NEW PROFESSIONALS SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT Luis Vazquez, PhD, Temple, TX

What is Next After Landing Your First Job?

Your first thoughts after landing a first position as a medical physicist may be: "What are my employer's expectations and what should I expect from my new employer?" At that moment I realize there is no material out there to prepare you for this (well, maybe in the Virtual Library or Career Services, but how would you find it?). I recommend you first learn as much as possible from your peers, since most companies give you a few days of internal training so you can become accustomed to their policies and procedures. This is a good opportunity to take advantage of the experience of your senior colleagues. Companies and hospitals do not expect you to know everything, and often if you just ask, they are able to accommodate training with the vendor, and this is an invaluable opportunity to learn directly from the source. When in doubt ask your co-workers; this is not a sign of weakness but will be seen as a sign of your desire to learn the new process and procedures of your new job.

How do you find advice in the Virtual Library for your early days on the job? Select "Browse in a comprehensive list of all videos" and then search the web page for "career" and you'll find 19 results, most of them relevant. And in Career Services, go to Resources and select Career Advice. Many of these contain useful tips for improving your job performance and satisfaction, but I particularly recommend, "Don't settle for your dream job," and "Five career tips to start the year off right" (if you're in a new job, just skip #1).