Friend starting an office job - need ideas for a treat bag

[QuestionableMouse]

She's had a really rough few years and has finally found a good job but is really nervous about starting! Looking for ideas to put in a little gift bag to make her first week a bit nicer/easier.

Have so far:

Latte pouches
Squeezy Squash
Biscuit packs
Mints
Small notepad
Pens
Sticky pads

I have no idea on the office supplies or culture unfortunately!

Thank you!

I wouldn't go overboard on the pens and notebooks - one of each might be plenty. I hardly use a pen these days, and my to-do lists etc are all electronic.
Agree on the hand cream, lip balm, tea and coffee sachets. And mints, I always like mints in the office.

A mini prosecco and some bubble bath for after her first day. Perfume. Anti bac wipes so she can get the last person's grot off the keyboard!

Some mini perfumes and maybe an upmarket car scent.

Please no perfumes. We don't want to encourage her to give her new work colleagues migraines.

Emergency san pro? If she's been out of work a while a new job could be stressful.

What a nasty comment. Are clerical staff unworthy of nice gestures?

Small desk fan that has a USB. I work in an open plan office by the window, and it's always too warm in summer.

Aren't most jobs based in unremarkable offices? Would love to hear about yours ....

Pot plant for her desk?
Fidget toys.
Chocolate.
Neurofen

A coffee voucher for the nearest coffee shop.

Personally I wouldn't bother with much else. We dock our laptops onto hot desks and that's it. We take laptops to in person meetings for note taking. We barely use pens/paper.

A box of chocolates to share with her new colleagues. Helps break the ice.

A mini photo frame. If you have a photo you think she'd like, you could print it off and put it in.

Nevermind fancy pens, Bic biros are the best!

As some PPs have said, modern office working conditions can be very different to the traditional sat-at-the-same-desk-everyday-using-paper-and-pen. Hotdesking, using laptops for note taking etc.

And yes, a PP was right to ask what sort of job - a high flying exec out at meetings for most of the day isn't the same as a deskbound admin job.

Just get her a few small things as a nice gesture but nothing she couldn't use at home, in case her office is well provisioned.

USB fan
I have one it's amazing

Flying tiger have amazing office stuff. I like their desktop calendar and funky notepads great prices too

I WFH, in a study with a sea view.

My former colleague got me a reall pencil case as leaving present

It's slim and leather from Paul Costello and not Expensive from Maxx but does stop pens exploding in my bag!

Some pastel highlighters

Although I do agree with PP it would be awkward arriving with loads of stuff in the first day so tell her to wait to take it in!

You asked for opinions.

This is not a bad idea actually. Much better than the graze box which is high calorie and high sugar without the lovely chocolate taste.

Hand cream, painkillers, hand sanitiser, little mirror, lip balm, all in a little pouch (I have a Kipling one) that she can put things like make up in. It then isn't an odd thing to take in.

Note books and a pen are always good too.

Omg don’t do the ‘san pro’ (hate that term) idea… am cringeing so hard!! She’s a grown up, she can sort out her own tampons, even IF she is utterly discombobulated starting a big girl job in a big girl office 🙄

This is the best idea.

A little mirror with lip gloss and travel hairbrush Mini body spray. Mini deodrant. Mini perfume.

A little bit of change in a bank bag.

No to mini perfumes, if her desk is very close to those of others that could be unpleasant for her colleagues. Definitely no to noise cancelling headphones, they might not be allowed in case of missing fire alarms and she'll need to get to know her colleagues not shut herself away. They're the sort of thing to start using if she chooses once she's settled in. I use normal ones as I like to hear colleagues approaching my desk or speaking to me.

I would keep it low key, agree stationery isn't used as much now but we still have good quality pens etc, only really used for scribbling on a post it note now, but I still like a nice pen pot on my desk.