Your first 90 days in a graduate role

Your first three months set the tone for years. Nobody expects you to be brilliant immediately — they're watching whether you're reliable, coachable and easy to work with. Get those right and the rest follows.

Be reliable before you're impressive

The fastest way to build trust is to do what you said you'd do, when you said you'd do it. Hit small deadlines. Reply to messages. If something will be late, flag it early. Reliability compounds into being given bigger, more interesting work.

Ask good questions — the right way

You're supposed to ask questions; that's what your first months are for. But ask them well:

• Try first, then ask. "I tried X and got stuck at Y — am I thinking about this right?" beats "how do I do this?"
• Batch small questions rather than interrupting constantly.
• Write down the answers so you don't ask twice.

Take notes and own your mistakes

Keep a running note of how things work, who owns what, and feedback you receive. When you make a mistake — and you will — own it quickly, fix it, and learn. Managers remember how you handled the error far more than the error itself.

Build relationships deliberately

• Have coffee with people across the team, not just your immediate manager.
• Understand what your team is actually trying to achieve, and how your work contributes.
• Say yes to the social side within reason — careers are built on relationships as much as output.

Manage your own development

Around the 90-day mark, ask your manager for honest feedback: "what should I do more of, and what should I improve?" Acting visibly on the answer is one of the strongest signals you can send. The graduates who progress fastest are the ones who take ownership of their own growth from day one.