We tend to treat the first six months in a role as a probationary period. Can you do the job? Can you ramp? Can you meet expectations? Are you a good fit?
That framing is so common we rarely question it.
But in my experience, the six-month mark is doing something else at the same time. It’s giving you enough information to decide whether this role, this team, and this company are actually a fit for you.
By six months in, you’re no longer onboarding. (Don’t get me wrong: there’s still a ton to learn, but you’re past the initial “I’m new here” phase.) You understand the org chart. You know how decisions really get made. You’ve seen how conflict is handled, how feedback flows, and which values are aspirational versus enforced.
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