First Impressions

As I mentioned in my last post, week one of the new job went really well. On a very basic level, it just feels good to be working regular hours -- and earning money -- again. But even after having a long period of unemployment, routine and income alone wouldn't be enough to make me optimistic about this new career direction. (That may not be entirely true. At some point while looking for a job, I was really keen on working for the U.S. Postal Service. I needed the money, and there's probably nothing more routine than carrying letters. And after all, you get a $404 uniform budget your first year...and they sell skirts now!) This past week, I was encouraged by a number of differences between past employment situations at universities and my current situation.

First off, people knew that I was going to be arriving. Not just my new boss and the administrative assistant, but most of the people in the department. So as I roamed my new halls looking for the printers and the paperclips, the people I met all said "Oh! You're Ivory Schmower! We've been waiting for you to arrive!" They have made me feel welcome, which makes all the difference when you're the new kid in town. In a week or so, my department is having a little welcome party for me. I've never had this experience before. When I arrived as a postdoc, I didn't actually see my new adviser for a few days. And I never actually met the people whose offices were on either side of mine. So the fact that one of my new bosses here told people about me, explained my background, explained what I'd be doing, etc. was really thoughtful.

I have two what I guess you'd call bosses, though they don't really seem like bosses. We'll call them X and Y, though suggestions for better names are welcome. Anyway, in my initial meetings with X and Y, they made it very clear that they have some ideas about how we should proceed, but they really want to hear my ideas as well. They also don't want me to let them dictate what I do. Because of my background, they trust that I can figure out what's important or interesting on my own, and they trust that I'll figure out how to act upon those interesting things. Which is great. At times in the past, I felt like I had no collaborators, no one helping me to find direction. So to have X and Y's input is wonderful. While they are clearly in charge, we all have a lot of respect for each other and I think we'll work well together. So far it seems like just the right level of autonomy.

There aren't many young scientists in my department, so I can't say that I've met anyone yet that I really connected with on a more personal level. Although one of the secretaries is going to give me some Indian cooking lessons :)

I hope to post more this week than last week. I basically collapsed at the end of each day last week and could barely keep my eyes open long enough to unpack my pyjamas from my suitcase. But things have calmed down a bit, so I have high hopes.