Half of employees starting a new job find it more daunting than a trip to the dentist, a first date or even having a baby.
A poll of 1,100 workers, conducted by recruitment consultancy Office Angels, showed first day jitters are causing stress among new employees, with 37% claiming it is more nerve-racking than going on a first date, 25% compare it to the stress of sitting an exam and a frazzled 6% think it’s as bad as having children.
The survey put the stress of starting a new job down to a fear of making mistakes, which happened to 78% of respondents in their first week. The most common gaffes include mixing up colleagues names, getting lost and mistaking a senior colleague for a junior colleague.
However, employees are contributing to the stress by failing to adequately prepare for their first day, with 41% of respondents admitting they don’t do a dummy run of the journey to the new office and only 19% bother to enquire about the dress code.
