Questions to Ask About Induction
Twenty questions for a new starter to ask during induction, covering access and logistics, what counts as a good first month, unwritten rules, and how probation is judged.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What does my first week look like, day by day?
Why ask it
A day-by-day answer means someone has planned it. If you get a general shape instead, write your own plan for the week and send it to your manager to correct, because nobody else will.
Who should I go to with small questions that are not worth a meeting?
Why ask it
Every team has an informal answer person who is not marked on the org chart. Getting their name on day one saves weeks of guessing, and if nobody can name one, expect to work most things out alone.
What accounts and access do I need, and who arranges them?
Why ask it
Missing access is the most common reason a first week is wasted. Ask who raises the request rather than just what you need, since the answer is usually a ticket somebody has to remember to file.
Which of the meetings in my calendar are expected, and which are optional?
Why ask it
Recurring invites arrive without context and are hard to leave later, once regular attendance looks like a commitment. The useful detail is which meeting decisions actually get made in.
What does a good first month look like from your side?
Why ask it
A month is short enough that the answer should be concrete: one thing finished, one process learned, one group of people met. If the answer is settle in, you have no target and no way to be judged fairly.
Who will I work with most closely, and what does each of them actually do?
Why ask it
Titles rarely describe the work. Listen for the person described with a caveat attached, because that is usually where the team's friction sits.
What is the one system I will be in every day, and how do people learn it?
Why ask it
Whether the answer is a course, a recorded walkthrough, or ask Priya tells you how much of your ramp-up is self-directed, and how much undocumented knowledge lives in one person's head.
Which policies do I need to read properly rather than skim?
Why ask it
Nobody reads all of them. Asking which ones matter gets you the two or three with real consequences attached, usually expenses, data handling, and how leave is booked.
How does the team prefer to communicate: chat, email, or in person?
Why ask it
Getting this wrong reads as rudeness rather than inexperience. Ask specifically what warrants a call, since teams differ more on that than on anything else.
What is a normal working day here in terms of hours and availability?
Why ask it
Stated hours and observed hours differ. Ask what time people stop replying and whether an evening message expects an answer, because that part never appears in a contract.
What tends to trip up new starters in their first month?
Why ask it
This converts other people's mistakes into free information, and it is far easier for a colleague to answer about new starters in general than about you specifically.
What is a piece of unwritten etiquette I would otherwise learn by getting it wrong?
Why ask it
Unwritten rules are the ones people get judged on: how much detail belongs in a status update, whether cameras go on, who chairs what. Most colleagues will happily say if asked directly.
When will I get my first real piece of work, and who will review it?
Why ask it
Induction that never hands over real work leaves you with nothing to show. The review half matters more than the work half, since a first attempt nobody reads teaches you very little.
Who owns the work I am taking over, and how will the handover happen?
Why ask it
Work inherited from someone leaving is where knowledge disappears. Find out how much overlap you have with them, and if the answer is none, ask what has been written down.
What background should I read to understand the decisions already made?
Why ask it
Last quarter's notes and decisions get you further than any orientation deck. If nothing is written down anywhere, that itself tells you how the team operates.
Who outside my immediate team should I introduce myself to early on?
Why ask it
New starters over-invest in their own team and meet nobody else. Your manager usually knows the right five names but will not volunteer them unprompted.
What can I decide on my own, and what needs signing off?
Why ask it
Nobody mentions the boundary until you cross it. Ask for two examples on each side, because the line is far clearer in cases than stated as a principle.
How will I know if I am falling behind, and who would tell me?
Why ask it
You want a mechanism, not reassurance. If the honest answer is that feedback only arrives at review time, set up your own check-ins now rather than later.
Is there a probation period, and what specifically is assessed at the end of it?
Why ask it
Probation criteria are often vague until the moment they are used. Ask what is measured and by whom, in writing if possible, before the period rather than during it.
What happens once induction finishes, and when is our next proper conversation?
Why ask it
Induction usually ends without anyone announcing it, and the extra support quietly stops. A date in the calendar prevents the drift where six months pass with no real feedback.
Making induction useful
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before and during your first week
Ask for the first-week plan in writing
A short email before you start, asking what the first few days will look like, gives your manager a prompt to prepare something. It also gives you a record if the plan never materialises.
Write down every name for two weeks
Name, team, and one line on what they do. You will meet more people in your first fortnight than you can hold in your head, and asking someone their role twice costs more than a note.
Batch the small questions
Keep a running list and ask it in one go, once a day. This spares your colleagues constant interruption, and the list becomes a useful record of what was not obvious when the next person joins.
What to ask, and when
First few days
- 1What does my first week look like, day by day?
- 2Who should I go to with small questions?
- 3What accounts and access do I need, and who arranges them?
- 4Which of these meetings are optional?
End of week two
- 1What does a good first month look like from your side?
- 2What tends to trip up new starters here?
- 3What is a normal working day in terms of hours?
- 4What is a piece of unwritten etiquette I should know?
Around week four
- 1What can I decide on my own, and what needs signing off?
- 2How will I know if I am falling behind?
- 3What is assessed at the end of probation?
- 4When is our next proper conversation?
What goes wrong
Do not save the basic questions for later
Waiting until you feel settled makes simple questions harder to ask, because by week six you are assumed to know. The window where not knowing costs you nothing is roughly three weeks wide.
Do not ask what you could look up
Anything in the handbook, the shared drive, or last month's notes should be checked first. Asking about things already written down is the quickest way to look unprepared.
Do not accept you will pick it up
That answer means no plan exists. Reply by proposing one, however rough, and asking whether it looks about right. Most managers will correct a draft even when they will not write one.
If your induction is thin
Plenty of teams have no real onboarding, particularly small ones and ones hiring in a hurry. If that is your situation, ask three people separately what you should know that nobody will tell you. Comparing three answers gets you closer to how the place actually works than a formal programme would.