The first part in this series, detailing the application and interview process in the Guardian’s Digital department, was published here.
Meeting your line manager and team
Ahead of your first day, your line manager will email to introduce themselves and let you know the arrangements for your arrival – details like when to arrive, where to meet, and what to bring. After collecting your security card from reception, you’ll be taken to collect your laptop and any other equipment from the IT helpdesk, and introduced to your team. There will usually be someone specifically assigned to be your buddy or mentor on the team, though the Digital department is a really friendly and welcoming environment and everyone is always keen to help as much as possible so you won’t have to direct all your questions at the same person!
Office tour
Next stop will likely be a tour of the office – your line manager will show you all the important places, including the tea/coffee point, toilets, meeting rooms (especially the Scott Room where the largest meetings and events take place, and the Morning Conference room), and of course the fire exits.
Getting set up
Your team will help you to get set up with your email account – you’ll probably have already been added to most of the relevant mailing lists and your manager will send an email to the whole department to introduce you, so the main email traffic on your first day is likely to be made up of friendly welcome emails from other developers in the department. You’ll be pointed in the direction of the new starters site, Digital admin guide and IT new starters handbook, which provide a wealth of information and will be your first ports of call for most practical questions you might have.
At some point during the first day, your team will also show you how to get the project running locally on your laptop – the processes here have been set up with the aim of enabling new starters to get up and running as quickly and painlessly as possible so that you can get some code into production within your first week, which is very satisfying and empowering. You’ll also download and get acquainted with Hangouts chat, which we use for open communication within the department in subject-specific channels. People in your team will help guide you towards the channels you should join, and you can also browse the list of channels for specific things you’re interested in, like running, films, or cats – or create a new one yourself!
Otherwise, most of your first day is likely to be spent talking to your team and getting to know people in the department.
Introductions to the Digital Department
Over the course of your first week or so here at the Guardian, you’ll continue getting to know your team and other members of the Digital department and getting to grips with the way things work here, and there are a number of helpful sessions aimed at getting you up to speed. These might include introductory sessions within your team to understand the project’s architecture and the team’s working practices, or introductions to other teams to learn about how what we all do here fits together. Every quarter you’ll have the chance to attend an introduction to the Guardian’s digital architecture, which gives a high-level overview of the infrastructure that powers the website, mobile apps, and internal tools.
Introductions to the Guardian
You’ll also be invited to a number of sessions that will introduce you to different aspects of working at the Guardian, and prompted to complete some online onboarding modules on anti-bribery and data protection.
The Guardian Discovery Session is a session aimed at recent starters to give an overview of the Guardian’s strategy and vision, commercial model and introduction to the People Services team, including information about the benefits package and what is available to help you settle into your role.
You can sign up for an introduction to the Guardian Foundation, including a fascinating tour of the archive (housed in the basement) and the Education Centre, which runs the Newswise project to promote news literacy for 9-11 year olds across the UK.
Welcome tea and other social activities
During your first three months here you’ll receive an invitation to a welcome tea with Zach Brand (the Chief Digital Officer) along with all other new starters, which is a great chance to get to know the other people who joined at a similar time to you.
These first few weeks are also a good time to discover the many social opportunities on offer, including yoga and meditation, running groups, lunchtime board games or language lessons, or to get to know your colleagues better through team lunches, as you settle into your role – not to mention the Christmas party, summer party, Easter egg hunt, Sports Day…!
Want to join us?
For more information about the Digital department, our developers and the roles we currently have open, see https://workforus.theguardian.com/careers/digital-development/.
The third part in this series, detailing life as a new member of the Guardian’s Digital department, is published here.