Nail Your First Job with Claude: 31 Claude Skills

What these skills are

Your first 90 days, as installable Claude skills.

This is Claude for the start of a career: the fortnight before you walk in, the week where nobody has told you what you may paste into an AI, the months where you are learning the business and doing the work at the same time, and the review at the end of it.

The skills follow the first 90 days in the order they come up, in seven stages, and each stage hands something to the next. Before day one you learn the business from public sources, set up one safe place in Claude and plan the first week. Week one turns your employer's AI policy into one page and settles what may go in, what you should still do by hand, how to check a draft and how to say you used AI. Learn fast gives you somewhere for the questions, the acronyms, who does what and the forty-page document. Your first 30, 60 and 90 days agrees the plan, the first goals, the ways of working and what you do first each week. Do the work well covers the everyday output: emails to senior people, meeting notes, spreadsheets, short reports, presentations and owning a mistake. Feedback and progress keeps the evidence for your 1:1s and your first review. Habits that compound carries on after day 90.

The red line: Claude helps you learn the job faster and check your own work. Nothing your employer keeps confidential goes in, Claude never invents what you did, and nothing it drafts goes out in your name until you have read it, checked it and chosen to send it.

Your employer's AI policy comes first, every time. Each skill asks what your policy allows and which Claude account you are in before anything internal goes near a chat, and Data Check Before You Paste is the one you run when you are not sure. Nothing is invented: no made-up achievements, numbers, quotes or results — anything missing becomes a [placeholder] or a question to ask. Work is reviewed, people are not: the maps and notes describe roles and work, never judgments of colleagues. Employment, contract, probation and data protection points end with a pointer to a qualified adviser or to HR.

Where a skill fits a Claude surface — Projects and memory for the 90 days, Incognito chats for one-off questions, Claude in Chrome for public company research, Claude for Excel for spreadsheets, Claude Docs for written work, Claude Slides or Claude for PowerPoint for presentations — it says so, and beta features are marked beta. Every skill still works in a plain chat on the free plan with what you paste in.

Mechanically, each skill is one folder with a SKILL.md file. The 31 are grouped into the seven stages, and each one gives full value on its own: run one, run a stage, or work the 90 days through in the order they arrive.

Download all 31 skills. One zip: ready-to-install skill zips, readable SKILL.md files, and the sources behind every method. Free, no signup. The same 31 skills are open on GitHub: polar-bear-org/claude-skills.

The 31 skills you get

The set follows a first job, in seven stages: before day one, using AI at work safely, learning fast, your first 30, 60 and 90 days, doing the everyday work well, feedback and progress — and the habits that carry on after.

1 · Before day one

1. Company Research Brief

Use when: You start in two weeks and know the logo, not the business

Output: One-page brief from public sources, five “so what for my role” lines, ten questions for week one

2. Claude Project Setup

Use when: You want one place for the first 90 days and do not know what is safe to put there

Output: Project instructions for 90 days, what goes in and never goes in, which account, Incognito and memory check

3. First Week Plan

Use when: You start Monday and feel anxious about getting the first week wrong

Output: Day-by-day plan, questions for manager, buddy and IT, documents to ask for, end-of-week note

2 · Week one: AI at work, safely

4. AI Policy Card

Use when: You were told to “use AI responsibly” and nobody said what that means here

Output: Your AI policy on one page, gaps as questions, a no-policy branch to agree with your manager

5. Data Check Before You Paste

Use when: You are about to paste a client email, a spreadsheet or a colleague's notes into Claude

Output: Green, amber or red for one piece of content, how to strip identifiers, the safer route

6. AI Task Picker

Use when: AI could do half your tasks and you worry you will stop learning the job

Output: Tasks sorted into do it yourself, with Claude, Claude first pass, not allowed; what you learn by hand

7. AI Output Check

Use when: Claude gave you something that looks finished and it is going to your manager or a client

Output: Claim-by-claim check of a Claude draft, what you changed, what still needs a colleague

8. AI Disclosure Note

Use when: Your policy says to disclose AI use, or you feel tempted to hide it

Output: One or two lines on what Claude did and what you did, worded to your policy, and how to say it

3 · Learn fast

9. Question Log

Use when: You have fifty questions and worry you are asking too many

Output: Running log of questions and answers, batched questions for your check-in, a “stuck, then ask” rule

10. Work Glossary

Use when: Every meeting is three-letter acronyms and you nod along

Output: Acronyms and internal terms in plain words, where you heard them, confirmed or to check

11. Who Does What Map

Use when: You do not know who decides, who knows and who to copy in

Output: Team and stakeholder map by role, what each owns and needs, who to ask for what

12. Document Explainer

Use when: You were sent a 40-page document and told to “get familiar with it”

Output: Plain summary of one shareable document, its terms, what it asks of you, three questions

4 · Your first 30, 60, 90 days

13. 30 60 90 Day Plan

Use when: You want to show your manager you have a plan, not just turn up

Output: Understand by 30, contribute by 60, own a piece by 90, checkpoints and support, a draft for your manager

14. First Goals Draft

Use when: Week two is ending and nobody has written down what success looks like

Output: Three to five proposed goals, SMART where counting is honest, one learning goal, how you will be reviewed

15. Ways of Working Note

Use when: You cannot tell how your manager wants to hear from you

Output: Questions to agree with your manager and a half-page note of what you both agreed

16. Weekly Plan

Use when: You have tasks from three people and no idea what to do first

Output: Three outcomes, tasks by urgent and important, time blocks, what to ask your manager to prioritise

17. Priority Clash Reply

Use when: Two senior people want something by Friday and you cannot do both

Output: Factual trade-off note with two options and a short message asking someone to choose

5 · Do the work well

18. Email to a Senior Colleague

Use when: You rewrote a two-line email to a director five times

Output: Point and ask first, context after, deadline, subject line, tone check

19. Meeting Notes and Actions

Use when: You left a meeting unsure what was decided and who does what

Output: Decisions, actions with owner and date, open questions, a follow-up message

20. Spreadsheet Check

Use when: You were handed a spreadsheet and a question and Excel was never taught

Output: Analysis plan, formulas in plain words, layout check, totals reconciled, what the numbers say

21. Short Report

Use when: Your manager asked you to “write it up” and you have notes, not a story

Output: One to two pages, answer first, three supporting points, what you are unsure of, the ask

22. Presentation of Your Work

Use when: You have to present your first piece of work to the team or a senior audience

Output: Storyline, full-sentence slide headlines with evidence, likely questions, a rehearsal

23. Mistake Recovery Note

Use when: You made a mistake at work and want to hide it

Output: Facts, impact, fix, an early message to your manager, what changes next time

6 · Feedback and progress

24. Brag Document

Use when: Something went well this week and you will have forgotten it by your review

Output: Dated log of what you did and the result, lessons, monthly recap by theme

25. Weekly Update to Your Manager

Use when: Your manager says “keep me posted” and you do not know how much to say

Output: Five lines: done, next, blocked, decisions needed, one thing learned

26. One to One Agenda

Use when: Your 1:1 is tomorrow and you have nothing written down

Output: Agenda on goals, blockers, decisions, one business question, a feedback ask; notes after

27. Feedback Request

Use when: You hear “it's fine” and want to know what would make it better

Output: Two or three specific questions about one piece of work, a template for what you hear, one change

28. First Review Prep

Use when: Your probation review is booked and you do not know what to say about yourself

Output: Evidence against your first goals, a self-review in your words, your questions, support you need

7 · Habits that compound

29. Weekly Learning Review

Use when: Weeks blur and you cannot say what you have got better at

Output: 15-minute Friday review, one thing to practise next week, the month's pattern

30. Stretch Assignment Ask

Use when: You are on top of the basics and want more than the tasks you were given

Output: One or two pieces of work beyond your tasks, what you would learn, how you protect your work, the message

31. Internal Network Plan

Use when: You only know your own team and the work keeps crossing into others

Output: Six to ten people across teams worth meeting for the work, what to ask and offer, an invite you send

Where to start, and how the skills chain

There is no compulsory sequence. Start where you actually are: if you have not started yet, begin at Before day one; if you are already in and nobody has told you the AI rules, begin at Week one; if your probation review is booked, begin at Feedback and progress. Every skill lists the inputs it needs, so it tells you when the stage before it is the one that is actually missing.

The sources behind each method are in resources/evidence-and-sources.md, inside the pack.

Setup guide

1. Download the pack. One zip: an install folder with 31 ready-to-upload skill zips, a skills folder with the same 31 skills as readable SKILL.md files, and resources/evidence-and-sources.md, which names the source behind every method and where it stops.
2. Install your skills. In Claude Code, add the marketplace and install grad-first-job-pack, and all 31 load at once. In Claude, turn on code execution in Settings, Capabilities, then go to Customize, Skills and upload one zip per skill from the install folder. Check your employer's AI policy before you install anything on a work device or a work account.
3. Start where you actually are. Starting in a fortnight? Run Company Research Brief. Already in week one and unsure what you may paste into Claude? Run AI Policy Card, then Data Check Before You Paste. Review booked? Run First Review Prep. Each skill lists the inputs it needs and names the next skill to run, so one run turns into the chain on its own.

Where to start

The quality bar

Every skill in the pack holds the same standard, the one we hold when we run our own company on Claude:

• Your employer's AI policy comes first: every work skill starts by asking what your policy allows and which Claude account you are in, and runs Data Check Before You Paste before anything internal goes in
• One method, applied properly: each skill uses the real mechanics of its source — the traffic light, the 30 60 90 stages, SMART, the urgent and important grid, bottom line up front, the reflective cycle — not a generic gather, analyse, recommend
• Nothing invented: no made-up achievements, numbers, quotes or results; anything missing becomes a [placeholder] or a question to ask
• Work is reviewed, people are not: maps and notes describe roles and work, never judgments of colleagues, nothing grades or ranks anyone, and no skill promises a promotion
• Legal and data protection points go to a person: employment, contract, probation and data protection points end with “check with a qualified adviser” or HR
• Same shape every time: a fixed output template, and a short done-when check before you send anything
• The red line: Claude helps you learn the job faster and check your own work; nothing your employer keeps confidential goes in, Claude never invents what you did, and nothing it drafts goes out in your name until you have read it, checked it and chosen to send it

Who made this

Polar Bear is a people ops consultancy for human-size teams (20 to 200 people). Built by ex-McKinsey founders with a dream to make AI work for People, not instead of them. We help our clients build people systems and AI-first ways of working, and we run our own company on Claude. This pack is the free, self-serve version of how we work.

The pack carries one new starter's first 90 days. When you want every new starter to arrive this way — the AI rules clear on day one, the plan written, the overhead carried by Claude so people do the part only people can do — that's what we build with clients.

Meet Pauline. Starting a job and running it out of one-off chats? Bring the week you are in and we will pick the skills for it. Book a 30-minute call

Install in Claude Code

Two lines, and every skill in the pack loads at once.

/plugin marketplace add polar-bear-org/claude-skills
/plugin install grad-first-job-pack@polar-bear-skills

Using Claude on the web instead? Download the zip and upload each skill from its install folder under Customize → Skills.