The New Girl: Reflections on a New Job in a New Industry

Hi friends, it’s been awhile! Recently I started a new job in September and I am already at week four! It certainly has not felt like four weeks since I started. However, being that I am nearly a month into the new role, I figured now is the perfect time to post about my experience thus far when transitioning industries. 

A little background about me — I have six years of professional work history in higher education with four of those years in career services specifically. I transitioned into education technology (EdTech as it’s commonly referred to) and now work for a company that creates, sells, and supports the implementation of student engagement software. So, I still get to work in higher education and with colleges nationwide, but a degree removed from student-facing work and from the comfort of my own home which has been a wonderful benefit!

Logically, I anticipated there would be a learning curve and knew there’d be a number of things that varied from working on college campuses. However, I was unprepared for just how different the experience would be, despite the industry still being in higher ed/education. Here are just a few things I’ve been reflecting on in my first month in my new job. 

1. Time moves at lightning speed

It’s a well-known fact that higher education moves at a snail’s pace. There is so much red tape and protocols and approval processes that things are slow to achieve and move forward. That is not the case in the corporate world. I knew my onboarding would be learning the software and familiarizing myself with their processes, but I was taken aback at just how speedy things occur. What might take a college department or office an entire semester to complete, the process for the work I do now might only take 8 weeks or less! I feel like my old roles on college campuses were a slow, sleepy lazy river and this job feels more like a raft ride down the Grand Canyon white water rapids. I’ve had to learn to kick things into high gear fast.

2. It’s okay to just be a sponge

I’m used to being someone who is ready to jump right in, volunteer for projects, offer to take things off people’s plates, and pitch ideas right away. I love feeling useful, in-the-know, a subject-matter expert. When switching industries, I’ve realized sometimes you need to take a back seat and just be a sponge. The time will come when you can volunteer and jump in eventually, but for the first few months, it’s normal and okay to just absorb as much as you can and learn from everyone. I hate feeling clueless, but it helps to remember everyone on my team also came from higher ed and were once in my shoes too. I know I can tackle anything and am not shy to ask questions. Someday I’ll feel knowledgeable and like an expert professional again. But for today, I will take this time to enjoy the learning phase and grow as a learner. 

3. The learning curve might be steeper than you think

People switch industries all the time. It’s common these days for people to switch careers 2-3 times throughout their life! Going into this role, I knew I’d be staying in higher ed/education so I was fully expecting the transition to be a breeze. “I only need to learn their products” is what I told myself. While that’s largely true, I also was surprised at how many other platforms and systems they use in their day-to-day work. At my last job, I primarily used Google Suite, Microsoft products, Handshake, and Canvas. That was it! All relatively easy, user-friendly platforms and common in my industry. In this job, we use every tech platform under the sun it seems. Slack, Asana, Google Workspace, Google Gemini, Microsoft, Mailjet, HubSpot, Jira, Canva, and a handful of other platforms. There seems to be a different platform used for a specific function, so adapting to working with multiple systems is taking some time to learn.

4. You might not have all the answers (and you shouldn’t be expected to right away!)

Personally, I love answering people’s questions and being the “go-to” person for information. It feels unsettling to me to not have any answers at all. Sometimes it feels like I’m a student in class again asking all the questions and being that person. However, if you’re in the right environment with supportive and understanding colleagues, no one will expect you to have answers right away! There should be a decent learning buffer and onboarding timeline where you’ll start to learn things bit by bit in bite-sized pieces. If you’re thrown to the wolves right away, that might be an indicator the company isn’t willing to put in the effort to train you and provide you with the support you need to be successful. 

5. Impostor syndrome hits HARD. Don’t let it win!

In the past, I felt the usual anxiety and nerves that come with starting a new job. But I’ve never truly felt impostor syndrome until this job. While my team has been incredible at being supportive and offering words of encouragement and I know I can ask anyone any questions at any time, I still feel like I’m a clueless newbie who has never worked a day in her life! As a Senior Client Success Specialist, I’m supposed to be the product expert supporting clients in implementing our products into the programs they’re building at their schools. And while I’m still only providing support for the partner leads and not doing any solo implementations myself yet, I can’t help but feel like I still don’t know what I’m talking about and what will our partners think if I don’t know the answer to something? Impostor syndrome is a constant, nagging thought living rent-free in my mind, but something that’s been helping me is reminding myself that I was hired for a reason! I have a long list of accomplishments from my professional career and have done some notable things that I’m extremely proud of. This has not gone unnoticed and I will work my way there in this role too. 

6. Give yourself grace

This is something everyone says all the time — give yourself grace. It’s so much easier said than done. I try reviewing my resume again to give myself a morale boost. I try talking to others and leaning on my network. I keep a “wins” checklist to celebrate milestone accomplishments, even the small ones! However, it takes persistent effort to be gracious with myself during this transition. My patience with myself is being tested every day and I need to remember I’m fully capable of succeeding at the work, but it just will take some time to get there and that’s okay. We are all human and have all had first jobs before. No one is judging me. No one is expecting me to be a perfect employee. Plus, the kinds of things I’ll be doing in this role are exciting and fun! I remind myself that I’m grateful to have a job that excites me and allows me the flexibility in my schedule that so many dream of. Going to work for a mission and cause you are connected to is a privilege I am lucky to have. 

Whether you’re like me and switching industries, or if you’re just starting a new job within your same field, just remember that you are not the first person to have a new job. Everyone has experienced this and you are more capable than you think! Just remember the skills you bring to the table and try to see what they saw in you. You were chosen for a reason. Own it! 

Follow “Humanity at Work” for more articles discussing the real, the raw, and the authentic at work. Best of luck to anyone currently job searching, and thank you for reading!