Anyone ever faced 'new job stress'? I need some support!!

[Lizzy Bennet]

I don't mean being in a particular job for the first time, but more being out of school and working for a living for the first time...as a professional. It's quite daunting and tough...I know that's an understatement for anyone's who's been there before, but I'm finding myself quite stressed , so I was hoping if anyone is where I am right now or has been in this position before, if they would please give me any advice, insight, wisdom, etc. that they can. It would make me feel SO much better if I could just be reminded that other people have been through this before and lived to tell the tale!

I am very proud that I got my Master's Degree, but at the same time, it means I'm in a high-profile professional position with no real experience. I'm managing a Children's Library Assistant who is TWICE (yes TWICE!!) my age, and everything is all mixed-up right now because we can't move to the new library (it isn't quite ready yet) until 2 September. I'm hoping the move will help, but still, I've been putting an enormous amount of pressure on myself to be perfect, and there are just so many new things to learn. Being a supervisee and a supervisor as well as a co-worker and a million other things I'm doing is hectic. I know there are people out there with far worse problems (and I'm not whining...I know I have a great job!), but it would make me feel MUCH better to know how I feel and what's going on is normal and that it WILL get better. Hopefully, someone out there can relate...HELP!!!


~ a worn out and stressed out Lizzy

P.S.--Any stress-management techniques you can put on this thread would be helpful as well...feel free to respond even if you AREN'T a working professional...thanks much!!

[Hermy]

*hugs* Lizzie

I kind of know how you feel. When I got my teaching certificate I moved away from my family and bought a new house just before starting my first job. I had to manage the job - and no matter how good teaching practise is, it will never be quite like being a fully qualified teacher having a permanent tutor group to look after, the pressure of exam classes etc - and I didn't have my Mom to cook tea when I got home tired out. Thankfully, I did move in with my bf so that helped a lot in terms of support around the house. The job was a steep learning curve, not that I couldn't teach, but being able to balance the time needed to mark books, plan lessons etc. I felt like the Red Queen in Alice Through the Looking Glass - always running to stay in the same place.

It wasn't until I got to the end of the year and looked back at everything that I had done that I realised just how much I had done. I was very stressed for a fair bit of the time, but you get through it and it gets easier.

In terms of stress relief, you have to make time for yourself. It is particularly hard in teaching as I find there is always something you could be doing. But you need to be able to regularly shut down from it all. Go and do something totally unrelated to work that you enjoy - I do drama. And when things gets stressful, you need to find someone that you can just moan to about it. Even if you just want to say "I feel really stressed" and no more than that, it makes a big difference as you know that someone else knows how you are feeling.

Anyway, I hope that helped!

[Broccoli]

Lizzy, it's OK, you'll get used to it.

I was in a similar situation when I started to work a year ago. I was glad that didn't have to do homework or take exams anymore, but at the same time there is stress and responsibility one has to take when one starts working professionally.

I am working for a trading company and there are so many customers, suppliers and contracts to deal with, that one needs to be patient and just learn one thing after another.


One more thing - you say you try to be perfect, but I would advise you not to set too high standards, this will lead to more stress. Relax a little - everybody should understand that it ia a new job for you and also your first job and you need your time to get accustomed to it.

[gecko]

Okay, I've never had any job stress, in fact, I haven't had a serious job at all, but I have had some stressy moments in my life, so yeah I'll tell you what I did then..

It was mostly last schoolyear, I was really busy with all kind of things, things for for school, basketball, dancing lessons, friends. I had to do so many things, then my granny and an aunt had both a braininfarct, so in all, stress galore! What I did was this. I made lists of things I had to do (mostly schoolthings), and gave them an like a priority. And logically, I did the things with the highest priority first. It may sound rather dull, but it did help, because I could now focus on the important things first, without having to think about all the other things I had do to too. I could set my mind to one task at a time..After a while, I got used to this way of doing things, and I needed less time and the stress became less and less.

Now I do that quite often! So yeah, hope it may help you.. if not, well, at least it helps me

[highsorcerer]

My first job when I moved to Las Vegas stressed me completely. But only before I started. When I started working there, I was treated with complete respect because I showed I was able to do the job. I worked graveyard after a month (with no supervision), and went from being having my department slammed for being totally incompetant to shown great respect because I always solved their problems.

Do your job well, and your stress and respect level will rise!

[Gwared]

Do your job well, and your stress and respect level will rise!

I'm not sure Lizzy would like her stress level to rise!

[Gower]

Do your job well, and your stress and respect level will rise!

I'm not sure Lizzy would like her stress level to rise!

maybe a typo I actually once read in a library book that you can use stress in positive ways, but I have no idea how!

[Barry Trotter]

ha ha ha ha
funny funny funny

Lizzy use your stress girly!

[highsorcerer]

I phrased it all wrong - once you show you can do the job, the stress level will diminish and you'll be fully confident.