Just hypothetically, what advice would you give a middle-aged person who was about to start a new professional, white collar job with a large organization after 20+ years at their old one?
I’m thinking pretty near the top of the list has to be KEEP YOUR BIG MOUTH SHUT! 
Listen. Yes, 75% of what you’re told will be BS, but learning who is spewing BS and who isn’t is useful.
And don’t be too eager to tell people how your old place did it. Demonstrate you’re willing to learn before you teach.
Wait for the kids to screw things up, then step up to show the value of your experience.
Sorry, interrupted by a phone call. I didn’t mean wait around doing nothing. Right off the bat, show initiative. Don’t wait to be asked, or wait around before asking someone. New hires without experience tend to be introverted and uncomfortable, and lacking in confidence, so show how quickly you can come on board. Also look for the people who have been around for a while, but aren’t relating well to the younger crowd and their blueberries, twizzlers, and tip-top music. They will welcome someone they can relate to.
Finally, (and keep this to yourself, other dopers, stop reading), nobody knows you, and you have the opportunity to define yourself. Just subtly drop into conversation the impressions you want people to have about you. If you want people to think you are hard-working, just mention that people think you are a workaholic. If you want people to think you are a party animal after hours, tell them you are. Reality won’t matter much, without a frame of reference people will tend to believe anything they hear. I knew someone who wanted to be known as stud. He ventured to another department where nobody knew who he was, and talked about himself in the third person, ‘Did you hear about that new guy Bob? Every woman on the 4th floor wants to go out with him’. Before long, they did (ok dopers, resume reading).
Good luck. Hope it works out well.
You have a lot to offer. You have seen how things are done differently. Use your experience to help improve processes at your new job.
Figure out the what makes your new boss tick. Some are real clock watchers, while others are more interested in performance. Transitioning from one style of boss to another can be an adjustment.
Donuts. After you’ve been there a few weeks, bring in donuts for the whole office.
Stay off the Dope at work 
There will be a person who comes right up to you and is friendly and helpful and wants to show you the supply closet and go to lunch.
That person is the office idiot.
Thanks all. Really good stuff here - keep it coming!
I think I’m falling into a pretty sweet situation. I’m going to a newly constructed office. 10 of the 12 top positions will be filled by new hires, of which I am 1. And the 2 experienced folk are transferring in from different cities. So it isn’t as tho I am coming into an established situation as the new guy at the bottom of the totem pole. We’re essentially all new guys.
But I have dealt with the subject matter for the past 24 years, so it isn’t going to be entirely new to me as it may be to some of my colleagues.
We are going to have 30 or 40 support and office staff, made up of new hires and transfers.
Right now no office head has been named. The acting chief is an old friend of mine, who currently runs a neighboring office. Starting Monday I will put 2 weeks in at her office, where several other folk I know and am on good relations with work. Then I go out east for 4 weeks’ training with 1/2 of the new hires. The other half gets trained 1 month later.
Like you said, none of these people know me, so it is largely up to me what impression they get. And I know I know the subject matter and am able to produce. Really exciting!
That’s got to be one of the lamest recommendations I have ever seen. If you’re not a workaholic, they are gonna figure out pretty damn soon. :rolleyes:
ya, i agree lol
This new job - as was my old one - is very production oriented. I am extremely fortunate because I am able to turn out pretty high numbers of this type of work relatively easily, without working overtime, bringing work home, etc. So I can be a high producer, without being a workaholic - if that makes any sense. And if your numbers are high enough, they pretty much leave you alone.
Just remember there is a HUGE DIFFERENCE between showing others how smart you are and how dumb they are.
Second this one - its taken me a little while to learn it (sometimes I’m slow) but man is this accurate.
This may be the best work/school-place comment I have ever seen.
I wish I had gotten it when I was a kid. Or understood it if I had…
Dins - Have you started house hunting yet?
My advice (feel free to ignore) is to listen more than you talk. Sometimes I even take my own advice.
StG
pm sent
If you make up a complete lie, you will be discovered. If you are 5 foot 6 and claim to be over 6 feet tall, they’ll know right away. If they perceive you are working hard, they will assume it is a character trait instead of an affectation. I don’t recommend lying. But in wholely subjective matters, it will work if you do not supply evidence to the contrary.
Also, can’t you follow instructions? I specifically told everyone but the OP not to read that section.