New job gift boxes for the first week somewhere new
The first week somewhere new is forty introductions and almost no actual work, and it is lonelier than anyone admits out loud. A box that turns up in it is a reminder that there are people who already know what they are like. I pack every one by hand here in Canada and write your message onto the card myself.
The first week somewhere new is lonelier than anyone admits. I pack every box by hand here in Canada.
Four boxes for a new job, $99 and $119, and the rest of what I pack underneath.
These go to an office as easily as to a house. The address at checkout is the only thing that changes.
Theo. First week. They are lucky to have you.
From Rae
Four boxes for a first week
Four boxes built around a desk rather than around a job title, from $99 to $119. Three of the four come in two sizes. The larger size of one is that same box with about two more things in it, picked the way the rest of it was picked. Nothing in any of them is branded to a company or printed with a slogan, because a gift that looks like corporate swag is the one thing a new starter already has plenty of.
The Desk Organization Box
- Inside
- about four things. About two more things at $119.
- Good for
- A first desk of their own, and nothing to put on it yet
- Price
- From$99
The Coffee Routine Box
the one I'd send
- Inside
- about three things. About two more things at $119.
- Good for
- The one whose commute just got an hour longer
- Price
- From$99
The Desk Hydration Box
- Inside
- about three things. About two more things at $119.
- Good for
- Someone working from home, where nobody makes the tea
- Price
- From$99
The Premium Executive Box
- Inside
- about four things
- Good for
- A senior role, and a desk other people sit down at
- Price
- $119
Not quite it? Every box on the site is in one place, sorted by price and by who it is for. Browse all of them and pick something else for a first week somewhere new.
When to send it
The first day is the worst day to land a gift. They are being walked round a floor, they have nowhere to put anything, and half of what they own is still in a bag. The end of the first week is the good window: the introductions are over, the work has started, and the box gets opened somewhere they can actually sit down.
I can't promise an exact arrival date, so order a week or two before the week you want it in rather than the morning of. Shipping is free anywhere in Canada and takes 1 to 7 days in transit. You can pick a preferred delivery date at checkout, which tells me when to send it rather than when it will land.
Other boxes that suit a new job
Each of these is sold here for another reason as well, so nothing on this page renames them.
The Desk Upgrade Box
From$99A leather desk mat and a metal pen. Quiet things that make a new desk look settled.
The Premium Fuel Box
From$99Proper coffee beans and a tumbler, for somebody about to have a very early week.
The Afternoon Break Box
From$99Tea, a cup to keep and something to nibble, for the one who forgets to stop at lunch.
The Grad Fuel Box
From$99Strong coffee and a travel mug, for a first job out of school.
The Executive Graduate Box
$119A portfolio, a pen and a travel mug, for the job that comes with meetings in it.
The Sweet Win Box
From$99Sweet, salty and easy to hand round, for a team that wants to mark the news together.
The Charcuterie Congratulations Box
From$99A small board and things to put on it, for the evening the offer got signed.
The Goals & Planning Box
From$99A notebook and markers, for somebody who thinks better on paper than in a document.
If you want to spend more than this
These four stop at what these boxes cost. A new job gift that gets much bigger than this starts to read as pressure rather than as encouragement, which is the real reason there is no fifth one. Eight boxes on the site run a ladder of three sizes instead: $119 for the smallest, $189 for the middle one and $299 for the fullest box I pack.
If you are marking something larger than a first week, the two below are $299 each and go higher. Neither is a new job box, so the card would be doing the explaining. Nothing on this page is a smaller gift for costing less.
- $299Luxury Gift Box for HerScent, skin care and the small things she talks herself out of buying.
- $299Luxury Gift Box for HimGood pieces, for the man who says he doesn't need anything.
Or start from every box I make, sorted by priceThe whole range, $70 to $299, including the sizes between these and those.
The card is the part they keep in a drawer at work
Boxes get emptied in a fortnight. The card ends up in the drawer of the new desk, and it is still there a year later on the day the job is hard. You type the message at checkout, I write it out by hand, and it is the only thing in the box with words on it.
Stuck on the card? People start with something like:
"They are lucky to have you.""Go easy the first week.""You earned this one."
There are more lines worth borrowing in my guide to writing a gift card message.
First week somewhere new is all names and no work. It gets good after that. They are lucky to have you.
From Rae
How to choose a new job gift
The thing to get right is where they will be sitting. A gift for an office desk is a different object from a gift for a kitchen table with a laptop on it, and the person who has just started somewhere cannot carry much home on the train.
If they work from home
The Desk Hydration Box at $99 or $119 is the one I would send. Working from home means nobody else makes the tea and nobody notices that you have not stood up since nine, and a box that lives on the desk is a small prompt to do both.
If it is their first proper job
Two boxes from $99 to $119: the Desk Organization Box and the Coffee Routine Box. A first job is the one where somebody owns nothing for a desk, and the small useful things are the ones they would never think to buy for themselves in the first month.
If it is a big step up and they are nervous
The Premium Executive Box at $119 is the one that reads as somebody taking the new role seriously. The card matters more than the box here: say the thing about why they were the right hire, because that is the sentence they will reread on the bad Tuesday.
If you are the one who hired them
Send it to their home rather than to the office, and keep the card plain and short. A welcome gift that is opened in front of the team it was meant for turns into a small performance, and there is no price on anything inside, so nothing about it invites comparison.
The shelves either side of this one
A new job sits in the middle of a run that tends to bring the same person two or three gifts over a few years: the degree, the offer, the title, and the party when they finally leave.
If they finished something to get here, the graduation boxes are for the gap between the ceremony and the first day.
If it is the same employer and a better title, the promotion shelf is written for that particular awkwardness instead.
And if the new job came with a move, there are housewarming boxes for the place they are living in now.
You are not expected to send all of them. It is worth knowing the next one is here when it comes around.
Questions people ask me
What is a good new job gift?
Something that makes the first fortnight easier rather than something that celebrates the offer. Coffee, a cup they can carry, and a few things for a desk that is currently empty. The Coffee Routine Box at $99 or $119 is the one I would send most often.
Can I send a new job gift to their office?
Yes. You enter whatever address you like at checkout, so it can go to the office, a reception desk or their home. Two things worth checking first: that they have actually started, because a box arriving before a new name is in the system tends to sit in a mailroom, and that they are in the building that day if the job is hybrid. There is no price on anything inside either way.
Should I send it before the first day or after?
After, in almost every case. The first day is introductions and paperwork and nowhere to put a box, and the end of the first week is when somebody has a desk, a chair and five minutes. The exception is a gift going to their home, which can land the weekend before and gives them something for the night before they start.
Can I send it straight to them?
Yes. Put their address in at checkout and type your message, and I write it onto the card by hand before the box is closed, so the note from you is the only thing in there with words on it.
Do you ship anywhere in Canada?
Yes. Shipping is free anywhere in Canada and takes 1 to 7 days in transit. Free anywhere in the country, with nothing added at checkout. I can't promise an exact arrival date, so order with a week or two of room. You can pick a preferred delivery date at checkout, which tells me when to send it rather than when it will land.
Can I send a box back?
All sales are final. Every box is food, skin care and other things that can't be sold on once they have left here, and each one is packed by hand to order. If you have a question before you buy, write to me at team@swipegifts.com.
New job gift boxes, packed by hand in Canada
A new job is one of the few occasions where the gift has a job of its own. The person opening it is somewhere they do not know, surrounded by people whose names they are still learning, doing work they are not yet good at. Everything in these boxes is built for that fortnight: a decent cup, coffee worth getting up for, something for a desk that currently has a laptop and nothing else on it.
There are four of them, from $99 to $119, and they divide by where the desk is rather than by how senior the job is. Three of the four come in two sizes. The larger size of one is that same box with about two more things in it, picked the way the rest of it was picked. Nothing in any of them is branded, printed or company-shaped, which matters, because the one category of object a new starter already has too much of is the kind with a logo on it.
Each box is packed by hand here in Canada and ships free anywhere in the country, to a house or an office. There's no price on anything inside the box. The message you type at checkout gets written onto the card by hand, and on this occasion the line worth writing is the one about why they were the right person for it.
While you are here
- Gifts for Someone Starting a New JobWhat actually gets used in the first fortnight somewhere new.
- Gift Ideas for CoworkersIf you are sending it across a desk rather than across a family.
- How to Choose the Perfect Gift for Someone You Barely KnowFor a gift to someone whose taste you genuinely do not know.
If you are not sure which one to send, write to me at team@swipegifts.com and tell me who it is for. I read every email myself and I answer them.