CrossKnowledge is excited to launch Uncovering the Unspoken Rules to Succeed in a New Job, a new learning collection co-created with Gorick Ng, Harvard career advisor and faculty member at UC Berkeley.
Starting a new job is rarely just about learning the ropes. It’s about figuring out how things really work. What does “taking initiative” actually look like here? How do you build trust without overstepping? What’s expected, but never said out loud?
These are the kinds of questions that can make or break someone’s early success. And yet, they’re almost never addressed.
This collection changes that. It gives your learners the clarity, confidence and strategies they need to navigate their new role and start making a difference from day one.
Why this program matters for your organization
First impressions matter. So do the first weeks. The collection provides your employees with essential knowledge to prevent early workplace errors while establishing enduring professional success.
Through Uncovering the Unspoken Rules to Succeed in a New Job learners will gain the ability to:
- Take initiative and deliver results early on
- Build strong relationships and shape how they’re perceived
- Navigate expectations and office dynamics
- Take control of their growth and career direction
It’s an ideal resource for graduate programs, onboarding journeys, and talent development strategies that go beyond compliance to drive real-world readiness.
Seven essential Skill Paths to uncover the unspoken rules to succeed in a new job
Each Skill Path tackles a different challenge learners face when stepping into a new role. Together, they build a strong foundation for collaboration, contribution and growth, starting on day one.
Here’s a quick overview of the seven Skill Paths:
Uncover the Unspoken Rules
to Succeed in a New Job
Audience: new joiners & talents in transition
- Prepare Effectively for a New Role
Duration: 51 min
For some, the first day in a new role is bewildering, stressful or full of uncertainties. Others, however, can slide into a new role like they’re putting on a well-worn and comfy glove. The difference: preparation. This course shows creative and effective ways to start a new role with an immediate sense of what should be done and how to achieve it. - Make a Positive Impression on Work Colleagues
Duration: 49 min
For collaboration to really get off the ground, we need our colleagues to know us and to understand what we’re capable of. This course shows how to manage the signals that we send to others about our commitment to working with them and to achieving good things together. - Deliver Results as You Take on a New Job
Duration: 57 min
Whether you’re part of a new team, taking on a new position or starting in a new company, you’ll need to show what you can do right from the start. This means delivering early results. Hitting the brief means having the right mindset and mastering the skills to deal with managers, problems and other people’s expectations. This course shows the strategies that work. - Build Positive Workplace Relationships
Duration: 44 min
Who do you go to for advice? How do you make sure you have quality connections in place when you need them to help you get the job done? What are the underlying power dynamics you need to watch out for to avoid stepping on anyone’s toes? This course will help you understand workplace relationships so that you can be at your most effective, whether you are stepping into a new role or have been there for a while. - Boost Your Career Through Strong Day-to-Day Performance
Duration: 42 min
Even the most hardworking, talented people have blind spots that can limit their performance. The key is how you approach meetings, feedback and asking for help—and this applies when you’re just starting out as well as later in your career. This course reveals the strategies you need to ensure your day-to-day performance is just as high as the effort you put in. - Manage Your Career
Duration: 49 min
Smart career management ensures that every step you take is aligned with your long-term goals and values. It involves positioning yourself to be uniquely capable in promotable areas. This course shows you how to strategize for a successful, rewarding career. - Succeed in an Internship: the Unspoken Rules
Duration: 1 hr 5 min
Internships involve stepping into a world of unknowns—including expectations that were never made explicit in any training and orientation guides. To gain the most useful connections and experiences as an intern, you need to navigate the unspoken rules and seize the initiative every chance you get. This course shows you how to hit the ground running.
These seven Skill Paths are available in five languages: American English, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, French and German.
Go further with one in-depth Path to Performance
To support a more in-depth learning journey, the collection also includes a Path to Performance based on Gorick Ng’s best-selling book, The Unspoken Rules.
This course goes deeper into the behavioral shifts and workplace strategies that drive success when starting a new role. It helps learners understand what managers expect but rarely explain, and gives them a framework to deliver results and grow with intention.
Here’s a quick overview of the Path to Performance:
Succeed in a New Job: The Unspoken Rules
Duration: 4 hr 45 min
Here’s what no one tells you about workplace success: It’s not just about giving it your all and letting your efforts speak for themselves. To get results and thrive in your career, you need more than hard work. This course reveals the unspoken rules that make the working world go round—rules that you won’t find in any orientation or training course.
And for more flexibility: 23 short videocasts
To round out the experience, the collection also includes 23 short videocasts. These are ideal for just-in-time learning, quick refreshers or informal reinforcement.
They’re available in English with subtitles in seven languages (Brazilian Portuguese, British English, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish), making them easy to roll out across global teams.
Help your people do more than just settle in
Uncovering the Unspoken Rules to Succeed in a New Job isn’t just about guiding new hires through their first month. It’s about equipping anyone stepping into a new role or career move to build credibility, deliver results, and grow from the very beginning.
Reach out to your CrossKnowledge representative to explore how these new resources can be integrated into your learning programs.
Gorick Ng is a career advisor at Harvard College, specializing in coaching first-generation, low-income students. He is also a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley where he teaches the unspoken rules of career navigation. He is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right, published by Harvard Business Review Press and named by Thinkers50 as one of the top 10 management books of 2022.