Handling new-job jitters?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:

I recently was fortunate enough to land an amazing job that I've very excited about. Especially given the current market situation, I feel very lucky. But I also feel more nervous than I ever felt on the job market. It's not really concerns about teaching or publishing (well, at least not beyond the general anxiety I imagine everyone experiences about those things). I'm more worried that I'll say something wrong and all my new colleagues will start to dislike me. Honestly, it feels a lot closer to how I felt on the first day of kindergarten than it does anything else. I'm hoping the feeling will get better with time, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to make the transition to my new department smooth and how to be less nervous talking to people?

Good question! Another reader submitted the following reply:

You made it through the 1st day of kindergarten. You will make it through this one too. Generally, the selection process is so rigorous, the candidate who gets the job will do just fine. You are off to a great start to a wonderful career. (if you want something to worry about, you should be more concerned that the department is dysfunctional - hopefully not, though).

This seems right. New-job jitters are entirely natural to have. You're going to be working in a new place, with new people, in a kind of job that you may have never had before (if e.g. you're just out of grad school or coming from a non-TT position). But the first thing to remind oneself here, I think, is that the situation really isn't all that different than new situations you've had many times before (e.g. transitioning from primary school to high school, or from high school to college, or from college to a graduate program). Like most people, I expect you had jitters in those cases too, but you made it through!

A second relevant thing to remind oneself here, I think, is that while you're the proverbial star of your own life-movie, when you are working in a faculty job other people are going to mostly be going about their own business: teaching, researching, and so on. While you may see other faculty on occasion, my sense is that it's not nearly as much as you might expect coming out of graduate school. Generally speaking, my experience is that everyone is mostly just too busy to worry about you "saying something wrong." Sure, you may stick your foot in your mouth on occasion, raising an eyebrow or two, but most people are likely to recognize that you're a junior faculty member still maturing and learning the ropes--and, to the extent that you figure into their professional life, they are likely going to care far more about the overall job that you are doing: whether you are publishing, teaching well, and so on. 

Finally, on that note, if you are in a long-term faculty job, it's worth recognizing that the long-term matters far more than the short-run. I personally know full-time faculty who had a rough year or two when just starting a new job (including things like poor teaching reviews, etc.) for whom everything turned out just fine long-term. When I was in graduate school, I was often concerned about "saying something wrong." While it is of course generally a good idea in one's personal and professional life to speak reflectively, as a full-time (and now tenured) faculty member, I now realize that it matters far more what you do on the job. Do you publish? Do you teach well? Are you actively engaged in service to the department, college, and university? Involved in student engagement? These are the things that really matter--and, as the OP notes, they feel good about their ability to do the job. So, I entirely agree with the other reader who responded: OP, you got this!

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? It might be good to hear from readers who have gone through first-year jitters when starting a new job, as well as from other department members who might be able to speak to the OP's concerns.

Comments

[William Vanderburgh]

Your new colleagues are strongly predisposed to like you. After all, they spent a huge amount of time on the search and selected YOU from all the candidates competing. Besides already liking you, your new colleagues have powerful professional interests in you succeeding. (For the future of the department, for its status within the university, etc.) They are likely to be highly supportive, forgiving, kind, and helpful.

If there are factions in your department, try to stay out of the fray. Other than that, just be pleasant and do your job and everything will be fine.

I recommend not relying on departmental colleagues to be your only social connections in your new place. At new faculty orientation, make a point to get to know a few other newbies and set up a weekly or biweekly get-together for coffee/lunch/beer. Try to connect with other faculty in other departments who share related research interests. That network will serve you well as you progress through the pre-tenure period and beyond. (Related: Departments often try to "protect" new faculty from service obligations at first, but I think doing one service thing at the college or university level is a great way to meet people and get connected to the institution.)

[TT prof]

I find the OP's concern very understandable. My guess would be that it's a lingering effect of having been on our grueling job market. You get so used to trying to anticipate how other academics might judge anything you do that you become a bit paranoid (this happened to me, too). But remember this: when you were on the market, it was in people's interest to find reasons to reject you, since they were dealing with a large pool of highly qualified candidates. Now, if you're in a TT position, it is in your colleagues' interest to find reasons to like you (and get you to like them!) and keep you. If you leave or are denied tenure, the department won't necessarily get a line to replace you. And that means more administrative work, etc., for your colleagues. So your success and happiness in the department is in their interest as well as yours.

It's wonderful that you feel confident about teaching and research. So, schedule a coffee date with each of your new colleagues to get to know them a bit, be friendly and helpful when the opportunity arises, but mostly just put your head down and do that teaching and research!