Kick-off learning process — First Day in the team
By: Mukta Sharma
Tags: Testing My Story, Testing, Kickoff, First Day At Work, Learning And Development

Image source: Google images

Hi there, I have worked with many organizations in my software testing career but I still cherish my first day at my first Company.

The memory of joining my first team as a ‘fresher in Testing’ in my first company is still alive in my eyes like it has happened yesterday. Being unaware of the work culture, the work process, the team, and my manager, I was intimidated by the whole situation. I remember it was day 1 at the office. I had reached 15 minutes prior to 9:00 O’clock in the morning ( Punctual person) and greeted everyone whomever I met. I exchanged casual Hi, some warm smiles, and came back to my workstation (which had a sticky note on it that said my name) to check what I was supposed to do.

A couple of hours went into setting up the system, calling the support desk to provide access to company-specific sites, or creating an account so that we can access the URLs on daily basis. Some leisure time was spent sipping coffee twice/thrice in a day and exploring the office. It was a huge campus. Then, my manager came over.

To my surprise, she was a lady manager. I was so impressed and at the same time, felt empowered and motivated to see her being my manager. She called me and two other teammates to a conference room. She then introduced herself and asked for our introduction as well. She asked us to tell her how we were feeling on day 1.

I, confidently said — Hi, My name is Mukta Sharma. I am an M.C.A degree holder. I am very excited to work here. I am very nervous. My heart is beating so fast that I am afraid it can come out. To this, she replied with a smile on her face: “Welcome Aboard”! And, then started explaining the process in the organization.

She had designed a diagram on the whiteboard and explained the test process step by step. Her communication skills were at par. I wished to speak like her at that moment. She did not forget to mention the different team names and people’s name like who was doing what job in the specific project which was assigned to me. She also gave the POC names if we had any queries or needed any further clarification.

She encouraged us (3 of us) to ask questions from day1 if we do not understand anything so that we should not face any blockers. She made it a very smooth process overall and we were confident that we can do our job with pride and passion.

The entire day went by in learning many new things about the company, process, work culture, test process, etc… I checked the time. It was around 4:30 PM. We (myself with the other 2 team members) shut down our systems and came back home. The day ended beautifully.

All of this happened ten long years ago. There were many first days in other companies but I never felt the same. Coz with every other company, I became a better version of myself than I was yesterday.

My learnings from day 1:

Be Confident. Ask Questions. Do not feel timid. Take initiative. Talk to people. Say Hi Take a genuine interest in everything. Listen and Understand Take notes of important things Be at your best.

Your second, third, and all proceeding days will be more productive than this.

I wish you all good luck with your first day on the team. I would end the topic by saying –

Just “Be Yourself” and “Be Honest with your work”

Thank you for reading my story! Signing off!