Adulting After Mudd

“Money Management” with Marissa Lee ’18

In the last blog post, Emily Roberts ’07 described three helpful actions we can take to improve our financial futures:

1. Know what you want out of life
2. Put your salary offer in the context of the cost of living
3. Take action on retirement ASAP

What does it look like to map this out? And how do you translate what you want out of life to setting a budget? In this post, I’ll walk you through the strategies I use to keep track of my money. Everyone’s situation is different – for example, I am fortunate to be debt free, and I don’t have financial dependents. Because of this, I won’t be able to tell you how exactly to manage your money, but I hope showing my process empowers you to think about your own money management.

Let’s get started – each year, after I submit my taxes, I go through three steps to manage my money:

1. Set goals
2. Set a budget
3. Stick to the budget

Step 1: Set Goals

The key for managing my money is knowing my values and setting goals based on those values. The top values that influence my finances are keeping debt low and enjoying life with family and friends. This translates into the following financial goals (in order of importance):

1. Cover the necessities: these are things that I need to pay for regularly – rent, graduate student health fees, etc.
2. Maintain a rainy day fund: I don’t know what the future has in store for me! While I’m fortunate to be in a stable financial situation, I keep ~20% of my annual income money set aside for emergencies. Once this goal is met, it remains met, and I only revisit it if I’ve needed to dip into the fund. I save this fund in a Money Market Account. This account has an annual percentage yield of 0.25%, much higher than the 0.06% national average of savings accounts, so the fund grows (slowly) while still being easily accessible should I need it.
3. Max out retirement contributions: I’m looking out for my future self, who will want to enjoy retirement without financial worry! For me, this looks like contributing $6k annually to my IRA. (See more on 401(k)s and IRAs)
4. Live comfortably: eating out 1-2x per week, going on ski trips, and not having to think too much about whether or not I have the money to go to a concert with a friend are the keys to living comfortably for me.
5. Donate: when I was young, I received a weekly allowance of $3. The three dollar bills would go into three separate piggy banks: one for spending, one for saving, and one for charity. It’s been ingrained in me to give some of my money to causes I care about. And, donating is a great way for me to stay connected to organizations with impact! Plus, in the 2020 and 2021 tax years, the IRS gave a $300 deduction for donations, even if you took a standard deduction. I read that on average, Americans donate 2.5-5.9% of their incomes.
6. Maximize savings: once all of the other goals are met, I invest what’s left. I tend to be aggressive in my savings and often let this drive my budget more than one might expect it would as my bottom-of-the-list goal.

These goals aren’t strictly ranked – there’s some iterating and balancing acts. And remember, they’re my goals (yours will likely look different)! If I had debt, I would likely prioritize a regular monthly payment above maxing out retirement contributions. There are many considerations that would go into this decision though, and I’d have to find a balance that made sense with and fit with my goals.

In the next step, I define how I want my goals to play out each month.

Step 2: Set a Budget

When setting my monthly budget, I use a nice, simple spreadsheet. Here’s what I input:

1. Pre-tax income: what I know I’ll earn this year from my graduate stipend and some on-the-side tutoring.
2. Taxes withheld: the amount of taxes (federal and state) withheld from my paychecks. This shows up on my pay statements.
3. Savings goal: At a minimum, $6k annually to my IRA. If I had student loans to pay, I would list my payment goal nearby.
4. All of my spending categories (e.g., Auto & Transport, Entertainment, Food, …)

[Income] – [taxes withheld] – [savings goal] = [money to allocate to my spending categories]. How do I set budgets for my spending categories? I use last year’s expenses (recorded in Mint or through my credit card companies) and any expectations I have about expenses for the next year (e.g., a big trip or an increase in rent). Most of these fields are just estimates. I use them as benchmarks, just to give myself an idea of what I should try to stick to.

For those sharing expenses with others, you’ll want to discuss your budgets! Share values and goals with those around you.

Step 3: Stick to the Budget

When it comes to sticking to my budget:

• I use Mint to track my bank accounts and credit cards all in one place. Mint allows me to import my budget from Step 2 and automatically categorizes my transactions so that understanding my spending is easy. It also allows for leftover amounts within each spending category to roll over from month-to-month; if I spend less than my budget on food this month, I have more allowance in the next. Mint doesn’t track my cash or Venmo spending, so I make sure to manually enter those transactions to keep an accurate record.
• I check Mint & E*Trade daily (!) to know where my money’s going, if my budgets are on track, and how my investments are doing. This cadence is a little extreme for most people, but it’s good to check at least once a week when you’re trying to stick to a monthly budget.
• In most of my spending categories, I’m not overly strict about sticking to the budget I set. Some months, I “overspend” on food and “underspend” on transportation. Other months, it’s the opposite. As long as I’m near my savings goal, I don’t worry. Some people prefer to set budgets for fixed (e.g., rent and mortgage payments) and variable (e.g., food and entertainment) expenses instead of individual spending categories and then stick tightly to those goals.
• In the case of my Charity spending category, in order to stick to Goal 5 (Donate), I make sure to hit the budget target by the time the end of the year rolls around. While I have recurring donations to nonprofits like Harvey Mudd throughout the year, I also tend to give some larger gifts near the holidays to meet my goal. (Fun fact: alumni donor participation impacts Harvey Mudd in the national ranking systems!).
• Saving & investing – each year, I move $6k into my IRA. I split up the remainder of my annual savings into four equal pieces to invest in mutual funds every three months. At this point, I’m not selling at all (and don’t intend to until I’m thinking about buying a house), but if I were, I’d make sure to sell on a similar schedule. Keeping to a schedule ensures that I don’t let emotion play into the investments! I typically don’t mess around with individual stocks because I don’t think the time spent doing research is worth the potential for return.

After a year, I see how I did in sticking to my goals and budget. I iterate through the steps, making adjustments as needed!

Hopefully there are some nuggets in here that are helpful for you as you think about your own money management. Thanks for reading, and feel free to reach out!

You may have noticed this blog is all about me, and not about you. Please note that this post is for general informational use only and is not intended for financial or investment advice. I assume no liability for any loss or damage resulting from one’s reliance on the material provided.

About the Author

Marissa Lee (she/her; B.S. Engineering ‘18, ASHMC Senate Chair ‘17–18) is a PhD student at Stanford University. She loves chatting about credit card rewards and finding new ways to be frugal. When she’s not checking Mint, you can catch her skiing in Tahoe, eating ice cream, and thinking about the way we move.

“When Disaster Strikes” with Steve Roth ’88

Wildfires in the western states. Blizzards in the northeast. Flooding in the south. Active shooters. Earthquakes. Terrorist attacks. Tornados. Disasters happen frequently, and sooner or later you will be caught up in one. Will you be ready?

FEMA defines a disaster as an emergency that exceeds the capacity of professional responders. Imagine calling 911, only to find that they’re busy and can’t help you. You’re on your own: you, your family when you have one, and your neighbors. Will you know how to help yourselves?

What Will I Do When…?

Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can prepare for a disaster by buying an off-the-shelf survival kit and burying it in your closet. Buying a kit someone else designed is like copying someone else’s homework answers. To be prepared for a disaster, you have to think through the problems yourself.

What natural disasters are likely where you live? Visualize yourself living through each one, and think about the problems you would face. What knowledge do you lack that would be helpful? Go learn it! What skills do you lack that you would need? Go practice them! What tools and supplies would you want that you don’t have? Go get them!

Of course, you don’t need to (and shouldn’t) do all of this on your own. Classes and webinars and articles are widespread. There are experts everywhere who can help you assess risks and plan responses. (Make sure the ones you rely on really are experts, though; there’s a lot of false information out there.) If you don’t know where to start, ask your local firefighters; they’ll be delighted to point you to local preparedness help.

The Ground Is Shaking!

You, your spouse, and your infant daughter live in a nice house in Claremont. You wake up at 3am to hear glass breaking, car alarms going off, things falling off the shelves, and your baby crying. Your bed is shaking and it’s pitch black. Out of the fog of sleep, you realize you’re feeling a major earthquake.

You reach out and shake your spouse awake — astonishing what they can sleep through! Both of you cover yourselves completely with the blankets, and put your pillows over your heads. You know the bedroom window glass is likely to break, and this will protect you from being cut, and from any other objects that might fall or be thrown onto you. Then you wait it out until the shaking stops. Your heart breaks listening to your baby wailing, but you know she is safe because you made sure nothing that could fall or break is near her crib.

When the shaking stops, you reach down and get your bedside bag. It’s in easy reach because it’s tied to the bedpost. Sealed inside it, you’ve got sturdy shoes to protect your feet from the broken glass you know is on the floor; you put them on before getting out of bed. The bag also has a flashlight, which you use to see your way into the baby’s room to comfort her. Meanwhile, your spouse looks around the house and finds that it’s a mess from all of the knickknacks that fell, but it seems structurally sound.  Isn’t it a good thing you had that extra earthquake bracing installed last year?

Next, one of you will go outside and close the water supply valve. You know that water mains frequently break in earthquakes, and you don’t want the good water in your house pipes to be siphoned out or contaminated. You also turn off your circuit breakers — first the small ones, then the main — to protect your house from a power surge when service is restored. But you leave the gas supply valve open. There’s no sign of a gas leak, and you know that if you turn off the gas, you can’t turn it back on. The gas company will have to do that, and it could be a long time before they get to you. (If there were signs of a leak, you’d turn it off, of course. You have the right wrench sitting next to the gas meter just in case.)

The other one of you will be taking stock. You’ve got plenty of food for the three of you, as well as your dog. It’s all food you know you like and are used to eating. And yes! you remembered the can opener! You’ve got an outdoor barbecue that you can use for cooking until the power comes back on. The 60 gallons of water that you have stored — 1 gallon per day, per person or pet — is enough for two weeks; regular services should be restored by then. Your car has at least half a tank of gas — good thing since gas pumps can’t run without power! And you have a good amount of cash on hand, since ATMs and credit cards won’t work either. Some of it is in small bills, because you know that if all you have are $20s, that’s what a bottle of water will cost.

The two of you compare notes and agree that everything seems in order. You’ll need to be ready for aftershocks, of course. And you’ll get out the battery-powered radio and listen for news. Meanwhile, it’s time to go see whether you can help any of your neighbors, who might not have been as well prepared….

Of course, being at home is the simplest case. But you have planned for other cases, too. You’ve planned a place to meet if one of you isn’t home when the disaster hits. You’ve got an evacuation kit ready in case the house isn’t safe and you have to leave. And so on.

The Prepared Lifestyle

Knowledge left unused is forgotten. Skills not practiced are lost. Supplies left untended can spoil. Keep your knowledge up by taking preparedness classes periodically. Keep your skills up by practicing. Rotate through your consumable supplies (food, water, batteries), and periodically check the rest.

Personal circumstances change. Moving to a new home? Time to rethink your preparedness plans. Getting married? Having a child? Getting a pet? New job in a different location? Time to re-evaluate. Child getting older? Time to rehearse the plans with them.

Let’s admit that these are tedious tasks. They are mundane things that may not seem like fun, but are valuable in the long run. Is that not a good definition of “adulting?”

Postscript

This article is about preparing for widespread disasters, but the same thought process works for personal disasters. What things could happen that would turn your life sideways? A car crash, perhaps, and you no longer have transportation. An out-of-town relative who is hospitalized and needs your help. A sudden need to evacuate your home. Have you thought about how you will handle them when they happen? They’ll be infinitely easier to cope with if you’ve already been down that road mentally. It takes uncommon courage to acknowledge the things that can go wrong and plan for them — but the resulting self-confidence and resilience are worth it.

About the Author

Steve Roth ’88 (B.S. physics) started his interest in disaster response while at Mudd, first taking and later teaching first aid, which was a Phys. Ed. elective at the time. He continued to volunteer in disaster response during his 30-year career as a software architect at Hewlett-Packard. Now retired from the software world, he is currently responsible for the emergency response volunteer programs for the city of Sunnyvale, CA. These involve over 100 volunteers in the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), and disaster preparedness education programs.

“Money Moves for Mudders in Their 20s” with Emily Roberts ’07

After I graduated from Mudd and took my first full-time position, I realized that I had essentially no knowledge of what to do with my salary. While I was materially privileged to grow up in a middle-class family, neither my parents nor any of my schools had ever explicitly taught me how to develop my financial life.

To compound that issue, I didn’t have a “Real Job” but rather a post-baccalaureate fellowship; my salary was comparable with the living wage for the city I was living in, not leaving any obvious room for goals like saving or repaying debt. Plus, I knew that situation wasn’t going to change anytime soon because I planned to pursue a PhD. Was it even possible to accomplish anything in my finances in my 20s—beyond not accumulating any more student loans?

I learned that there are several very impactful actions that you can take with your finances in your 20s (even if you don’t have a “Real Job!”).

Financial Planning Starts with Knowing What You Want Out of Life

Of course you don’t know in your 20s how your life will develop in the decades to come, but you might have some dreams. Do you want to get a graduate degree? Own a home? Live in a certain city? Have children? These dreams likely stem from your life values, such as curiosity, security, community, achievement, generosity, etc.

The more in tune you are with your life values, the better you will be at setting meaningful financial goals. Of course, there are general good things you can do with your finances, like saving, investing, and repaying debt, but identifying why you want to do those things can help you write SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound), which you are more likely to accomplish.

Based on my circumstances, I set a goal to pay off my small unsubsidized student loan in the first six months after graduating. Even though my student loans were continuously in deferment until I finished my PhD, I didn’t like the idea of 7% interest accumulating throughout all those years. However, I left my subsidized student loans alone for the time being as they were not accumulating interest while in deferment and instead pursued other financial goals. I was confident that my post-PhD salary would more easily handle paying those loans than my graduate student stipend would. In this way, my choice to get a graduate degree directly impacted how I handled my student loans.

Put Your Salary Offer in the Context of the Cost of Living

When you are offered a job, whether your first or subsequent, it’s vital to consider what kind of lifestyle that salary will afford you. Seems obvious, right? Well, it’s a little more difficult when the offer involves moving to a new city, a change in your tax status, or altered payroll deductions.

My favorite basic income tax calculator is from SmartAsset, and it will tell you what you can expect your income to be after deducting federal, state, local, and FICA tax. I suggest playing with several cost of living comparison calculators as their methodologies vary, and for grad students specifically I recommend the MIT Living Wage Calculator. You’ll have to inquire with your new employer about the amounts for other payroll deductions such as insurance premiums, even before accepting the offer.

With those numbers in mind, you’ll have a good idea of what fraction of your salary will actually be available to you and how far it will go in that city. Bonus: You can use your lifestyle considerations as motivation (though not justification) for negotiating the job offer!

When I weighed my grad school offer letters from around the country, I didn’t take finances into consideration but rather picked my program solely based on the research I’d be able to do. I assumed the stipends I was offered had to be sufficient to sustain a minimum lifestyle. I couldn’t have been more wrong! The program I picked happened to pay a stipend that was approximately 30% above the local living wage, which I later learned is all too rare. Many PhD programs pay less than the local living wage, which pushes PhD students to side hustle, accumulate debt, and/or defer other life goals. No one expects to live high on the hog in graduate school, but neither should they experience financial stress.

Though they don’t have to hold sway, the salary and benefits should be a factor when you consider any job offer. These calculators and even drafting a budget will help you figure out if it’s a reasonable offer given the local cost of living.

Take Action on Retirement ASAP

Earlier, I said that you need to plumb your values to figure out what financial goals to set, but I’m going to suggest one in particular that should be one of your early ones: Investing for retirement. Yes, retirement is a long way off and it may not feel like a high priority. However, because providing for yourself after you stop working (whether by choice or circumstance) is such a massive financial goal—think millions of dollars—you should start working toward it as soon as is feasible. This enables compound interest to work its magic over the decades.

How can you do this? Start with your employer benefits. If your employer offers a match on retirement contributions, at a minimum set up your contributions to capture that match fully. It’s rare that any financial goal should come before that one. Then, when you have some cash savings and have paid off high interest rate debt, consider increasing your contribution rate. Contributing 15% of your gross income to a tax-advantaged retirement account is a great goal if you want to retire at a traditional age.

If your employer doesn’t offer such a benefit, you can instead contribute to an Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA). This is typically the only tax-advantaged retirement account option for graduate students, and in 2022 has a contribution ceiling of $6,000 for people under the age of 50.

A small contribution rate at a young age can make an outsized impact on how much money you have available to you in retirement if it is invested appropriately aggressively. The best investing strategy isn’t complicated, expensive, or time-consuming, either. Check out The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins as a primer.

I started investing for retirement when I was 22 because the personal finance books I read told me I was supposed to. At first, I used an IRA. I never contributed as much as the yearly maximum during grad school, but I did as much as I could while maintaining a comfortable lifestyle. By the time I finished my PhD, thanks to a strong bull market, I had over a year’s stipend in my IRA. Now that I’m in my 30s with a house, kids, and a business, I’m grateful to my younger self for laying that solid foundation; I feel like I got a head start in that area of my finances and can now handle pursuing multiple financial goals.

Even if you reached your HMC graduation with little to no knowledge of personal finance, like I did, rest assured that this subject is one that you are well-positioned to succeed with. Start with figuring out what you want in life and use that vision to motivate you to set and reach financial goals.

About the Author

Emily (Hogan) Roberts (B.S. physics ‘07) is a personal finance educator specializing in early-career PhDs. Through her business, Personal Finance for PhDs, she equips graduate students, postdocs, and PhDs with Real Jobs to make the most of their money. She gives seminars at universities and for associations; interviews graduate students and PhDs on her podcast; and creates courses and workshops on taxes, investing, and more. Emily holds a PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University and lives in San Diego with her husband and two children.

“Just Breathe” with Shailee Samar ’18

Pause reading. Turn your attention to the breath you just took. 

Chances are, the breath was short and shallow. 

Chances are, now that you’ve realized your last breath was short and shallow, you may have just taken a long and deep breath. 

Chances are, you’re now feeling a little more relaxed.

Chances are, maybe you’re even starting to smile.

Our normal breaths can be pretty short. If you’re reading this blog post, I’m guessing you’re a high achiever. Sorry to break it to you, but you probably wouldn’t get an A on how well you breathe. The average human only uses 10% of their lung capacity when they breathe. That’s a whole lot of breathing that you’re missing out on.

Why does this matter? How could something as routine as a breath be worth reading about? 

We all know the state of our mind impacts our breath. When we’re angry or upset, our breaths become short and shallow. When we’re happy or relaxed, our breaths become long and deep. Interestingly, just as our mind can impact our breath, our breath can also impact our mind.

Studies have shown that changing how we breathe changes how we feel, as different emotions are associated with different types of breathing. When we breathe quickly, for example, we actually activate our amygdala, which can trigger feelings of stress, fear, and anger. 

The external world can be such an anxiety-inducing place, creating triggers for both short-term and long-term stress. As students, we experience stress when we’re asked to solve a problem on the whiteboard (short-term stress) or when we stay up late doing homework months on end (long-term stress). After graduating, we experience stress when we interview for a job (short-term stress) or when we struggle to find friends (long-term stress). As humans, we experience stress when someone honks at us (short-term stress) or over the pandemic (long-term stress). 

Why breathe in a way that makes these situations worse?

We can use different breath-based techniques to help calm us during times of stress. Simply taking long and deep breaths can transform a fight-or-flight response into a calm and composed mind that can tackle the challenge. Breathing is a way to improve our mental and physical health and in fact, is an essential pillar of health.

“No matter what we eat, how much we exercise, how resilient our genes are, how… young or wise we are—none of it will matter unless we’re breathing correctly. That’s what these researchers discovered. The missing pillar in health is breath. It all starts there.” – James Nestor, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

A few benefits of breathing consciously:

1. Balance the autonomic nervous system and stop it from going into overdrive, which can reduce mental health conditions such as anxiety, general stress, and even depression.
2. Increase memory capacity and ability to learn.
3. Lower your heart rate and blood pressure.
4. Ease symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
5. And many more.

It’s a common myth that breathing, meditation, and yoga require you to set aside hours in the day in a dark, isolated room or to scale to the top of a mountain. Even with just a few mindful moments each day, you’ll start to experience a difference.

Some celebrities have incorporated these simple techniques in their daily lives, you can try out one of these techniques too:

1. LeBron James and the straw breath: Breathe in through the nose for 4 seconds, purse the lips as if you have a straw in your mouth, breathe out very gradually through pursed lips for 8-10 seconds, and repeat for a few minutes. This is an easy technique you can use to calm your mind before a midterm, presentation, or even laying down while going to sleep. [instructions]
2. Elmo, Colbie Caillat, Common and the belly breath: While sitting straight, place one hand on your belly. Breathe in slowly through your nose, letting the air in deeply, towards your lower belly. As you exhale, bring your belly towards your back. Repeat for a few minutes. You could try this out right before you eat. [instructions]
3. Hilary Clinton and alternate nostril breathing: This breathing technique involves breathing through alternate nostrils, by closing one side at a time. This balances your right/left hemispheres. [instructions]

One easy way to integrate breath-based techniques into your daily life is to attach them to an everyday activity. For example, take a breath before every meeting, or class, or meal. Or, you could put a gentle timer so that every sixty minutes, you close your eyes and breathe consciously for just a minute. Even one additional long breath can go a long way.

Take a deep breath. Relaxation starts now.

Interested in trying out breathing, yoga, and meditation but don’t know where to start? Join us every Monday from 5:30–6 p.m. Pacific Time for Mudd Meditates. Email alumni@hmc.edu for Zoom information.

About the Author

Shailee Samar ’18 (B.S. computer science, ASHMC President ‘16-17) is a product manager at Uber Freight, focusing on helping truck drivers find optimal work. Missing the days at Mudd, she named one of her work projects “N+1” (in honor of always adding another Mudder to a dining table) and started using internyms to close off her emails (it temporarily worked). During the pandemic, Samar trained to become a certified yoga instructor and has been teaching classes with friends, colleagues, and the Harvey Mudd community. She hopes you can join Harvey Mudd’s growing wellness community.

“Oops I Did It Again: 8 Tips for Starting the New Gig” with Katie Shepherd ’14

The last time I had any “first day feelings” was in December of 2017, when I nervously took the elevator up to the 28th floor of a downtown Portland building and was shown to my desk. I had two “first days” before that for jobs (you know, full-time post-college gigs, not counting the concessions stand in high school or the several HMC jobs ~ shout out to Admissions and Student Affairs), but both of those positions were on college campuses, and something about entering my work building when it also housed dorm rooms or dozens of chalkboards and those single-seat desks that seemed so cool as a kid but were actually wildly uncomfortable subdued my uneasiness.

Last month I started my new job from my garage, tuning in on Zoom at 7 a.m. aka in the dark, joined by my landlord’s tin boat and wheelbarrow as my virtual-to-them-yet-very-real-to-me backdrop. I’m probably late to the starting a job remotely party, but I’m happy to be here if only to witness my cat sleeping all day. Ah, to be a cat.

I can’t speak for everyone, but a few weeks in, there are a handful of tactics that have aided my kickoff, making it just a bit easier to begin feeling a sense of belonging and fend off the imposter syndrome (that little voice that tells you they might have emailed the wrong person with that offer letter) that inevitably taps on your shoulder and gets your attention, especially for those of us in spaces not originally designed with us in mind. So here are some tips, take them or leave them, for those of us starting anew:

1. Let’s start with logistics: Understand your benefits

Ok back to basics but very important and worth mentioning: When you start a new job that offers insurance (which I really hope they do! Before taking the job, ask about these kinds of benefits so you know you’ll have what you need), there will be a finite open enrollment period where you can elect to enroll in benefits like health insurance, dental, vision, etc. Take note of the deadline for this open enrollment period and fill out your forms by that date. If they offer a 401k, enroll in it, even with just a small percentage of your income. Future you will thank you. If your company offers any extra benefits, like reimbursements for phone use, wellness/gym memberships, mental health care, take advantage. Learn about these early and get the most out of them.

2. Sign up for ERGs, community groups, you know…get connected

Does your new company have any Employee Resource Groups or Community Advocacy Groups? These are groups specifically built to create intentional space for folks with certain identities or interests to come together. Ask if your company has any of these groups, for example, groups that focus on queer employees, BIPOC employees, or sustainability advocacy. Get a sense of how the company actively supports these groups: do they provide stipends to the groups on a regular basis? Do they provide additional pay to the leaders of these groups for their labor in continuing these critical initiatives? Take note if these groups are open to folks of all identities, or if they exist as a meaningful space for only those that identify to connect. Respect this criteria and understand how allies can partake when appropriate. If there’s not an ERG you’d like to see, keep this in mind, and when you feel ready (and safe to do so) discuss with your People Operations/Human Resources how you might start a group.

3. Get to know how people communicate 

The number of tools your company might employ to try to aid in communication could be coocoo, but it’s not without good intent. The thing that’s tough as a new employee is to figure out what the hell each tool is used for, when to use it, and more generally how effective communication takes place within teams and across teams at your new company. You could be given login directions for Slack, Zoom, Github, Gmail, Salesforce, Looker, Confluence, Azure DevOps, Zendesk, and what seems like 99 more places to read and share information. Try focusing on what you need right now, and know that you’ll learn about the 99 other tools as they become necessary. And ultimately, try to answer these questions: how do folks communicate about one-off, quicker topics? What about larger updates/announcements? How does collaboration take place? Observe how communication takes place, emulate that, and over time move the group towards more effective communication if you see room for improvement.

4. Meet a bunch of people and feel out who keeps it real

Meet with people outside of your team whenever you can, both to get to know folks you might really enjoy connecting with, but to also understand your role within the wider context of the company. When you’re meeting new colleagues, feel out who keeps it real. Remember that you can be honest and professional (anyone else hate that word?). You can be critical of existing systems or processes and not be a pain in the neck to work with. Surround yourself by colleagues who can productively call out the bullsh*t. What this doesn’t look like is seeking out gossip for the sake of gossip. Try seeking out who’s real by asking hard questions – if they are real with you, they’ll be honest with their feedback. Stay connected with these folks, they’ll be a light if it ever gets dark.

5. Partake in the recognition culture, or start one

Observe how your peers and leaders alike offer praise to each other in times of success, big or small. I’m talking success like that feeling when your classmate stays up until 5 a.m. with you in Platt so you can get a better grasp on that STEMS assignment – the fact that you pulled another all-nighter may not be the success here, but that generous collaborative moment offered up by your peer deserves a shout out. At your company, see how people pause to reflect on those moments. Is it just as often or less often than when things go wrong? If you’re not seeing that recognition take place, shift the culture by offering praise when you are impacted positively by a colleague’s actions.

6. Organize immediately and iterate

Ok y’all this might be my virgo sun showing, but don’t be that person with a desktop that’s covered in so many files that you can’t see the home screen. Organize your files into folders as you go, and be willing to reorganize if something’s not working. You’ll likely get a lot of information in the first month – think about what’s going to be helpful later and keep those documents, videos, and other resources in a digital place you can navigate easily. And if your company doesn’t already use a project management tool (like Asana or monday.com), PLEASE at least get yourself a free version which will do just about everything you need to keep your tasks organized. 

7. Check out the org chart, ask about career maps, and find out how employees develop

If your company doesn’t have an org chart (aka a resource that maps out how employees are split into their teams, the reporting structure, and notes names and titles), ask your People Operations/Human Resources department if this is in the works. This resource has been immensely helpful for me as I get to know the company and its people, as well as what opportunities I might have for eventual internal mobility. Even early in your job, it is fair to think about and ask how growth takes place at your company. If there are professional development funds or opportunities for staff, make use of those to keep growing in the ways that you want to.

8. Give yourself space to learn – It’s ok to not know the answer

We likely know this from 4+ years at Mudd, but a friendly reminder that you don’t know all the answers, and your team shouldn’t expect you to, whether you’re coming in at a junior or senior level. Spend your first couple months (or more) asking way more questions than answering them. Remain in that learning state throughout your job. It’ll get boring otherwise, but especially in the first bit of time when you’re battling that feeling of “why did they hire me, I should know this,” remember that you’re a wicked fast learner and your team will appreciate you being real about what you don’t know. Oh and you’re likely not the only one in the room that had that question.

I’d love to hear what’s worked for you when starting a new position, taking on a new project, or generally shifting life towards something different. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the journey and its many turns.

About the Author

Katie Shepherd ‘14 (she/they; B.S. engineering) is a senior manager of client support at SevenFifty, where they try to understand the intricacies of the beverage alcohol industry and focus on putting their team first. You can find them rotating their time between dancing Zouk and Bachata, making music with their partner, and treating their cat Rooney like the queen she is. They frequently reminisce about performing with friends at Wednesday Nighters and laughing during every interaction with DC. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and share what brings you joy these days.