In this guide
Career changes and transitions
Your first 90 days in a new job: a practical plan
A month-by-month plan for a new role: learning how work really gets done, agreeing expectations, an early contribution and keeping a record of your evidence.
Before your first day
Things to settle before you start
- Start time, location or log-in details, and who to ask for on arrival.
- Any documents your employer needs, such as identity or right-to-work evidence.
- The length of any probation period and how it will be reviewed.
- The name of your manager and, if possible, a first meeting in the diary.
A month-by-month plan
| Period | Main aim | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1 to 30 | Learn | Meet the people you depend on, learn the systems, ask how decisions are made, write down what confuses you |
| Days 31 to 60 | Contribute | Take ownership of a defined piece of work, deliver one useful improvement, ask for feedback |
| Days 61 to 90 | Establish | Show you are reliable, review progress against expectations, agree priorities for the next six months |
Agree what good looks like
Ask your manager early what they would expect you to have achieved by the end of probation and how they prefer to be updated. Expectations that are never spoken out loud are the most common cause of a disappointing review.
What would a successful first three months look like to you? Which pieces of work matter most right now? Who should I get to know early? How do you like to receive updates, and how often? What do people new to this team usually find hardest?
Pick an early contribution carefully
A good first contribution is useful, visible to the people who need it and small enough to finish. Fixing a recurring annoyance, documenting a process nobody wrote down or clearing a backlog usually works better than proposing a large change before you understand why things are the way they are.
Keep an evidence log from day one
Illustrative example
Two weeks of an evidence log
- Week 3: rewrote the onboarding checklist for the next starter after finding three steps missing.
- Week 4: took over supplier invoices; cleared a backlog of overdue queries with the finance team.
A few lines a week is enough. It helps in probation reviews and gives you ready-made resume bullets when you next move.
Common questions
What if the job is not what I expected?
Raise it early and specifically with your manager. Some mismatches can be fixed; if they cannot, it is better to know within the first few months.
How do I prepare for a probation review?
Bring your evidence log, compare it with the expectations you agreed, and ask what you should focus on next.
Put it into practice
Guidance by career stageDrafted with AI assistance and checked against Luceria’s editorial standards. Examples are illustrative, not real people’s results. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.