The Life Starter
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Course 52 · Workforce foundation 02

Keep the Job: Your First 90 Days

Turn a new job or placement into a manageable first 90 days with clear expectations, early wins, feedback, safety awareness, and a growth plan.

What you’ll leave with

A first-90-days plan, accomplishment log, feedback routine, escalation map, and set of questions that make onboarding more navigable.

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Watch first

A useful primer before lesson one.

This video is published by Emily Lago Anderson. It complements the Life Starter sequence; it does not replace the work inside the lessons.

Watch directly on YouTube
Emily Lago AndersonHow to Stand Out in Your First 90 Days at WorkYouTube
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

This is the working brief for the full course: who it serves, what to prepare, what good work looks like, and the language you will use along the way.

Who this is for

People starting a job, internship, apprenticeship, return-to-work placement, or new role who want a practical system for learning the work and asking for support.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Use a fictional or anonymized role; never paste confidential employer records, customer information, or private credentials.
  • Collect the written offer, onboarding checklist, schedule, or public role description if you have one.
  • Choose one person you can safely ask for feedback or general guidance; the course does not replace a manager, union, HR, or qualified adviser.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

Create a first-90-days packet with week-one questions, priorities, early-win experiments, feedback notes, accomplishment evidence, escalation contacts, and a 30/60/90-day review plan.

Three operating principles

The rules behind the steps.

01

Learn the local operating system

Every workplace has routines, definitions, tools, and decision paths that must be discovered rather than assumed.

02

Earn trust through small promises

A few clear commitments completed and communicated are stronger than a dramatic first impression.

03

Record growth while it is fresh

Dates, outcomes, feedback, and examples make progress visible when a review or next opportunity arrives.

Working vocabulary

Key terms worth knowing.

Onboarding
The process of gaining access, context, training, expectations, and relationships for a new role.
Early win
A bounded, useful result that demonstrates understanding without overpromising or bypassing the team.
Escalation path
The approved person or process for a blocked task, safety concern, conflict, or decision outside your authority.
Accomplishment log
A dated record of work completed, outcome, evidence, feedback, and the next improvement.
Your route

Six lessons.
One finished outcome.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Read the offer and onboarding instructions

    Separate confirmed role terms, required setup, unknowns, and questions before the first day.

  2. 2
    30 min

    Build a realistic first week

    Plan access, travel, preparation, questions, learning time, and recovery around the first week of work.

  3. 3
    32 min

    Ask clarifying questions and set priorities

    Turn a long or changing task list into an agreed order, owner, and definition of done.

  4. 4
    34 min

    Receive feedback and track completed work

    Turn feedback into an observable adjustment and keep an evidence-based record of progress.

  5. 5
    36 min

    Handle conflict, escalation, and safety concerns

    Choose a safe, respectful response when work conflicts, unsafe conditions, harassment, or unclear authority appears.

  6. 6
    35 min

    Build a 30/60/90-day growth plan

    Set staged learning, contribution, feedback, and support goals for the first 90 days.

Use the tools

Make the lesson easier to act on.

See all tools
workbook

First 90 days planner

Organize onboarding questions, early wins, feedback, and follow-up dates.

Source transparency

Trust, then verify.

The practice sequence is original editorial synthesis. Current rules, safety details, and platform requirements should be confirmed with these primary or authoritative sources. References reviewed September 9, 2026.

U.S. Department of Labor — Skills to Pay the BillsU.S. Department of Labor — Hours worked and breaksOSHA — Young workers
Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one