# I Got the Job but I Was Not Ready for the Loneliness

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves-1233851/i-got-the-job-but-i-was-not-ready-for-the-loneliness
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves-1233851/i-got-the-job-but-i-was-not-ready-for-the-loneliness.md
Podcast: [In The Know with Tony Reeves](https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves-1233851)
Published: 2026-09-16T11:00:03+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/i-got-the-job-but-i-was-not-ready-for-the-loneliness--75096488
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75096488/emastered_the_reality_of_the_early_days_of_my_first_professional_job.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves-1233851/episodes/i-got-the-job-but-i-was-not-ready-for-the-loneliness
Duration seconds: 1161

## Resource

Getting my first professional job solved one problem: I finally knew what I was going to do next. What it did not solve was how I would adjust to an unfamiliar career, a new city, and a life without the community I had previously taken for granted. In this follow-up to my story about choosing my next opportunity, I revisit the early days of working as a safety and health specialist in Tallahassee, Florida. Professionally, everything was new. I had my own office, telephone extension, and computer—but I spent much of those first few months reading federal safety regulations and trying to understand an industry I had never experienced. Personally, the transition was even harder. This was 1992, before social media, FaceTime, text-message groups, and affordable long-distance communication. I would leave an office filled with people and return to an apartment with no furniture, very little food, and an answering machine that rarely contained a message. Starting my career was exciting, curious, boring, and deeply lonely—all at the same time. That experience taught me that obtaining an opportunity and becoming comfortable inside it are two very different stages of growth. A new opportunity will not always feel comfortable immediately—and discomfort does not necessarily mean you made the wrong decision. If you are trying to understand where you are professionally, whether it is time to move forward, or what your next chapter might look like, explore the Career Crossroads Collection — Decisions, Doubt, and Owning Your Place: https://mynameisreeves-shop.fourthwall.com/products/career-crossroads-collection-decisions-doubt-and-owning-your-place Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves--5596987/support .

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves-1233851/episodes/i-got-the-job-but-i-was-not-ready-for-the-loneliness/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/in-the-know-with-tony-reeves-1233851/i-got-the-job-but-i-was-not-ready-for-the-loneliness.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.