diff --git a/client_test.go b/client_test.go
index e1fbd395..067c1cc9 100644
--- a/client_test.go
+++ b/client_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ func waitForClientHealthy(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, statusUpdateCh <-ch
 	for {
 		select {
 		case status := <-statusUpdateCh:
+			t.Logf("Client status: elector=%d notifier=%d producers=%+v", status.Elector, status.Notifier, status.Producers)
 			if status.Healthy() {
 				return
 			}
@@ -80,6 +82,9 @@ type callbackFunc func(context.Context, *Job[callbackArgs]) error
 
 func makeAwaitCallback(startedCh chan<- int64, doneCh chan struct{}) callbackFunc {
 	return func(ctx context.Context, job *Job[callbackArgs]) error {
+		client := ClientFromContext[pgx.Tx](ctx)
+		client.config.Logger.InfoContext(ctx, "callback job started with id="+strconv.FormatInt(job.ID, 10))
+
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			return ctx.Err()
@@ -2412,11 +2417,12 @@ func Test_Client_InsertTriggersImmediateWork(t *testing.T) {
 	client := newTestClient(t, dbPool, config)
 	statusUpdateCh := client.monitor.RegisterUpdates()
 
+	startClient(ctx, t, client)
+	waitForClientHealthy(ctx, t, statusUpdateCh)
+
 	insertedJob, err := client.Insert(ctx, callbackArgs{}, nil)
 	require.NoError(err)
 
-	startClient(ctx, t, client)
-
 	// Wait for the client to be ready by waiting for a job to be executed:
 	select {
 	case jobID := <-startedCh:
@@ -2424,7 +2430,6 @@ func Test_Client_InsertTriggersImmediateWork(t *testing.T) {
 	case <-ctx.Done():
 		t.Fatal("timed out waiting for warmup job to start")
 	}
-	waitForClientHealthy(ctx, t, statusUpdateCh)
 
 	// Now that we've run one job, we shouldn't take longer than the cooldown to
 	// fetch another after insertion. LISTEN/NOTIFY should ensure we find out
diff --git a/internal/riverinternaltest/riverinternaltest.go b/internal/riverinternaltest/riverinternaltest.go
index 7b8e0040..1c50ae81 100644
--- a/internal/riverinternaltest/riverinternaltest.go
+++ b/internal/riverinternaltest/riverinternaltest.go
@@ -69,7 +69,9 @@ func DatabaseConfig(databaseName string) *pgxpool.Config {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("error parsing database URL: %v", err))
 	}
 	config.MaxConns = dbPoolMaxConns
-	config.ConnConfig.ConnectTimeout = 10 * time.Second
+	// Use a short conn timeout here to attempt to quickly cancel attempts that
+	// are unlikely to succeed even with more time:
+	config.ConnConfig.ConnectTimeout = 2 * time.Second
 	config.ConnConfig.RuntimeParams["timezone"] = "UTC"
 	return config
 }