New Job Anxiety: How to Cope with the Jitters – Freesumes

Your job search is finally over and you’ve just signed an amazing offer. First, you feel exhilarated and content. But with the first day at a new job fast approaching another feeling settles in — anxiety.  

Perhaps it’s your impostor syndrome whispering that you will fail (which you won’t!) or your feeling overwhelmed, imagining how you’ll interact with your new team, build rapport with your boss, and settle into productive mode. 

New job anxiety is common: a whopping 87% of workers have jitters before starting a new role, according to a Monster poll. Another 53% say starting a new job feels scarier than holding a spider, skydiving, or going to the dentist. 

And yet, you cannot allow work anxiety to get into the driver’s seat because you risk sabotaging your own success (and wrecking your mental health). Learn how to tame your anxiety about a new job from this post. 

How Long Does New Job Anxiety Last?

Most people cope with the new job jitters within 8 to 12 weeks after starting a new position. The timeframe roughly matches the onboarding and probationary period duration. Although, this can differ on a case-by-case basis. 

Several factors can influence how long new job anxiety lasts:

• Company’s onboarding process. Over half of new hires feel overwhelmed by the amount of information they need to learn in the first 3 months. Poorly structured onboarding interferes with this, leading to higher feelings of self-doubt and anxiety. Proactive employer support and guidance from the team, on the contrary, make you feel more empowered, engaged, and calm. 

• Work environment. High-paced, results-driven environments can feel more hectic at first. Likewise, the degree of support from peers and supervisors will massively impact your personal well-being.  

• Role complexity. Managerial and executive positions often come with higher stakes and thus a longer adjustment period. Hence, it’s normal for senior candidates to feel more antsy.  

• Personal factors like mental resilience, adaptability, and general susceptibility to anxiety (or other mental issues) can affect new job anxiety duration. 

Remember: if you experience severe anxiety symptoms when starting a new job — loss of sleep, prolonged restlessness, weaknesses, or fatigue — consult with a healthcare professional. 

How to Get Over New Job Anxiety 

Getting over work anxiety requires some vigilance about why negative emotions occur and intentional action to minimize the triggers. Below are three science-backed tips that should help you battle out the jitters! 

Journal Your Progress 

New job anxiety is often irrational. It may be driven by your inner saboteur, fear of the unknown, or general awkwardness in the new work environment. So it causes irrational thoughts about your value to the company or the first impression you’re delivering. 

The cure to this is rationality: Counter your negative thoughts with concrete evidence of your progress. At the end of each day, create a list of things you have accomplished — no matter how big or small. For example, all the orientation activities completed, the first successful tasks, and positive team or supervisor feedback. So that the next time your anxiety kicks in, you can rebut all the doubts with rational evidence of how you’re progressively settling into the new role. 

Moreover, by building a personal list of praises and accomplishments, you’ll then have an easier time advocating for yourself during an annual review or in a salary negotiation email. 

Nurture Your Sense of Self-Efficacy 

Self-efficacy is your inner belief that you can handle whatever life throws your way, shaping how you approach tasks, setbacks, and opportunities. Research suggests that people with high self-efficacy tend to experience lower anxiety levels. 

And the best way to cultivate this belief is through self-affirmations. Numerous studies prove that affirmations can help reduce stress, boost motivation, reduce perception of challenges, and tame anxiety.  The key, however, is to how you phrase them. 

Natalie Dattilo, a clinical psychologist with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, highlights that affirmations will be effective only if they align with what you believe about yourself. For example, saying time and again, that you will “become a master of your time”,  when deep down you know that you lack organizational skills won’t move the needle. But praising yourself for doing great today, despite a snarky remark from a boss who feels threatened by you can make you feel better. 

Come up with your own set of affirmations for new job anxiety by addressing the exact sources of your anxiety. For example: 

• “You’ve got all the right product management skills, and that’s why you’re here—trust yourself more!” 

• “You were hired because you know how to organize kick-ass promo events—let your strengths shine.” 

• “You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be after 10 years in the industry—just give it more time to truly settle in!” 

Prioritize Your Physical Health 

Your mental state directly correlates with your physical well-being. When you’re only focused on work and skip some good habits like exercising good nutrition, and restful sleep, your new job anxiety symptoms will last longer. 

Schedule more ‘decompression time’ during the first several weeks at the new job. Instead of lounging on the couch or grabbing a drink with friends, do a yoga routine or sweat it out on the trails. 

Exercise diverts your brain from over-focusing on the locus of your anxiety. You also release built-up muscle pressure, which contributes to feeling anxious. Moreover, exercises active a part of our brain, responsible for controlling our reactions to stressful situations. Finally, regular physical activity builds up your personal resilience, which makes it easier to cope with strong emotions. 

Final Thoughts 

New job anxiety is a common thing to have, but one you shouldn’t let linger. Try a combination of different tactics to divert your brain from negative, irrational thoughts toward a more delightful picture of your future success in the new role!