--- title: GM CEO Mary Barra's 5 Tips for Starting a New Job description: The typical American worker now holds more than a dozen different jobs over the course of their career. canonical: https://time.com/3683269/mary-barra-new-job-tips/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-28T15:00:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:23.169Z article:section: Ideas og:title: GM CEO Mary Barra's 5 Tips for Starting a New Job og:description: The typical American worker now holds more than a dozen different jobs over the course of their career. og:url: https://time.com/3683269/mary-barra-new-job-tips/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4fcff61fb11f669c/69877bfde53aba46a34d73d4/mary-barra.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2058 og:image:height: 1158 og:image:alt: Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, attends the Buick Avenir press conference on Jan. 11, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: GM CEO Mary Barra's 5 Tips for Starting a New Job twitter:description: The typical American worker now holds more than a dozen different jobs over the course of their career. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4fcff61fb11f669c/69877bfde53aba46a34d73d4/mary-barra.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # GM CEO Mary Barra's 5 Tips for Starting a New Job > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=f4f687b6-c341-447e-85a9-e7979b157f7a&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Mary Barra on Her Biggest Influence [Watch (HLS stream): Mary Barra on Her Biggest Influence](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FVSQ7YcQ.m3u8) (0:59)  _Published 2014-04-24. Mary Barra speaks about the responsibility of being influential._ by [Mary Barra / LinkedIn](https://time.com/author/linkedin/) ## Mary Barra / LinkedIn Contributor Jan 28, 2015 3:00 PM UTC  Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, attends the Buick Avenir press conference on Jan. 11, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, attends the Buick Avenir press conference on Jan. 11, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. Paul Warner—Getty Images by [Mary Barra / LinkedIn](https://time.com/author/linkedin/) ## Mary Barra / LinkedIn Contributor Jan 28, 2015 3:00 PM UTC _LinkedIn Influencer_ [_Mary Barra_](https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=43495888&authType=name&authToken=l7Ky&trk=pulse-det-athr%5Fprof-art%5Fhdr) _originally published this post on_ [_LinkedIn_](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/first-90-days-new-job-mary-barra?trk=prof-post)_._ [_Follow_](https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=43495888&authType=name&authToken=l7Ky&trk=pulse-det-athr%5Fprof-art%5Fhdr) _Mary on LinkedIn._ The typical American worker now holds more than a dozen different jobs over the course of their career. Most Millennials expect to hold even more – as many as 15 or 20, according to a survey released last year by the executive development firm Future Workplace. I’ve been fortunate to spend my entire career with one company, General Motors, which has never failed to challenge me or offer opportunities for growth. And yet, within GM, I’ve held more than a dozen different positions in everything from engineering and manufacturing to communications and human resources. The take away, for me, is that whether you spend your career working for one company or 20, you need to hone your ability to start strong in each new position you hold. Here are five things I focus on whenever I start a new assignment. **Put the customer at the center of everything you do**Whether you work in accounting, engineering, or sales, whether you’re straight out of school or an EVP, remember that by focusing on the customer you will drive better performance. Their needs should inform every decision you make. If the voice of the customer isn’t already reflected in your new position, find ways in your first 90 days – and every day after that – to ensure that it is. **Listen to your team**The first 90 days is your best opportunity to earn the respect and trust of the people with whom you work. People don’t care what you know until they know that you care. Be open, seek solutions, and listen more than you talk. When you value what others say, they start to open up, and that flow of ideas leads to better results. **Strengthen your team**One of your responsibilities as a leader is to ensure that you have the right people on your team. Expect and demand an all-in commitment from everyone. If you don’t have the right people, you’re not doing your job – because you’re too busy doing their work. If you have an employee whose unhappiness is holding back the team, help him find happiness somewhere else. **Take personal responsibility**If you inherit a problem with your new job, don’t dismiss it as the last person’s legacy. Never hide behind your newbie status or use it as an excuse to put off what needs to be done. Own the problem, develop a plan to fix it, and address it head on. Your team’s reputation depends not just on what you do right, but what you do if something goes wrong. **Adapt and learn**At the end of the day, your success will largely be determined not just by how good your plan is, but how well you adapt to meet the changing needs of the customer. Adaptation really comes down to one thing: leadership. And a big part of leadership is being able to look over the horizon and anticipate the changes to come. _In this series, professionals share how they rocked — or didn’t! — the all-important first 90 days on the job. Follow the stories_ [_here_](https://www.linkedin.com/channels/careersgettingstarted?trk=prod-inf-first90-0115-cutline) _and_ [_write your own_](http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/author/createArticle?trk=prod-inf-first90-0115-cutline) _(please include the hashtag #First90 in the body of your post)._ ## Transcript The most influential person in my life is really two people, it's my parents. My mom and dad were, great people. They worked hard. They taught my brother and I the value of a hard day's work and that we could accomplish anything we want if If we worked hard enough. They also taught us the power of integrity. And, they continue to guide me every day. It's truly an honor to be a part of this group, but when you look at the responsibility that comes with being influential, it's something that I take serious every day. It's something that I look at as I, I do my work, as I lead the team and especially as I interface with all of our stakeholders, our employees, our suppliers, the people that, work and live in the communities in which we work. Clearly our shareholders, but probably most importantly our customers. We need to make sure that we're focused on them and doing what's right. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3683269/mary-barra-new-job-tips/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3683269/mary-barra-new-job-tips/"},"headline":"GM CEO Mary Barra's 5 Tips for Starting a New Job","datePublished":"2015-01-28T15:00:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:23.169Z","description":"'Put the customer at the center of everything you do'","url":"https://time.com/3683269/mary-barra-new-job-tips/","keywords":["career","Mary Barra","advice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4fcff61fb11f669c/69877bfde53aba46a34d73d4/mary-barra.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mary Barra / LinkedIn"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4fcff61fb11f669c/69877bfde53aba46a34d73d4/mary-barra.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, attends the Buick Avenir press conference on Jan. 11, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan.","caption":"Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, attends the Buick Avenir press conference on Jan. 11, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan.","creditText":"Paul Warner—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/career/","name":"career"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3683269/mary-barra-new-job-tips/","name":"GM CEO Mary Barra's 5 Tips for Starting a New Job"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mary Barra on Her Biggest Influence","description":"Mary Barra speaks about the responsibility of being influential.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FVSQ7YcQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-04-24T10:24:28.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FVSQ7YcQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3683269/mary-barra-new-job-tips/","duration":"PT59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3683269/mary-barra-new-job-tips/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```