Its all new, but it’s worth it…
Most people know what it’s like to start a new job. Whether it’s your first part time role, moving to a different firm or embarking on a completely new career. Your first days arrives and those familiar feelings rush through your mind, whether you’re going to fit in, will my colleagues like me, will I succeed at the role and most importantly the feeling of not wanting to get anything wrong.
I recently joined the Clive Emson team as a Trainee Auction Appraiser, and I can tell you that I was terrified… I didn’t know what to expect; I knew what an auction was… I knew we would be advising on, and selling, land and property, but other than that I felt like I knew very little.
Taking the leap from a job role you know like the back of your hand to one where you know nothing can be extremely terrifying however by constantly listening, taking notes and joining in you will learn fast. I found that many of the tasks I was asked to do in my new role took me well and truly out of my comfort zone but, keeping an open mind and ALWAYS asking questions no matter how silly I thought they sounded, made coming into a new job that much easier.
Another thing I realised along the way was to always say yes, even when it scares you. In my case, having a 3 month probation period helped me a lot, I wanted to show that I could handle anything thrown at me and that I was capable of learning fast and on the job.
A great example was when I was about 3 weeks in to my new job, I was asked to attended a Kent based charity auction, when asked “what would you like to do” I said ‘I’ll do anything, I don’t mind’. Instantly questioning my response I was handed a telephone bid from a buyer in Italy… my eyes widen, and I thought ‘how quickly can I learn to speak Italian?’.
My face must have said a thousand words (or it could have been the sound of my jaw hitting the floor) because a few seconds later they passed the phone bid to someone else with the words “why don’t we start you off on a proxy bid”. Understanding that they were trying to help the words ‘yeah, that’s fine’ rolled out of my mouth followed by the sudden realization (panic) that I didn't know what a proxy bid was!!!
One half of my brain was screaming ‘what are you doing you’ve never done this before, what if you get it wrong?’ and then the other part of was like ‘but what if you don’t, you’ve got this’. Needless to say the auction was a great success raising a huge sum of money for the Heart of Kent Hospice selling Elmer elephant sculptures to buyers all across the world.
We are all continuously learning and yes it does make your brain hurt from time to time but these experiences (however scary) are definitely worth it in the long run.
Oh, and by the way, I passed my 3-month probation! I’m not sure how, but here I am looking forward to the next challenge ?
Megan Potter
Trainee Auction Appraiser
