Starting a new job tomorrow.

I am really excited. I’ve been waiting all week, because I finished my HR forms already, I was just waiting for time to pass. I am a little nervous, just hoping to get myself into a rhythm.

I hate the judgments you see in the corporate world. I have had a look at some videos talking about what to expect on your first day at work et cetera.

A lot of them talk about how you should make a good first impression. Be early, but not too early. Don’t be too casual with your colleagues, because “you haven’t quite earned your place yet.” Be available to your manager, but also make sure your HR work is done. Don’t talk negatively about previous employers. Don’t talk too much about your previous employers at all.

Be “presentable”… fashion rules are so silly and arbitrary. My brother said that I should shave cleanly every day. I have never done that in all the days I have worked. He said I should wear business casual, which means business shirts and usually chinos, but chinos don’t work well with my body type, so I should wear dress pants as well. In my previous role, he said the same thing, that dressing casually is “unprofessional”. But literally everyone in my office, including the centre manager, was dressed casually. I didn’t realise I was signing up for a modelling career. To which people say “it’s just basic courtesy.”

It sucks. “First impressions are everything.” “Perception is reality.” It’s this belief that means that people pretend to be someone they’re not on online dating sites, only to reveal their true selves later, their true selves being worse than someone who made an honest first impression.

A big part of me is saying “just don’t worry about what anyone thinks”, but right or wrong, you’re still being judged on it.