Preparing for success in a new job?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a new prof asks:

I finally got a TT job! What can I do over the next few months to set myself up for success in the fall?

Big congrats, and great question! I think a lot may depend on what kind of job it is. If it's a job with a low teaching load at an R1, then I'm not sure. If, on the other hand, it's a job with a pretty hefty teaching load, then I'd suggest trying to get a lot of research done and a few papers out to journals this summer. In jobs with a lot of teaching (especially your first year), you might find that you have very little time to focus on research, and if you don't have papers out at journals, you might begin to worry about "falling behind." Other than this, I guess I'd suggest asking new colleagues if they have syllabi that they are willing to share, as this might give you some idea what the norms around teaching are at the institution. Then again, it's been a long time since I started my first job, so I'm probably missing obvious tips that might help the OP.

What do you all think? Any tips for someone about to start a new job in the fall that will help them set themselves up for success?

Comments

[Bill Vanderburgh]

Two things jump to mind: Move early, like a couple of months before the school year starts, if you can. That way you can get to know your new city at a different time than you are also trying to adjust to new colleagues, students, workplaces, courses, etc. The stress of a move can be more than you expect, so separating that from the start of the new job could be valuable. It also could give you time to establish habits of going to the gym, a social club, or whatever, that will help keep you well and sane once the school year is in full swing--habits that could be hard to convince yourself to start while in the throes of the new school year.

The other is that as you think about course prep, remember that no one expects you to have to have a brilliant first year of teaching. Aim for a "good enough" year, and for a future trajectory of improvements. Go easy on yourself--and your students.

[soitgoes]

Congratulations! In addition to the research (if required) and teaching prep you’ll be doing over the next few months….

I'd recommend taking a look at Kathryn Hume's "Surviving Your Academic Job Search: Advice for Humanities PhDs." A good portion of the book is dedicated to landing a TT job, but there are chapters on the economics and the politics of being an assistant professor that are informative and detailed. As with anything, most of what we learn comes with experience, but going into the job with a sense of how to handle finances, both short- and long-term, and how to approach the interpersonal aspects of the job, is immensely valuable in terms of setting you on a path you're comfortable with (as opposed to, say, trying to go back and change course later).

For example, I went into the job with a commitment to keep my relationships with colleagues pretty strictly professional until I developed a good sense of the people, department, and college. You can always engage more over time--it's much harder to pull back.

I was also very intentional about the service work I agreed to do (I would have been mindful no matter what, but being both a POC and woman, I was also aware of the disproportionate amount of service work down by members of these groups). I only agreed to take on work that was genuinely interested in and felt I could contribute meaningfully to (I was once volunteered by my dept chair for work that was not a good fit for me and because I’d already set an intention about how to approach service, I was prepared to respectfully decline with an explanation for why I wasn’t a good fit for this particular work). I've done work in curriculum development, faculty training, and student engagement, for example, all of which is challenging, but which I also find rewarding. There is plenty of drudgery in this work (ahem, assessment), so, when it is up to me, doing work that I find pleasure in is one way that I mindfully build a career that makes me feel fulfilled.

Freedom of choice around certain aspects of the job will vary by institution, so the intentions you set going in may be different than mine or may need to evolve after you start the job. My point, though, is that when you finally land the job it feels like the culmination of a journey, but it is also the beginning of an even longer journey. There is a lot you can’t control, so you’ll need to be flexible, but going in with some ideas of what you want to build and the potential pitfalls you want to avoid is a good way to begin.

For example, in terms of the politics of the job, you might think about what sort of impression you want to give and what sort of colleague you want to be, how to emphasize your strengths and what sorts of work you might take on or relationships you might develop to improve in your weaker areas. You can begin to create a good reputation from day one, which will pay off again and again over time, and adopt practices and attitudes that will help you (not always, but often) avoid uncomfortable and painful experiences.

And, as Bill said, be patient with yourself and your students. Good luck!

[Michel]

I would take some time to get ahead. Just an hour a day makes a huge difference. The teaching will take up all the time you want to give it, so it's nice to have the first month's new reading all done and dusted, to buy you a little more time to adjust.

If you're not teaching much that's new, it's a good time to get ahead with your pubs, too. You won't have much time for new writing during the semester. So it's good to get a draft paper or two ship-shape and sent out before you start. Here again, don't work yourself I to the ground. Just an hour a day makes a huge difference.

[John Basl]

You might not need to do this right in the fall, but I would suggest that you ask for the most up to date guidance documents for submission of your tenure dossier. Then create some sort of folder/filing/documentation system for all the things that you'll ultimately submit for tenure. Decide on a system to, for example, log service commitments, which journals you referee for, when you've provided advising for some students, etc.. When it comes time to submit an annual review and ultimately tenure, you'll spend a lot less time digging around or trying to remember things. It'll also help you to keep track of how much of various things you are doing so you can make sure you aren't overdoing it on service or the like.