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A “before your first day” email gets your new hire excited to hit the ground running and sets them up for a successful first day. You’ve already sent a couple of emails to them by now, so introductions have been covered. So, what should one of these include? Our recommendations (and some examples) are below.
Of course, every email starts with a greeting. And your greeting sets the vibe of your email, so we recommend using a friendly and casual tone. Your new hire is already nervous enough for their first day. Ease those jitters by telling them how excited everyone is for them to join the team and reiterate your support.
When a new hire thinks about their first day, one big factor they’re curious about (but might feel silly asking) is what time they should start. And because there’s been a large movement toward fully remote or hybrid work, there are different ways to approach this.
Remote employees will need to know where to sign in and who they’re supposed to (virtually) meet with. Consider setting up a welcome chat with their manager as a kick-off to their morning - and send the invite to their personal email in advance.
New hires going into an office are going to wonder about things like how to get into the building, who will greet them at the door, and where they can park. There’s nothing worse than showing up to the office and having no idea how to get inside. Make sure to let your new hires know where they can park, how to get in, and that their manager will be there to greet them at the door.
Remember the schedule you created way before your new hire’s first day? It’s time to send it out! Getting this to them in advance gives them plenty of prep time and shows them that you, in fact, are expecting them (and do care when they start).
All of your new hires based in the United States need to fill out an I-9 to be eligible to work for your company. During your new hire’s first day, you can help them fill it out and then collect a hard copy of their employment eligibility and identity documents.
However, your new hires might not even know where these documents are or they might be at their parent’s house halfway across the country. Give your new hires some time to track them down by linking to a list of the documents that they’ll need on hand to fill out their I-9. The last thing you want is to put onboarding on pause because of paperwork.
At most workplaces, a dress code might seem like an antiquated thing of the past. But some new hires, especially ones with less professional experience, might worry about the appropriate attire to wear at the office or even on Zoom.
Like we’ve mentioned before, new hires are naturally going to feel nervous about starting their new job, so they might have some questions that they might be hesitant to ask. Make sure they know that no question is too small.
You can also use these questions to refine your “before your first day” emails in the future. If you notice the same questions being asked, include the answers in your next set of emails.
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