Work & Career: New Job Quotes

Starting a new job can feel exciting and uncertain. This collection of quotes offers calm encouragement, practical motivation, and perspective for first days, fresh responsibilities, and growing confidence. Find words that celebrate progress, adaptability, and learning from challenges as you settle into a new role. Whether you are stepping into a different industry or advancing your career path, these insights support focus, resilience, and a positive mindset while you build relationships, master new tools, and set goals for meaningful work.

Similar topics:Career Quitting Job Work Work Ethic Work-Life Balance

"I've had bad jobs. Now I have a good one. I'm thankful!"

Maurice Greene, Athlete

"I've been really lucky. When I decided to go to LA I said I was going to quit modelling and just go and see how I do. In the first two weeks I got three movies. I was so excited I had all my furniture shipped out from New York"

Estella Warren, Model

"But you know, sometimes - many - they all understand. That's the nice thing. They were all very happy for me and they understand why I decided to come to CNN. So in that respect, I know that they think it's the best thing for me to do"

Connie Chung, Journalist

Connie Chung

"I'm delighted to be coming back to Formula 1 after a two-year break, and I'm grateful to Lotus Renault GP for offering me this opportunity"

Kimi Raikkonen, Celebrity

"The day I became press secretary to the President of the United States, I was in an entirely different world from the one I'd been in the day before"

Pierre Salinger, Public Servant

"I now work for a finance company in Luxembourg with projects in South America and the Caribbean"

Mathias Rust, Aviator

Mathias Rust

"The person who gives you your first job is so important in any industry"

Christopher Eccleston, Actor

"At a tiny station in New Albany, Indiana, which is right across from the river from Louisville, Kentucky, where I grew up. The Louisville stations were loath to hire beginners, so I had to go across the river"

Bob Edwards, Journalist

"I was hired as a penciler"

Gil Kane, Artist

"When Jackie got his big contract at CBS and was putting together what turned out to be almost a stock company of players, he remembered Frank and said, 'Get me that kid who played the jail sketch.'"

Audrey Meadows, Actress

"Then, in 2000, John Reid, Elton John's former manager, asked me to audition for the stage version of The Graduate he was producing. So I worked on it, got the part, and after three weeks' rehearsal I was on stage!"

Jerry Hall, Model

Jerry Hall

"I didn't want to do 'Casino Royale' when they told me to audition. I said no. Then they sent me the script, and I thought it was actually very interesting - and I had no other work at the time"

Eva Green, Actress

Eva Green

"So it was sort of an odd time because I had been hired, but my paperwork hadn't gone through. So I worked as an intern during the government shutdown, as an intern, but I already had a job"

Monica Lewinsky, Celebrity

Monica Lewinsky

"That's true, because I'm a photographer now"

Leonard Nimoy, Actor

Leonard Nimoy

"I had a soap opera, and my next job was working with Kyle McLachlan on The Invisible Man"

Elisabeth Rohm, Actress

Elisabeth Rohm

"Dick Wolf was my first boss after coming out of Sarah Lawrence"

Elisabeth Rohm, Actress

Elisabeth Rohm

"I've been telling everyone for weeks now about how I get to play Lois Lane. It's a big deal. There are a few characters throughout your life which everyone knows, and this is one of them. I can't wait"

Christina Hendricks, Actress

"What I tell these young people is, the world is not as dangerous as the older generation would like you to believe. Anyone I know who has ever taken a risk and lost a job has ended up getting a better one, two years later"

Jonathan Kozol, Writer

"I just needed a job. Before being hired as an usher at the CBS Theatre, I didn't even know there was a show business!"

David Geffen, Businessman

David Geffen

"He wants to be his own man and be recognized for what he's done. He's not asking for anything because of his name. That was a tough situation to go into at Alabama, but he probably wouldn't have been given the job if the situation would have been different"

Don Shula, Coach

"I am so excited to extend myself behind the scenes as a designer and to - as my father puts it - finally have a real job"

Lady Gaga, Musician

"When I moved to L.A. in 1989, the very first thing I did was this horrific pilot called To Protect And Surf"

Thomas Haden Church, Actor

Thomas Haden Church

"It's extremely difficult to get these jobs because you can't get a job on a ship unless you have seaman's papers, and you can't get seaman's papers unless you have a job on a ship. There had to be a way to break through the circle, and he was the one who arranged it for me"

Paul Auster, Author

"I had been offered a Hollywood contract before my 18th birthday. It gave me the spark I needed"

Gene Tierney, Actress

Gene Tierney

"My hope is that 10 years from now, after I've been across the street at work for a while, they'll all be glad they gave me that wonderful vote"

Sandra Day O'Connor, Judge

Sandra Day O'Connor

"I started working at Hanna-Barbera in '92 on 2 Stupid Dogs"

Craig McCracken, Artist

"It was an easy choice to return with Lotus Renault GP, as I have been impressed by the scope of the team's ambition"

Kimi Raikkonen, Celebrity

"As a first-time director in America, I feel I've been very fortunate"

Sam Mendes, Director

"Walking into a show when I was 16, at that time when it was the No. 1 hit show, and replacing a character comes with so many expectations. I felt a lot of pressure with that"

Sarah Chalke, Actress

"I'm one of the great unemployed looking for the next job. I'm waiting for the right offer. Like anyone, I want something that turns me on inside"

Francesca Annis, Actress

"Now, when I came on to Washington to begin my job, I was so interested in photography at that time that I really would have preferred to work with Stryker than with my department, which was more artistic if you wish"

Ben Shahn, Artist

Ben Shahn

"I had always fancied a go at the comedy and when it started to go reasonably well and the opportunity arose for me to move into it full time, I just couldn't turn it down. I just took the risk, and I just wanted to see if it would work and thankfully it did"

Jo Brand, Comedian

"I started in radio, again accidentally. I wasn't looking for this kind of work at all"

Hector Elizondo, Actor

"I had never watched a law show prior to being cast on The Practice"

Lara Flynn Boyle, Actress

Lara Flynn Boyle

"For instance, he says, I let him play golf, and he says, he lets me be miserable in my job. Now - that doesn't quite sound right, does it? But nonetheless, I think for the first time in my life, I'm not going to be miserable in my life when I come and work at CNN"

Connie Chung, Journalist

Connie Chung

"My background has been very helpful for this experience. But everyone was so accommodating because they knew it's not the most comfortable position to be the new kid"

Jeri Ryan, Actress

"So, I was offered this job to come down there, but first, it was suggested that I take a trip around the country in the areas in which we worked to see what it's all about, and I tell you that was a revelation to me"

Ben Shahn, Artist

Ben Shahn

"I hadn't worked for a year when I had my Prison Break audition and it was the easiest audition I've ever had. I got the script on Friday, went to the audition on Monday and got the part on Tuesday. I was shooting the pilot a week later. I didn't have time to be nervous - it happened so quickly"

Wentworth Miller, Actor

"I got as little as a $75 a week when I started"

Leslie Caron, Actress

Leslie Caron

"So I took it as a very positive sign that the club came to me rather than the other way round"

Dennis Bergkamp, Athlete

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