By | Jenni Maier | www.themuse.com
Six months ago, I started my new job at The Muse. After weeks of interviewing with the team, completing an edit test, and reading too much into every single email sign-off, I was pumped to finally be walking through the office door as an employee. Until it came to the day when I actually had to walk through the door. Then I wasn’t as much pumped as I was terrified.
And because the brain works in mysterious ways, the terror manifested itself into unsettling thoughts—thoughts that stuck with me throughout my first week (and maybe, if I’m being honest, a little bit longer).
The only way I survived them was to remember that everyone has the same experience. No matter how excited you are for a position, the first few days are rough.
So for anyone out there who’s starting a new job and worried about, well, everything—this peek into my brain is for you.
1. “I Hate Everything I Own”
I tried on everything that I own the morning I started. Twice. Nothing felt quite right for the look I wanted to pull off. The look, of course, being casual, but cool, and chic, and nonchalant, but trendy, but not cheap-trendy, but not trust-fund rich. I wanted to smell like success, but also mystery—someone you couldn’t help but look up on LinkedIn the second she walked in the door. “Ooh,” I wanted people to say. “Seven people have endorsed her for WordPress—I must know more.”
