(Tigahs alias) New job on energy trading desk but no trading experience

This is Tigahs alias (posting under this username for the time being).

So I just took a job in Houston to work as a market analyst on an energy commodities trading desk. I have no prior trading experience and know very little about the actual execution of trading/ deal flow. The firm hired me because of they subscribe to an insight service that I run (for the now current, soon to be past employer) about particular niche energy products.

I'm just wondering - being very green to trading - what are some core concepts I should know coming into the job?

How long do you think it takes to become comfortable with how trading works and how to manage books (and working with the back office)?


I'm sort of nervous about the transition given that my work experience thus far has been largely limited to fundamentals analysis, with some modeling of how hedging demand (for the underlying, not cash settled) impacts market-traded forward curves. So I've always been on the outside looking in (at trading activity) rather than actually executing trades (ie changing from a spectator to participant).

Any advice for a nervous new hire?