What advice would you have wished you got at the start of your career?

[clean]

I think that I have done pretty well. 
I hope to retire 'soon', and well before normal retirement age (for a lot of reasons).
We just interviewed 2 fresh, young faces for a career at our campus, and I was asked many, many questions - some I expected that a PhD in my field of Finance would already know! 

So thinking back to when You were a fresh, newly minted graduate (or even as far back as just starting your graduate studies), What advice would you give yourself (or what do you wish you were advised)?

Please put the general advice type (Personal, Financial, Research, Career - or whatever you think is most appropriate) on the first line. 

[clean]

Financial - summer pay

Never depend on summer money to balance your budget.  It is always too little (a fraction of your normal pay), and always dependent on the budget, the whims of scheduling, and enrollment. 

Instead, live on your 9/10 month wage, or opt for the university to pay you over the 12 months, if they offer that plan.  IF you work in the summer, have a plan for the money that goes above and beyond your expenses.  Pay off your debt (credit card, car, house).  Save for a future need (car, house, retirement) so that you dont need to borrow later.   

Then, should you need to not teach for research or just mental health, you will not be dependent on working summers.

My Experience:
I have worked EVERY summer since I graduated with my undergraduate degree!  I can no longer keep up the pace.  Fortunately I dont have to. The house is paid off, I can buy my next car for cash, and I have saved my last at least one years (or more) take home pay in a savings account.   this year I will cut back to one summer class, and next year none, and I hope to summer in Alaska on a great blow out, turn 60 vacation!

[little bongo]

Career

Take advantage of the social aspect of conferences. Make some friends and connections.
Always whole-heartedly congratulate and support your friends and colleagues who succeed.

Personal

Ask yourself how important is your career and how important is your relationship and/or family? If one is always going to be more important than the other, proceed with a clear head and with honesty.

[clean]

Financial - How to live on your 9 month salary?

If you are paid 9 months a year, you will need to save 1/4 of each check to even your pay over the year.

Example: IF you get paid $4000 a month for 9 months, then you save 1K a month.  That leaves you $3K to live on.  After 9 months you have saved $9K, which will fund $3k a month for 3 months. 

Most likely the first career job will be for more than you ever made.  They pay your a year's wage in 9 months (perhaps hoping that you will live on your 9 month check so that you have no choice but to teach summer school!).  Live on LESS than your promised annual salary!  Stretch it over the full year, like everyone else has to!  They just dont have the choice to collect/spend it in 9 months time!

It takes some discipline, but it works.  IF you have the patience to go to the bank, you can even set up short term CDs to pay yourself a check.
(when you get the first check, open a CD (certificate of deposit) for 9 months with the 25%, then you wont have it to spend).  Do the same for the 2nd and 3rd check.  Then for check 4,5 & 6 open 6 month CDs. For the last, IF you can get them open 3 month CDs, or simply keep them in your savings account - today (2 24 2023, Discover Bank (online) is paying over 3% in their online savings accounts). 
On the first days of each summer month three CDs mature and can be rolled into your checking account to mimic payday! 

I hope that this helps.   

My experience:  I have saved 25% of each check to cover the summer months for the 20 years I worked at current job (and was on the 12 month pay plan at the prior job).  While I always taught summer, it was good knowing that I didnt have to.  At the end of the summer (the start of the Fall term) I would take what I had saved for summer, but not needed, plus any summer surplus and pay down some debt (initially student loans, then saved for a down payment on a house, then a car).

good luck.

[spork]

Career:

• Keep yourself marketable. You will probably change jobs, multiple times, before retirement. For academia, this generally means the hamster wheel of publications that no one but journal editors and reviewers will ever read. For anything else, it means acquiring the skills that should have been part of your doctoral program but weren't, like writing, statistics, video production, Python/R, data visualization, and accounting/financial analysis.
• Regularly praise colleagues for something they did in front of other colleagues. Speak well of others' talents and they will speak well of yours. You will be creating goodwill toward yourself.

Financial:

• Read The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness, by Morgan Housel.
• Open a Roth IRA and contribute the maximum allowed every year.

[jerseyjay]

I have a tenth-month contract. Summer teaching is good, but it is not always available and sometimes you might want to go on holiday or do something else. I personally have a significant part of my paycheck deposited in another account that I then tap into over the summer.

Besides that:
Remember that there is more to life than work. Try not to send/answer emails at night or over the weekend. If you must, make sure that you have them automatically sent at a more reasonable hour.

There are only so many weeks in the semester, and if it is not a perfect semester, well, there's always next semester. Sometimes it is better to focus on family, friends, or yourself rather than work.

Give yourself time to read. This includes both stuff in your field, but also stuff outside of your field (e.g., fiction).

Don't feel guilty if something you are doing (reading, watching, etc.) does not contribute to your CV.

Make sure to keep yourself healthy-eat well, go to the doctor, keep physically active.

Be friendly with your colleagues but have friends outside of work.

Do not get too invested in any particular administrative régime, since administrators come and go.

Make sure to back up your files. Try to organize them in a way so that when you come back to them in a year's time you can understand them.

Keep your lecture/assignment/etc. notes organized.

Purge your office of useless stuff at least once a semester.

The university will not love you back.

Have a sense of humor without being cynical.

[apl68]

I realize that everybody here has already long since seen this one, but it's my choice:


"Graduate School in the Humanities:  Just Don't Go"


https://www.chronicle.com/article/graduate-school-in-the-humanities-just-dont-go/

[Wahoo Redux]

Explain the hierarchy of the university.  Even tenured professors I've spoken with are often confused about how all the wheels interact.  It can help when you are trying to figure out how to do something.

[fishbrains]

Career:

Listen to others; you are never the smartest person in the room-- even when surrounded by admins. :)

Grow and expand, but also enforce your boundaries with a vengeance.

Things will ebb and flow; remember the good times and persevere through the bad times because both will pass.

Get a dog, cat, hamster, fish, snake, or whatever. A pet is the only thing that will listen and pretend to care when you piss and moan about your committee work. And even then, you will probably have to complain while holding their dinner in your hands.

[sinenomine]

Yes-anding Wahoo Redux, get to understand the hierarchy of the institution and how higher ed works as an industry, and stay current on trends in higher ed and in your discipline.

Make time on your schedule for personal pursuits — hobbies, friends, family are all important for a healthy work-life balance.

[Ruralguy]

Can't Think of a Category

I'd tell myself that the entire country isn't one big New York. Many people don't find forthrightness endearing, and some really, really, really, really enoy (need!) small talk.

[Morden]

Career

Don't assume that the type of institution you went to grad school at is the only type where you can have a successful career, but you will measure success differently in some places. Decide what type of success is most important for you and recognize that you'll probably have to give up some things to have others.

[simpleSimon]

Career:

• keep an open mind.  It may be your intention to be a professor of X for the remainder of your career.  Many professional opportunities will come across your radar. Do not ignore them.  One of them may lead to a satisfying (on many levels) career path that you never imagined.  Even if the opportunity is not right for you it may be perfect for your friend or protégé.
• Look two jobs ahead.  If you are in job A and thinking about or transitioning to job B ask yourself how long do you plan to stay in job B and what job will it lead to: C.  Read job advertisements for C regularly.  Many of the requirements and skills for job C may take years to develop.  The sooner you know that the sooner you can begin to climb that curve, acquire those skills, networks, etc.  If you wait until job B is about to end then you are too late.
• Learn how to raise money: how to apply for grants; how to talk to donors; learn the fundraising priorities of your unit/college; be on a first name basis with the development officer assigned to your college; learn how to read the Form 990 and where to obtain them online; by Federal law this is a public document.  If you have not applied for a grant in the last 3-5 years that is failure!  No matter what your discipline you should always have one or more grant proposals in the pipeline.  Anyone with a track record of raising money is head and shoulders ahead of the competition.

Financial:

• Open a Roth IRA and contribute to it religiously!
• Find a side hustle (uber, real estate agent, landlord, consultant, clinical practice, etc.  Your primary job may be primary, but it should not be your only job.

[Parasaurolophus]

Do a little research every weekday. Not a lot, but a little--set yourself small and manageable goals, and it adds up quickly. Do it at the beginning of the day, so that it's out of the way.

[Juvenal]

Don't get a #1 Draft Lottery notice.