrease. Indifference, “professional cynicism,” and negativism towards clients and one’s work are growing. Sometimes there is a disgust for everything in the world, unmotivated grievances towards others, fate, the government. Particular hostility is caused by the people with whom you work - clients, students, visitors, colleagues. This type of burnout is even called “people poisoning.”

There are actually many factors that contribute to burnout. Monotonous work also applies to them. This is related to your question about the lathe-miller. In enterprises with such peculiarities of work, it is necessary to create additional breaks and conditions for communication. In general, in order to avoid all of the above, both the doctor, the official, and the worker at the machine need conditions for professional self-realization. Then, as a rule, burnout does not occur.

— How can a construction foreman achieve success at a high level?

— Many people have a negative attitude towards socialist competitions and professional skills competitions as a kind of relic of the Soviet past, but they really help employees feel like a team and feel their importance. Previously, by the way, it was considered a big plus when a person worked in one place for a long time and grew professionally. Such workers were awarded the titles “Production Leader”, “Veteran of Labor”, “Honored Worker”. They were the heroes of feature films. Remember, “Girls”, “Spring on Zarechnaya Street”, “Height”. There were labor dynasties. All this was prestigious, people were proud of their merits.

— Is it possible to work in one place for a long time and still avoid emotional burnout?

— Burnout often occurs as a result of improperly organized work, irrational management, and untrained personnel. A lot depends on the leadership here. You know, we often appreciate it when people stay at work in the evenings and work during lunchtime. And sometimes they require it. They consider this behavior to be a sign of a good employee. But there is nothing good about workaholism; it is precisely the cause of burnout. A person should not live by work alone; one must go beyond it. Stress is more easily experienced if there is some kind of outlet, hobby, interesting activity for the soul.

- It's clear. How can an employee minimize stress? There are different types of bosses; they are not chosen.

— What needs to be done first is to set realistic goals for yourself and rationally prioritize your professional activities. You need to soberly assess your capabilities. It is important to find time for proper rest. Pleasant emotional communication with friends and loved ones, playing sports or hobbies significantly reduce the likelihood of burnout.

Don't be afraid to share your experiences with loved ones. Even the very fact of conversation can bring relief, and the support of family and colleagues will certainly help cope with stress. Mastering self-regulation skills will also be of great benefit - relaxation and relaxation, breathing exercises will help reduce the level of stress leading to burnout.

Simple breathing exercises will help you gain control and not break down or be rude to the visitor. Indeed, in this case, a person, not only a civil servant, but also a medical staff, a teacher, risks his job. Now the advantage is on the side of the one who applies. The visitor, parent, patient is always right.

Of course, qualified help is needed here. Psychologists should teach correct behavior in stressful situations. They can carry out activities to successfully adapt personnel, increase work motivation and attractiveness of work. Organize trainings on developing stress resistance, communication skills, developing adaptive ways to cope with stress at work, training sessions on optimizing the socio-psychological climate in the team. Because a lot depends on the climate in the team, as well as on the “weather” in the house. I believe that such specialists should definitely be in organizations where employees on duty communicate with a large number of people and are subject to stress.

- Then, perhaps, first you need to convince your bosses that their employees need a professional psychologist. Who would want to hire a “useless unit” from the point of view of labor productivity?

— The emotional and mental state of workers, the socio-psychological climate in the team cannot but influence labor productivity, so the unit is not so useless. And if an organization or enterprise cannot afford to have a permanent psychologist on staff, they can attract specialists from other institutions for these purposes.

Author: Elena Chernobaeva. Photo: Vyacheslav Kolomiets

Changing jobs: a new life without stress.

Doubts, worries and even fear often overcome us when starting a new job. Two common problems with this are anxiety and workaholism. We analyze typical situations with practicing psychologist Tatyana Klimina.

Real story. Maria, 33 years old, works in the field of journalism, has been working for a new company for a month:

“Over the past year, I changed jobs twice. After several years of doing what I loved with a free schedule, I had to be disciplined and muster all the will to start working like everyone else - according to a certain schedule.

I got used to this quite quickly, now I am worried about something else: anxiety, self-doubt and increased fatigue. By 5 pm I’m already like a squeezed lemon. And this despite the fact that the work is creative, not at the machine, the colleagues are adequate and some of them are even pleasant.

The first days before starting a new job, I put two glycine tablets so as not to worry. Then I came up with a ritual - when I arrive at the office, I sit in the car for a few minutes and get ready.

Finally, when I get to the office, I don’t start work without a cup of tea. After 2 weeks I quit the glycine ritual, I hardly sit in the car anymore, but I am still tired and irritable.

• What to do in such a situation?
• How long does adaptation last, and how to survive it?
• How can you make the morning of each new day more joyful?

Psychologist's comment: Maria's anxiety, fatigue and irritability are justified. For the last year she has been in a state of chronic stress: the loss of her favorite job, failure in a new career. The result is low self-esteem. Now, when she again, once again, needs to prove that she is worthy of a new job, the past unsuccessful experience reminds of itself with anxiety (what if something goes wrong again). To survive this without loss to your psychological health, you need to understand:

Adaptation to a new team and new working conditions is an inevitable but temporary process. Depending on the individual characteristics of the employee and the specifics of the organization, it takes from two to six months.

There are three main stages of joining a new team:

1. adaptation: a person becomes familiar with the rules adopted in this group,
2. individualization: begins to show his strengths, which distinguish him from others, but are valued by the team and are therefore perceived positively,
3. integration: a person becomes a full member of the team, while remaining himself.

Five qualities that need to be mobilized in a new place of work:

1. Professional quality. Remember, the higher the professional level, the shorter the period of entry into a new team.
2. Stress resistance. Recognize that adaptation will take time, patience, a sense of humor, and the support of friends.
3. Willingness to compromise and be flexible. It is difficult to deal with overly categorical people.
4. Communication skills. Feel like a “team player” and show kindness to all team members.
5. Optimism. In any, even the most difficult situation, do not lose faith that everything will be fine.

If the adaptation period is complicated by relationships within the team, seek help from a psychologist.

Real story. Anna, 27 years old, manager at a travel agency:

“I was an advertising manager in one company for many years, but I realized that I could no longer do the routine and, since I love to travel, I decided to take a new job, coming to tourism without any experience. I like the work, but almost 3 months after I started working, I see more and more clearly that it consumes almost all of my time. I have neither time nor energy left to communicate with friends, not to mention my personal life. I miss weekends. And the very thought that I cannot manage my time drives me crazy. I would like to find a way out of this situation, but so that it is not a dismissal after all...

Psychologist's comment: Anna's problem is workaholism, which can be recognized by the following signs:

• extension of the working week beyond 40 hours;
• the need to work on weekends and regular refusal of vacation;
• desire to talk about work with friends and family;
• confidence that constant processing is a necessary part of life;
• thoughts about work while driving a car and before going to bed.

1. Psychological problems

• Fear of loneliness – work creates the impression of being needed and involved.
• Low self-esteem. It forces you to rush into labor for fear of failure.
• Fear or inability to communicate. Working time is subject to routine, discipline and subordination. Here everything was decided before you, so you can just sail within the given framework.

2. Family troubles

• Family problems are one of the most common causes of over-indulgence in work, and the longer they go unsolved, the more difficult it is for a workaholic refugee to overcome his addiction.

3. Trying to compensate for the loss

• For a whole category of people, work is not a drug, but a medicine. With its help, they forget about their illnesses or physical disabilities, failures in their personal lives or the loss of loved ones.

1. Good job. A prestigious job requires certain sacrifices.
2. High salary. If you want to get a lot, be prepared to work hard.

Ways to reduce stress and increase stress resistance

An analysis of the psychological state of people who have lost their jobs and are trying to find another one shows that almost 85% experience deep and lasting stress. Not everyone goes through the adaptation phase smoothly. Psychologists explain this by varying degrees of stress resistance and individual personality traits. Any stressful condition, especially if it is prolonged, can provoke the emergence of new diseases or intensify existing diseases.

Psychologists divide the occurrence of a stressful situation into several stages:

• stress in preparation for dismissal;
• stress after dismissal;
• stress at a new place of work.

In the first two cases, serious life changes occur for the worse: income levels decrease, family relationships change, and feelings of guilt and self-doubt appear. The result can be apathy and a general depressed state.

Therefore, it is necessary to try to increase your resistance to stress that arises at this stage of life:

• try to perceive problems as temporary;
• switch more often to more pleasant things, help your family, organize a cultural program;
• try to distance yourself from unnecessary worries, learn to “switch off” in a timely manner;
• learn to set priorities correctly and strictly adhere to them;
• try to learn how to say “no” correctly and in a timely manner and be distracted as little as possible by secondary tasks;
• Organize your daily routine correctly.

These tips will help you survive the current stressful situation that arises both when you are fired and when you are hired for another job. To quickly adapt when changing jobs, you can participate in specialized psychological training. To overcome stress after starting a new job, you need to try to calm down, which will allow you to quickly adapt to unusual conditions. You need to understand that the stress level is greatly influenced by the new working day. Try to strictly comply with all labor discipline requirements. Try to force yourself to leave the house early in the morning, at least ten minutes, and leave a little later than your colleagues. This delay will allow you to evaluate your day in a calm atmosphere. Try to arrange your workplace in such a way that you can feel a comfortable and cozy environment. It's good to have things that bring back pleasant memories. If management doesn't object, you can post photos of your loved ones or pets at your workplace.

You cannot continue to work during your lunch break. It is better to find out where employees eat lunch and try to keep them company. A casual conversation during lunch will allow you to quickly get used to the new team. Such joint lunches significantly reduce stress levels.

You should show a true interest in your responsibilities: study the instructions, daily routine, find out from your colleague and immediate supervisor the specifics of performing the work. There is no need to be shy about asking your colleagues how to correctly complete certain tasks. This will not lower your professional status, but will increase respect for you as someone who has a genuine desire to understand the specifics of your new responsibilities. It is important to understand the behavior of colleagues in the workplace, the manner of communication and ways to resolve possible conflict situations. Prove yourself when completing assigned tasks. If corporate events are held, you should get involved in organizing, conducting and participating in them.