Onboarding at Teach Up: an immersive experience

Starting a new job is the beginning of a new professional adventure. The first weeks are often guided by an onboarding program that helps newcomers discover their workplace, their role, and their colleagues. 

At Teach Up, our onboarding journey has several goals: to welcome and integrate new joiners, support their skills development, and boost their engagement. To achieve this, we’ve designed an immersive seven-week program. In this article, discover some of the keys to our onboarding approach!

A first day to remember 

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” — Coco Chanel 

At Teach Up, we prepare every arrival well in advance, making sure the very first day feels special. Our three goals: 

• make first steps and interactions easy and comfortable, 
• immerse new joiners in our mission and vision to spark motivation, 
• launch them into a multi-week integration journey. 

“On my first day, I was welcomed with coffee and breakfast in the kitchen. Everyone came by to say hello—it really put me at ease straight away!” — Antoine Deygas, Account Executive 

“There’s a real balance between sharing information and meeting colleagues. The pace is carefully thought out so you’re not overwhelmed.” — Alixe Clément, Head of Customer Experience 

This first day is hosted with kindness and enthusiasm by Fanette, Talent Recruiter, and our CEO, Nicolas Bourgerie. 

“I love first days! It’s so rewarding to welcome and take care of new colleagues, share our culture, and give them a sense of what lies ahead in the Teach Up adventure.” — Fanette Zanetti, Talent Recruiter

Discovering Teach Up 

“The main goals of onboarding at Teach Up are to build long-term collaboration and ensure a progressive ramp-up so that every new colleague can succeed.” — Fanette 

Our onboarding is spread across seven weeks, designed to guarantee a complete and enriching experience that makes settling into the House of Learning smooth and engaging. 

As Antoine explains: 

“There are two phases. Two to three weeks of discovery and interaction, then by week three or four you start taking on your own topics alongside onboarding. For me, it gradually shifted from 80% onboarding and 20% role-specific tasks at the start, to the opposite.” 

The journey is structured around three pillars: 

• A multimodal Teach Up SPOC: a self-paced online onboarding path that provides structure, visibility, and guidance. 
• Collaborative workshops: to build both Teach Up expertise and role-specific skills, while sharing moments with different teams. 
• Discovery coffees: informal chats with team members over coffee or tea, to get to know each other and strengthen collaboration. 

“What I really liked was the variety of formats. I also got to do things I wouldn’t have had time for later—like joining a sales call or a Product meeting. It really helped me understand how Teach Up works.” — Alixe

Throughout onboarding, newcomers are supported daily by their manager, by Fanette as their “mentor,” and by a buddy who guides them through everyday life at Teach Up. 

• The mentor ensures the onboarding and integration process runs smoothly. 
• The buddy is the trusted go-to person for quick questions about daily life, cultural codes, team organization, and for sharing informal moments. 

Building the manager relationship 

At Teach Up, we believe managerial support is key to successful onboarding. Meetings with the manager are privileged moments to get to know each other, align on ways of working, set goals, and share expectations. 

“For the first three weeks, my manager spent between 30 minutes and 2 hours with me every day to help me ramp up. Goals were clear from day one. We had a roadmap that made sense for everyone.” — Antoine 

Colleagues also play an active role, providing continuous support to make sure every new joiner feels integrated. 

“People are always happy to help and join in at different steps, which makes the experience so positive and caring.” — Antoine

Looking ahead with two final challenges 

To close the onboarding journey, newcomers complete two final steps—combining creativity, learning, and forward-looking feedback. 

Design a Teach Up training module on a topic of their choice 
This helps them quickly get hands-on with our tool and understand its technical approach and learning philosophy. 

“It’s crucial to understand our tool early on, both how it works and its design choices. I felt really well supported in this.” — Alixe 

Deliver a feedback report (“rapport d’étonnement”) 
A one-hour synchronous session with peers and managers, where the newcomer shares highlights, surprises, and suggestions from their first seven weeks. 

“The presentation wraps up onboarding nicely. It means you now have the tools to grow with autonomy and stronger collaboration reflexes. It’s also a powerful alignment moment with the wider team.” — Alixe

“Kindness—whether it’s the standards we set at the start, the support from colleagues, or the cultural life at Teach Up.” — Antoine 

“Comprehensive—because you cover everything you need to. Onboarding is a precious time that can sometimes feel uncomfortable. At Teach Up, we really support this ramp-up process.” — Alixe 

“Engaging—because it involves colleagues, managers, and the newcomer themselves. It’s a moment to reflect on what you want to achieve in your role, why you joined, and how to build long-term collaboration.” — Fanette 

A big thank you to Alixe Clément (Head of Customer Experience), Antoine Deygas (Account Executive), and Fanette Zanetti (Talent Recruiter) for sharing their experiences!