Show up early...allow for every contingency ( traffic etc etc..)
While you're early, take a look at airport diagrams...
-Have an idea of where your gate is in relation to taxi ways
- get a general idea of frequencies
- have an idea of what kind of taxi instructions you can expect
I once jumpseated on AA (MIA-LAX) and the FO ( who was an TWA furlough with plenty of experience but just of IOE) completely screwed up everything from pushback clearance to taxi instructions.. He obviously hadn't bothered to review anything about the airport before pushback( frequencies, operations, ramp procedures) When FO goes to Lav, Captain turns to both us jumpseaters, shakes his head and chastises the FO for a complete lack of preparedness...
Basically spend some time, even the night before, getting the lay of the land..You will find that sooner or later you'll know what they are gonna say before they say it.
Be ready to write everything down..... Make sure you have a pen in hand when you call for taxi...Last thing ya want to do is be fumbling for a pen while ATC is rattling off instructions....
Most important thing is be prepared...Don't go in expecting the IOE instructor to walk you through it all.... he/she is there to teach you the general operations of the plane and company.. NOT necessarily how to understand taxi instruction or how to decipher SID's...
And as long as you appear to have put some time in preparing, you'll get a lot more leeway when you screw something up..(which ya will!!)
We've all been there.... As time goes along the cockpit will get smaller, and things you get tunnel vision on now
will become second nature within a few trips.
You will also quickly learn that things are generally done slightly different online than in the sim....