Name: Onboarding With A Probation Period
Uploaded: 2024-03-18T18:58:54+00:00
Duration: 4 min 23 s
Description: Because labor laws outside the US can make it difficult to fire someone, many companies will add more barriers before yo

Onboarding With A Probation Period

Because labor laws outside the US can make it difficult to fire someone, many companies will add more barriers before you are a full-time employee at the company with benefits. They will make employees work during a probation period before deciding to offer full-time employment. Contract-to-hire is another common way that this manifests ("try before you buy").

Here are some tips if you're working on this model:

- Chat with your manager early (ideally even before you join) so you can hit the ground running and make a good first impression.
- Information access may be limited, so call out when this happens. You don't want something outside your control to reflect poorly on you.
- Understand the criteria you’re being judged on, e.g. code commits, code reviews, design docs, etc. Track these metrics diligently, and you can even report on them regularly.

Relevant discussion: [I’m starting at Apple with a 3 month probation as a new grad. How should I think about the probation period?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/JtFLSdc1ShdaqiIyFcqe/im-starting-at-apple-with-a-3-month-probation-as-a-new-grad-how-should-i-think-about-the-probation-period/)

Because labor laws outside the US can make it difficult to fire someone, many companies will add more barriers before yo

With how often software engineers change teams, it's crucial to be efficient at this. Learn how to get coding within a new codebase fast, build the proper relationships, and hit the ground running in general.