Pay the New Job Dues, Avoid the New Job Blues

This paper advises first-time employees on how to survive and prosper in the initial stages of their careers. These tips are drawn from comments shared by participants in the Graduate Public Service Internship (GPSI) at Sangamon State University (now the University of Illinois Springfield). GPSI enrolls students pursuing a Masters degree in one of the University's several academic programs. GPSIs work twenty-one months at their sponsoring state agencies, including 20 hours weekly during their two academic years and 37.5 hours weekly over the intervening summer. Interns receive: a) a monthly stipend, b) tuition reimbursement, and c) a professional development travel allowance. Each Monday for their two academic years, GPSIs gather for a one-hour seminar. The survival tips presented in this paper derive either from insights interns offered during these weekly sessions or from personal interactions between the authors and GPSIs who preferred not to share certain recommendations in a public setting, that is, the weekly seminar.