What should I do to prepare for my first job?

Question

I’ll be joining a company in Sept as a new grad and I want to get ahead and ramp up quickly during onboarding. Here’s some context:

I work on an ML team and when I asked my team lead what I should do to prepare, they said to keep up the latest ML literature and also relax as onboarding is quite intense.
My future teammates have reached out to me saying that they’re happy to chat with me.
My first project, while not firmed yet, is likely E4 scope (2-3 month project with some support from team and design doc required)

Here are some questions:

To prepare, I’ve been going through the Taro onboarding course, improving my code quality by writing code for research and doing what my TL advises (reading ML lit). Is there anything else I should do?
What should I ask my future teammates?
My future manager is also a new recruit who’ll be joining in May (but they have 5+ YoE in management exp). What should I ask them if I get the chance to meet them?

Alex Chiou · Accepted Answer

I think you've done more than enough - Nice job! You're way more prepared than I was back before I started my first job 🤣

What should I ask my future teammates?

You can spend 5-10 minutes asking for any educational resources they recommend, but for these early chats before you even start, it's more about building the relationship more than anything. Make small talk, learn about who they are as people (i.e. outside of work), and share a bit about your personal background as well. More thoughts here: https://www.jointaro.com/course/networking-guide-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech/1-on-1-meetings/

My future manager is also a new recruit who’ll be joining in May (but they have 5+ YoE in management exp). What should I ask them if I get the chance to meet them?

It's similar to the teammates - Use these early chats as an ice-breaker. Something specific to managers though is that you can ask them how they prefer to work, specifically how they want their reports to "plug in". Show them that you're flexible and happy to adapt to their style to get the most from your relationship. Here's a great video about mindset: https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/sIm7s54ILdBQmpCtKFtb/having-the-proper-mentality-for-manager-1-on-1s/

What should I do to prepare for my first job?

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