Faculty members at the beginning of their career move through a set of developmental stages that, if completed, allow them to accomplish complex and competent professional roles. Besides their personal efforts and promotion it is very important to get professional supervision and help from experienced academics. Do Croatian academics pay sufficient attention to these processes? Is preparing Teacher Assistants (TAs) for their teaching role a systematic and planned activity or is it based on a theory of survival? Our research shows that a vast majority of Croatian TAs have not passed through any induction programs, because those programs do not (yet) exist within Croatian institutions. In our research we have examined existing forms and models of preparing TAs for their teaching role. By comparing results with acknowledged foreign sources and programs we suggested a "tailor made" model of introducing TAs into academic community.