My First Real Job ("I Cried in Front of My Boss")

Yes, that's right. I am no longer among the huddled masses of unemployed college graduates. My last post lamented over my job search, but about a month and a half after that was posted voila: a job appeared! A real, live journalism job with an office and coworkers and a water cooler. In case you were wondering how I was blessed with such a stroke of luck, I will share my secret.

Flickr's NS Newsflash

Avid job seekers in the journalism or writing field probably already know about this, but if you don't, here it is: JournalismJobs.com. It was my lover, my beacon of hope and opportunity, and now I am sharing it with all of you. You can search for jobs in or relating to the journalism field by category or state/country or view all listings. There are freelance jobs, reporter jobs, editing jobs, copy editing jobs--like the one I got. So before I write a love poem about JournalismJobs ("Ode to the Best Journalism Job Search Site on Earth"), let me share a little bit about my first real job.

For the past three months I have lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana (flat, oh my Lord, how flat) and worked at The American Press, a daily newspaper serving six parishes (they call them parishes here, not counties). My title is "copy editor," which can be a little misleading since many of us associate copy editing with proofreading, assuring the writing is competent, and maintaining Associated Press or the publication's personal style. (For example, did you know that in AP style MLK Day is written out without a comma before "Jr."? The things you learn.) But what I really do is pagination, which means I help put together the layout of the following day's publication by pulling articles and photos onto the page, making sure everything is feng shui and mistake-free. Sounds easy, and sometimes it is, but you really have to dig paying attention to detail in order to enjoy it when things stop cooperating. Like when you need the article you're working with to be just a couple of picas longer to fill up the space. (A pica is .1667 of an inch--can you handle all the knowledge I'm dropping?)

So far the job has been great. I'm learning a lot about InDesign, recent AP style changes, how to tone photos, and I get along with my coworkers. Huge relief, right? Everything has been working out--almost everything.

Of course, this being my first real job, I am going to make mistakes, sometimes really stupid mistakes. Sometimes I'll ask for help on something and realize as soon as someone helps me that the problem was very easy to fix and had I resisted panic to spend more time figuring it out, I wouldn't have had to ask for help. Yeah, you shouldn't do that. I would recommend that you exhaust all your own knowledge on something at work before asking for help. Because when you do ask for help you can avoid saying "Oh. I'm an idiot...Thanks."

You know what else you shouldn't do at your first real job? Cry in front of your boss. I had made a huge mistake on a page that was my responsibility due to a miscommunication, and evidently the guilt and shame got the better of me when I turned myself in. In my defense, we had been having trouble with this page, the obituaries page, for a few weeks, but it didn't help that I cry at the drop of a hat. So there I was, trying to explain what happened, when the sobs came bursting out. I could feel myself fighting the "ugly cry face" and kept choking/whimpering out phrases like "just ignore this" and "I'm not even that upset" to my boss. Once I got it together, my concerned boss kept asking me for the rest of the day if I was all right ("Swell, boss, I'm just going to lie in a pit of embarrassment over here if you need me.")

Everything ended up being okay, but that was definitely the lowest plateau of my first real job...so far, anyway.

The Job Search: What I've Learned So Far

It has been approximately three months since I graduated from Marist College, and approximately six months since I started looking for a job. Although I have had only three interviews, I have sent out countless (literally--I lost count) résumés and cover letters, and have learned a lot along the way. Now, I would like to share a few things that I have figured out. Past readers have probably noticed that I am a fan of lists and bullet points, but surprise, surprise, I am going with traditional paragraph format for this one. (caution: long post)

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Possibly the most important thing I have learned thus far is that though it is good to be confident and available while interviewing, it can go too far and become negative. This is what I call the "Eager Beaver." In one interview I went through, the two interviewers were very friendly and I felt comfortable with them. Perhaps too comfortable, because for some reason I felt it was appropriate to make painfully obvious the fact that I had nothing going on in my life and that getting the job would help me not die of boredom. I vividly remember my answer when they asked me when I could start if I got the job: without a moment's hesitation I said "Tomorrow." They asked others questions like "Is your schedule flexible?" and "Why do you want this job?", and I responded way too openly, explaining how my one friend is moving to China and my other friends are going back to school so I had absolutely no plans for the foreseeable future. I was trying to show why I could be so flexible and committed to the job, when really I came off as desperate.

The opposite of the "Eager Beaver" is "The Undercut." This mistake is when you sell yourself short for fear of misrepresenting your abilities and qualifications. Or simply because you do not want to come off as cocky. But being confident and using affirmative phrases like "I can do that" or "I'm a fast learner, I could pick up that project" are not cocky--and even if it does come off like that, employers want people who are sure of themselves. In an interview different from "Eager Beaver," I exemplified "The Undercut." I primarily made this mistake when it came to computer skills. Compared to my information technology, engineering, tech geek, and overall brilliant friends and colleagues, I probably possess average to decent computer skills. But I was so nervous about over-qualifying myself and then falling flat on my face that I severely undercut myself in this area which in all likelihood hurt me in the end. I was kicking myself later, knowing full well that I could have said that although I am an average computer user I can usually figure out programs and databases with some direction.

Another interview mistake is one that I would win every time if it were a competition: "Mouth Open, No Sentence." Ah, yes. I am the grand master of opening my mouth too quickly without forming a coherent thought first. Words start pouring out, not really forming proper sentences, and my grasp on the English language (which is something I'm supposed to have a splendid hold on) starts to loosen. When the answer is finally pieced together the interviewer usually likes what I have to offer, but is a little disoriented by the delivery. Recently I had an interview for a job I am really interested in and the woman was very nice and welcoming. But "Mouth Open, No Sentence" set in and I ended up tripping over my tongue so badly I had to make a joke about it to save myself ("It does say 'Communication' as my major on my résumé, right?"). It was not until later that I remembered something the director of Marist's Career Services, Stephen Cole, had told me once: it is okay to take a moment to think about your answer before starting to speak. The interviewer knows that you're nervous and would probably prefer a little awkward pause rather than having to hunt through a poorly-worded monologue for an answer. 

Flickr's USAG-Humphreys

Not only should an interviewee have answers, but they should also have questions. Usually at the end of an interview the interviewer will ask if you have any questions for them. Even if you honestly do not have any questions, at least have a few "gimme" questions ready ("Does your office use Outlook?" "How many clients do you have?" "What did your company do to earn X Award?") to show that you're interested and you did a little research about the company. And actually do some research on the company before you pursue a job with them. I made the mistake of not doing that once and was very excited about a job lead until Deirdre Sepp from Marist's Career Services told me that the owner of the company had been convicted of fraud. Oops. The last interview tip I have is to always have a conflict/resolution story to tell. Chances are an interview will ask some kind of question about handling crises or problems and it helps to have a real life example--"One day I had an irate customer on the phone and this is how I handled it..."

My final suggestion is that job seekers should make their own opportunities. It recently dawned on me to check out the online freelance community and it turns out there are a lot of resources. I have been working on a profile on oDesk, a place where media/communication/journalism freelancers can find jobs and clients can find contractors. You can take tests to show your skill levels at certain things, like word usage if you're a proofreader or social media if you're into public relations. Other freelance websites include freelancer.com, flexjobs.com, OnlineWritingJobs.com, and ifreelance.com. But you don't have to look only online to make your own opportunities. A friend of mine has the kind of personality where he can make friends with anybody anywhere he goes and is always talking to new people. Just by talking to people, engaging them, and mentioning his skills does he discover job leads. For example, he's a magician so he easily engages people by asking if they want to see a magic trick and later suggesting that the venue may be a good place to have a magic show. I'm not saying we should all go out and buy a deck of cards and a rabbit, but use what you have to make it happen for yourself. 

I hope this post helped at least one person like me, plugging along looking for their break. Please do not be shy if you need advice or resources or just want to talk about media/journalism/writing/et cetera--I can at least direct you to someone who will help. Until next time.