Welcome to Upside!
By: Upside Business Travel
Tags: Team Building, New Job, Career Change, Tech, Startup

Starting a new job isn’t easy. Sure, it’s really exciting — but it can also be kind of terrifying. First day questions swim in your head — how will I find my desk? Where does everyone get lunch? How do I know when to leave?

The first few days can be exhausting and leave your head spinning. But, soon, a few weeks fly by and you realize one morning with a start that you really know what you’re doing. Your desk has a picture of your dog and your lamp on it. You have plenty of people to grab lunch with. You’ve found your way. Before long, those lunch buddies and co-workers become your community and that product you’re all building becomes your baby.

Over the next few months, we plan to markedly grow our team here at Upside Business Travel, and more than anything, we want every new Upsider to feel welcome and a part of our community from day 1. As all of our awesome new teammates begin to join us, we wanted to do something to make the first few days a little easier and so, over the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring a series of blog posts aimed at doing just that.

For our first post in the series, we started thinking about our own first days at Upside and all the things that surprised us about this place we now call a second home. So, we spent a little time asking some of our colleagues one simple question: What do you wish you knew during your first month at Upside?

I never expected how willing (and excited) other Upsiders would be to help out when asked. I quickly learned to raise my hand and speak up if I ever felt stuck. The best part is that it doesn’t matter which project or department you’re on because everyone will try to help however they can.

- Julie Gelb, Senior Digital Marketing Associate, 3 years at Upside

There’s a ton of information, and meetings / events (and already some free food!), and people constantly introducing themselves; it is hectic but super exciting. I’m already learning a ton, with sessions for orientation, pair programming, one-on-one guidance, and plenty of time for self-guided learning as well. It might be kind of early for me to be giving advice on day 2, but be prepared to hear a ton of information and be guided along by a lot of outgoing and welcoming folks! Take lots of notes and ask lots of questions!

- Andrew Nitz, Full Stack Engineer, 1 week at Upside

Expect Scott to burst into your meetings! It’s sometimes surprising how accessible our CEO is and how much interaction we all have with him and our leadership team. Scott is a caring, hands on leader both in the business side of our business and the people side of the business.

- Matt Harrison, Systems Administrator, 2 years at Upside

Everyone is so helpful and friendly that if I don’t know something, people are eager to help or point me to the right person who can help! So, don’t be afraid to ask questions, even if you’re not sure who to ask. People will happily get you to the expert and even reach out on your behalf to connect you.

- Lauren Briese, Database Administrator, 2 weeks at Upside

I wish knew how much I still had to learn! Even today I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface — every project we pick up is yet another opportunity for me to pick up some new concept about our industry that I didn’t know before.

- Daniel Curaca-Malito, Senior Android Engineer, 1 year at Upside

We couldn’t agree more with all the advice we heard, but we noticed a common theme — ask lots of questions, soak it all in, and be prepared to work hard but have fun along the way! We can’t wait to welcome all the new faces over the coming weeks!

Our Upside Leadership Team

Are you someone who likes to dive into new things? Looking for a new challenge with supportive teammates? Check out our careers page!