That anxious feeling the night before your first day at a new job is something most people know well, but being nervous about starting a new job is completely normal, and in fast-paced marketing, tech and digital environments, it can be harder to shake than most. We surveyed over 500 UK adults to find out what people fear most when starting a new job, asked our experts how to get through it, and looked at what employers can do to protect their hiring investment by getting the welcome right. 

The Data: What Are the UK's Biggest New Job Fears?

One of the first things we asked was whether people would feel more nervous about starting a new job in the office or at home. Most said in person. 

Yet when asked where they'd actually prefer to begin, the majority still chose the office. 

Brian Johnson, Managing Director at Forward Role, believes this reveals a tension between short-term discomfort and long-term benefit: "While candidates might feel an in-person first day is less comfortable than working from home, they're willing to put themselves in that position to reap the benefits of a better first impression with colleagues, and get a better sense of the company culture."

That's just one piece of the picture, though. The top fear overall, cited by around a quarter of respondents, was worrying about disliking the role or the work environment. The results also split quite differently by gender. Women were over 70% more likely than men to worry they were under-qualified for the role despite being the successful candidate, a pattern closely tied to imposter syndrome.

Gen Z had noticeably different priorities from other age groups when it comes to starting a new job. More than half preferred to start from home, and unlike every other age group, being late on the first day ranked as their top worry, ahead of disliking the job. Some might read that as a reluctance to go in at all, but Phil Stott, Group Recruitment Director at Forward Role, thinks otherwise: "Gen Z has learned how to work remotely. They're simply more accustomed to starting a new job that way."  For those starting remotely, the fear of isolation and feeling disconnected is real, as is the pressure to learn new software and master new tech stacks without being able to ask someone in person.

For Candidates: How to Get Over Fear of Starting a New Job

Feeling anxious before starting a new job is more often than not a sign that you care. Here are some practical tips for starting a new job that actually help:

• Expect the first few weeks to feel like a lot. New faces, new systems, new dynamics all at once. Give yourself room to adjust.

• Ask questions while it's still easy to. The probationary period is the best time. Six months in, the same questions feel much harder to raise.

• Prioritise relationships over results. Meeting the team properly matters more in those first weeks than proving yourself through output.

• Make a good first impression by being yourself. Curiosity and willingness to learn land better than pretending to know more than you do.

• Reframe the nerves. Excitement and new job anxiety feel almost identical. Telling yourself "I'm excited" rather than "I'm scared" has been shown to shift how you perform.

Beating Imposter Syndrome in Tech and Digital Roles

Imposter syndrome tends to hit harder in tech and digital roles, where learning new software is constant, and the people around you can seem like they have it all figured out. Rachel Wheeler, Executive Search Director at Forward Role, has seen this pattern consistently: "Women are typically more concerned with underperforming in their new role than men, and are possibly more likely to experience imposter syndrome too. This relates fairly closely to a study published in the Harvard Business Review, in which women were almost twice as likely as men to avoid applying for jobs if they thought they might fail. Women are at a higher risk of being too cautious and missing out on great opportunities as a result." 

Imposter syndrome is more manageable than most people expect. A few practical tips for anyone starting a new job and dealing with it: keep a running note of wins and positive feedback to look back on when those feelings creep in. In a hybrid work environment where your contributions aren't always visible, this is especially useful. It also helps to shift your focus from comparing yourself to others to being curious about what you can learn from them. If new-job anxiety is affecting your overall well-being, our piece on how companies can support employees' mental well-being offers some useful pointers. 

A Two-Way Street: The Importance of Welcoming New Starters

The importance of welcoming new starters properly is something many businesses only truly appreciate after someone leaves during their probationary period. A poor start chips away at employee retention, slows time-to-productivity, and undermines the return on all the money spent to hire them.

Our survey found that what new starters want most is information. Grant Dove, Associate Technology Director at Forward Role, puts it plainly: "New starters need information to help them feel calmer about a new job, more so than a nice lunch or a gift."

How Employers Can Build an Anxiety-Busting Onboarding Process

Knowing the importance of welcoming new starters is one thing. The onboarding process is when you act on it. Getting it right directly impacts employee engagement, retention, and how quickly new hires get up to speed. A few things that can make a real difference: 

• Pre-boarding communications. Send a welcome pack before day one covering practical information, a first-week schedule, and key contacts. It makes a real difference to first-day nerves.

• A proper induction. The most requested onboarding element in our survey. Don't skip it or rush it.

• A buddy system. As Phil Stott, Group Recruitment Director at Forward Role, explains: "Businesses can prioritise constructive relationship-building by pairing the most experienced employees with junior-level staff. That way, they can build culture and skills at once, without having to be draconian about being in the office." 

• Clear 30-60-90 day plans. Not knowing what's expected is one of the main drivers of new job anxiety. A clear picture of what success looks like in the first three months gives people something to aim at and speeds up time-to-productivity.

• Thoughtful hybrid introductions. Brian Johnson recommends a gentler approach to those first few days: "Employers can ease in their new staff with a day-one induction just for introductions, followed by a couple of days working remotely to take the pressure off. It's a great way to ensure new starters feel well-informed and connected without being overwhelmed."

New Job Nerves Are a Good Sign

First-day nerves before starting a new job mean you care about getting it right, and that's actually a good thing. In our experience, the placements that work best tend to share two things in common: a candidate who shows up with genuine curiosity, and an employer who makes the effort to bring them in properly. If you're wondering how to settle in, build confidence, and get over the fear of starting a new job, or you're an employer wanting to make sure your new hires actually stick around, get in touch. We've been helping candidates and employers navigate this for almost two decades.