We all know the basic dos and don’ts when it comes to impressing your new boss, but these take on even more importance while you’re in your probation period.

Potential probation nightmares include turning up late every day, constantly clock watching, and dismissing or arguing with any feedback provided. Appear eager to learn, positive, and look like you’re genuinely enjoying your job, and you’ll go a long way to making sure you impress.

After all, if you’re not getting anything positive out of this experience, your boss will only assume the position isn’t quite right for you.

Maintain a good level of communication with your co-workers during your probationary period, and you’ll feel a lot calmer and do a much better job as a result.

And if any issues do arise, do your best to deal with them at the earliest opportunity, rather than waiting until it’s too late to improve or change things.

By allowing your boss to provide you with regular feedback and voicing any concerns you might have, you can be sure that what you’re doing is on the right track – and if not, you have time to change it.

Remember: asking questions is a good thing.

It might feel like it’s up to your boss to instigate the catch-up chats – since you’re new and might not feel comfortable making the first move. Don’t be.

Your manager might have a million other things going on, so use your initiative and don’t be afraid to ask for help or feedback if you need it. This way, you’re showing that doing things right is important to you, and you want your work to be the best it can be – which will impress your employer. It also shows you have the ability to take charge if you need to, and are willing to take on constructive criticism and make potential improvements to your work.

Most importantly, make sure you’re made aware of your objectives and you know what’s expected of you, then there’ll be no surprises when your probation comes to an end.

You’re going to make mistakes. Accept it.

It’s all part of starting a brand new job, and your boss is unlikely to overreact while you’re still finding your feet.

However, always take responsibility for any mistakes you do make. No employer wants to hire someone who throws someone else under the bus for their shortcoming, or gets automatically defensive when they do something wrong. Instead, own up, explain what happened, apologise, and learn how you can fix it.

Your boss will admire your mature attitude, and you’ll be able to avoid making the mistake again. Either that or you’ll end up hiding out in the bathroom all day searching for escape routes.

A newbie should always avoid engaging in workplace politics, so make sure you’re not joining in on (or instigating) any talking behind people’s backs or gossiping.

That doesn’t mean you can’t make friends, but putting other people down is unlikely to give you a good reputation – regardless of how much you think they might deserve it.

Focus on doing your job and building your own security, and ignore any negative vibes that might be around you. Use the first few months of your new job to absorb information, and get a grasp of how things are done and what people are like.

Because first impressions count, but they’re not always accurate.

Whatever happens during your probation period or temporary conract, always try to make the most of your experience.

Even if you don’t end up staying with the company long term, there will always be something you can use from your time with the company to help find your next role.

Networking can often be the key to getting where you want to be in your career, so mingle with the right people, get in everyone’s good books, and maybe you’ll be suggested for another job somewhere else in the future.

Because, sometimes it is about who you know.

You may feel a probationary period is all about you being ‘on trial’, and to an extent it is. But a probationary period cuts both ways: it’s about them getting to know you and you getting to know them. It’s also in the interest of both sides to ensure a probationary period is a success. Of course, you want a job and the salary that goes along with it — but they also want the probationary period to be successful because hiring people is expensive and time-consuming. A reliable, competent employee is a valuable asset. Plus, if you fail their probationary period, it may raise some difficult questions about their own recruitment and management processes.

Having said all that, one of the best ways to ensure a probationary period goes swimmingly is simply to be unfailingly cheerful, no matter what is thrown at you. It’ll be hard, but coming across as someone who can suck up the pressure and the workload with good grace and a positive, eager attitude will make it much harder for them to turn around in three to six months and say ‘you don’t belong here’.

During your probationary period, you want to stand out and make a good impression. But you also want to be quickly developing a reputation as someone who’s reliable and can deliver results with minimum fuss and bother.

This is a difficult balancing act. On the one hand, you mustn’t be afraid to ask questions. This is, first, to enable you to find out how things work so you’re not going to be tripped up by them later on, and second, to show that you’re interested in what you’re doing and that you have an appetite to learn and develop. On the other hand, recognise that too many constant questions will eventually become wearing to those around you, and you may start to be perceived as someone unable to work independently.

Similarly, you’ll want quickly to start building relationships with the people around you — the key is to come across as friendly, approachable and competent. So, take an interest in your colleagues, and show a willingness to learn the ropes from them. It can also be a good idea to throw yourself into any networking opportunities that come along so as to start creating a bit of visibility for yourself more widely within the organisation. But, again, it’s a fine line. You don’t want to come across as pushy or overly ambitious.

Putting in discretionary effort or volunteering to take on extra tasks or responsibilities will show admirable keenness and enthusiasm. But make sure you don’t fall into the trap of taking on so much extra stuff that you’re unable to do your ‘day job’ properly.

Poor performance is generally the most common reason cited by managers for someone failing to pass their final evaluation. But absence and lateness are also frequent complaints, and are two of the quickest ways to get a black mark against your reputation.

This is hardly rocket science if your aim is to make a favourable impression, so make a real effort always to be on time and reliable. Of course, everyone gets sick from time to time, and everyone occasionally has a nightmare commute when everything goes wrong, but if the worst happens, do your utmost to keep the people who need to know informed; show you understand that time-keeping and attendance matters.

Make sure you look the part and fit in with whatever the dress code is for the organisation. You may eventually be able to develop that eccentric look that everyone finds quirky and endearing, but leave it until after you’ve secured that permanent contract.

Regular conversations with your boss about how you’re doing and how you’re meeting the various objectives you’ve been set are a vital part of getting through any induction or probationary period; indeed, they may form the formal record of your probation and be at the heart of being successfully ‘signed off’.

Ideally, your employer should have put in place a structured programme, with regular mentoring and conversations, performance appraisal and feedback. But too often, this happens for the first week or two and then day-to-day pressures and distractions kick in. Ironically, this is especially the case if you quickly seem to settle in and come across as a ‘safe’, reliable pair of hands.

While the temptation in this situation can often be to keep your head down and hope for the best, it is important you make it clear you do need and desire this mentoring to continue, for the record to be maintained. Why this is important is that, if you’re having regular performance conversations throughout the probationary period, it is much easier to put any issues right as you go along and so, naturally, improve your chances of ‘passing’. It also makes it much harder for any nasty surprises to emerge just as you’re reaching the end of the process.