Episode 28: How to nail your first 100 days in a new job

You crushed the interview, negotiated the salary, and suddenly, it’s day one of your new job. Now what?

The first 100 days of your new job can set you up for success in the rest of your time at the new organization. You want to get some quick wins but don’t want to come in and make changes without understanding what’s working and what’s not.

You may not have relationships coming in, so you need to be strategic about how you approach your role. Let’s break it down:

Reframe the interview

The interview process is not just about answering the questions in a way that will paint you in a good light or get you the job. You should also be laying out the blueprint for what you want the role to become over time. You should have an opinion of what the role becomes and get feedback from your future manager on how closely their vision aligns with the company's vision.

For example, how should you spend your time in your future role? Which teams are the priority? What should the first project be? How will the team grow/change as the company grows?

If your visions don’t align but the hiring manager is open to having a conversation, then it’s a good sign that you can continue to negotiate the scope of your role.

One way to tell if a manager is legit is by asking their opinion on how your role could grow. If they immediately shut you down, then they either a) don’t have the authority/influence to change the scope of your role b) don’t care about you specifically in the role; they want someone to do what they say and the moment you disagree they will replace you

Become a trusted advisor

You have the most time when you first start a role. I’ve found it helpful to spend more time asking questions about how people view your role/function and gaps that have already been identified.

Set up as many cross-functional folks (product, engineering, sales, marketing) as possible and get a download on their role, their understanding of your role, and what they think you should work on.

Write it down in a central place with the asks by department so you can meet with your boss after 30 days to brainstorm some quick wins by department for the next 60 days.

Here’s the 1-1 template I used for product marketing roles (screenshot below):

Meet some customers

There is always a ton of opinions and data about the current state of things when you first join a company. Being data-driven is a good thing but when you first join a company, you have a limited window where can offer a fresh perspective on your product, pricing and positioning.

Your most important meetings every day are the ones where you are in front of your customers getting feedback on what they like and dislike about your product. Here are 5 questions I ask in these discovery conversations with customers:

1. How did you find out about <company>? What did you google?

2. How easy was it to get started/onboarded? Anything you noticed?

3. What do you think our strengths are? What do we do better than anyone else?

4. What do you think is missing in the product today?

5. Is our pricing fair for the value we offer?

Being able to reference direct quotes from customers will not only make you better at your job but also make others around you better at their roles. People often make decisions based on their opinions of what customers want rather than the reality (actually talking to customers).

As always, feedback is a gift, and I welcome any/all feedback on this episode. See ya next week 👋.

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✨ Special thank you to Gigi Marquez who suggested I start this newsletter 🙏