Do research.

At most schools, you should think of research as your job, not a guilty pleasure. At most schools, even those whose primary focus is teaching, research is a significant part of the tenure decision (and it never hurts even when it's not expected). Get in the habit early on of submitting your work to journals. It's important to keep the pipeline moving. But in your first year at a new job, you shouldn't kill yourself trying to juggle research and teaching. If you can't manage it all, give yourself permission to focus on teaching until you get it under control.

Make your teaching relevant to your research.

Although for many faculty members research is their primary job, most professors spend more time on their teaching during the academic year. It can be hard to set aside time for research when you need to prepare lectures and grade assignments on a weekly basis. It's good for both your research and your teaching if you can integrate the two in some way, perhaps by spending one lecture on your current research project or (if possible) by teaching a course on your area of interest. Many schools offer special-topics courses, senior seminars, freshman seminars, honors courses, and/or graduate seminars that allow faculty great flexibility in what to teach. Your preparation time will probably be shorter than for regular courses or lectures, and you'll teach better if you're excited about what you're doing. In addition, students enjoy and benefit from hearing about where knowledge comes from and seeing how scholars work through ideas that are still developing.

Understand how your department works.

Be clear on how you will be reviewed--how soon and how often will you be reviewed before your tenure review? What information will you need to submit for each review? How much weight will be placed on teaching, research, and service? Although the tenure process is more baroque and/or brutal at some schools than others, most schools (with a few exceptions--if you work for one you'll know) try not to hire people they don't think are tenurable, and most schools provide some guidelines about what's expected. You should also find out what level of publishing is expected for tenure at your institution. What does your department consider the best journals? the best publishers? Many sociocultural linguists are the only one of their kind within their department; you may need to educate your colleagues about the journals and publishers that are strongest in your area.

Take advantage of your institution's resources.

All institutions typically have some internal funds available on a competitive basis for developing your teaching and research program. Find out where these funds are right away, make a note of the deadlines, and apply as often as you can. At some schools not all available funds are awarded because faculty don't bother to apply for them. Although such grants are usually not very large, they can provide valuable seed money for your first post-dissertation project, or can help you develop the dissertation into a book. Even if your institution doesn't have graduate students or you don't have funds to hire a graduate research assistant, look for opportunities to hire undergraduates as well as programs that give undergraduates course credit for research assistance; although you'll need to train them for technical work such as transcription, many excellent students are eager to get such experience. Teaching funds are usually less competitive than internal research grants and can provide valuable support for developing your teaching. Many institutions have special teaching consultants who are eager to help and advise--get to know these staff members early on. They often have knowledge of resources you'd never know about otherwise. If you find yourself in need of a particular form of support or assistance--a research assistant, someone to help you with your website, whatever it may be-- you should talk to your department chair. Although it's not likely that she or he will hand over the cash to fund your needs, the chair will know what resources and programs the institution has that can help you solve your problem. If you ask nicely, you'll often be able to get what you need--but if you don't tell people what you need they can't help you get it.

Get to know people.

The best source of information for new faculty is other junior faculty. If there aren't any/many in your own department, find junior faculty in other departments. It's a good idea to get to know faculty in other departments in any case, to be able to compare notes on your departments' cultures and practices. When you first arrive, you're likely to be invited to many getting-to-know-you events and other parties. Attend these--you'll meet people and learn a lot. Reach out to senior faculty in your department, both those in your area and those outside it. Suggest that you have coffee or lunch together. If they don't reach out to you first, it's probably because they're busy, not that they don't care about you. They'll appreciate your interest and be able to provide you with a lot of useful information. Some institutions have official mentoring programs for some or all junior faculty. If yours does, take advantage of this. If yours doesn't, set up unofficial mentoring arrangements with people you trust. Try to have multiple mentors (inside and outside your department, inside and outside of your institution). Ask questions of everyone you encounter, and feel free to ask the same question of different people in order to get a lot of different perspectives.

Be visible in your department, but not just as a socializer.

Even if you need to work at home a lot, make sure you spend some time in the department on a weekly basis. Be sure your colleagues know what you're working on--talk to them about your current research project, ask about resources, or otherwise let people know what you're up to and involve them in your research to the extent they can. They'll remember and let you know of relevant resources that they learn about. They'll also be able to speak knowledgeably on your behalf when you come up for review. Don't be shy about reporting your accomplishments. Some institutions have a department or campuswide faculty newsletter that reports on faculty honors, awards, publications, etc. Again, this isn't just shameless self-promotion; it's a way for others to find out what you're doing and it can lead to collaborations or other valuable opportunities.

Be nice to everyone.

Inevitably, the political history of your department and/or institution will involve some hotly contested issues that may have caused some factionalization over the years. Some departments have a more politically charged atmosphere than others; if you find that people are trying to win you to their "side" on some issue, stay neutral and pleasant to everyone as long as you can. Academics have long memories, and a false step early on can stay with you for a long time. If you must complain or gossip, do so only with people you trust implicitly. Be nice to staff; at most institutions, they know more than anyone else about what's going on and how to get things done. Never treat staff members like servants. On a daily basis, a good relationship with staff members is more important than a good relationship with the dean or president of your institution.

Protect your work time.

The hardest part of being a professor is finding time for yourself, especially for your research. To ensure that you set aside the time you need, establish a writing schedule. Decide when you work best and make that time sacred. Be sure to schedule in time for relaxation as well. If you must work in your office, close your door, don't answer your phone, and don't check your email during your work time. If neither home nor office is a good place for you to work, look into getting a library carrel--most institutions make them available to faculty very cheaply, and no one will know to look for you there.

Be organized.

Figure out the best way to keep track of your time--compared to graduate school you'll have a lot more meetings and other responsibilities. Invest in whatever organizational system will work best for you--a write-on/wipe-off wall calendar of the year at a glance is one useful tool, but so is a Palm Pilot. You'll also be inundated with filing very quickly. Make sure you have enough space for your files and room to grow and start developing a filing system. Most crucially, create a tenure file and keep a copy of all tenure-related memos and materials in it. With both paper and email, aim to look at each item only once and then delete it, recycle it, or file it, as appropriate.

Say no as much as you can.

You'll be protected from a lot of service responsibilities early on, but you'll also be expected at some point to contribute to the department. You'll also start to be approached about other opportunities and/or obligations. Don't say no if you really really want to do it or if people with lots of power over you strongly urge you to do it. Start practicing the art of saying no to things that you don't see as helpful to your career goals or personal commitments, and even to some that you do see as tempting, since you'll have to make some hard choices given your limited time. Most people have trouble saying no; here are some ways to do so:

• "I'll get back to you--I never say yes or no to anything right away. I need to think about it first."
• "I need to see how that will affect my tenure process."
• "I've been told I have to say no to everything before tenure."

Many people find saying no difficult because it doesn't feel like an accomplishment. If this is your situation, arrange to report to someone else what you've said no to every week, or keep an "anti-CV" on your computer where you keep a dated list of everything you say no to; the dates will help you notice if you're not saying no often enough.

If you tend to be an overachiever, try to do the minimum, not the maximum--in academia the minimum is usually more than enough to keep you busy. if you're a perfectionist, give yourself permission not to be. You won't have time to do everything well. Decide where you're willing to cut corners and then accept it.