How To Introduce Yourself at Work

New starters tend to have two introductions: a mumbled name and role, or a two-minute career history nobody asked for. A good introduction is fifteen seconds long, tells people how your work touches theirs, and invites a reply.

The three-part formula

1. Name and role. "I'm Abebe, I've just joined as the senior accountant."
2. What you will be doing that affects them. "I'll be handling the monthly close and the branch reports, so you'll probably see me chasing invoices around month end."
3. An opening for them. "How does your team's work connect to finance?"

The third part is what turns an announcement into a conversation, and it means you learn something in every introduction rather than only being observed.

Adapt it to the audience

Your immediate team: add one line of relevant background. "I've come from a manufacturer where I ran the close for six branches, so multi-site reporting is familiar."

Another department: lead with the interface. "I'm the new accountant — I'll be the person approving your purchase requests, so it's worth us knowing each other."

Senior leadership: keep it to fifteen seconds and be specific about your remit. Senior people meet a lot of new joiners; brevity is a courtesy.

A written introduction to a group: four sentences maximum — role, remit, one line of background, and how to reach you.

A written example

Hello everyone,

I'm Liya Bekele and I joined this week as Programme Officer for the Oromia portfolio, reporting to Hanna. I'll be coordinating the woreda-level activities and the monthly reporting, so I'll be in touch with most of you about data and field schedules.

I've spent the last three years on community health programmes in the region, so the geography is familiar even though the organisation is new to me.

My extension is 214 and my door is open — I would much rather be asked something early than get it wrong quietly.

Liya

Common mistakes

• Too long. If it takes more than twenty seconds, it is a biography.
• Too vague. "I'm in operations" tells nobody anything.
• Overselling. Listing your achievements to people who have not asked reads as insecurity.
• Apologising. "Sorry, I'm new and I don't really know anything yet" primes people to expect little.
• Skipping the name. Say it clearly and slowly. People will need it more than once.

The part that matters more than the introduction

Write down every name you are given on the day you hear it, with the person's role and one detail. Using someone's name correctly in week two, when they expected you to have forgotten it, does more for your standing than any amount of polish in the introduction itself.