Browsing tag: work

The very word networking scares me. Talking to strangers scares me. Working a room is an alien concept to me.

Helping out other people and genuinely taking an interest in them, now that I can do. If it’s in my power to help someone, I naturally do all I can to facilitate that, even if I don’t know them very well. (The other part of networking – approaching people further along the career line than you, isn’t so much in my nature.)

I had a really good chat to someone who’s currently doing the same course I did; one year ago, I was in exactly the same place she was. (Incidentally, they’ve changed a lot about the teaching and paper structures -most notably, separating out the third year bachelors and post-grad students. Apparently the PGs are doing better on their own…presumably, not being dragged down by the more immature bachelors? Is it along the lines of how girls supposedly perform better in single sex schools while boys thrive in mixed ones – two formulae that cannot reconcile?)

The thing about attempting to dish out advice is you invariably get the hard questions about your own career and where you’re going next. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about this in the few months since my official elevation in title. I guess like Amanda, I find it hard to just be content for long.

For the last six months, my goal has been to get to where I am now. And now that I’m where I want to be…I’m not sure what the next step is. (I don’t anticipate it being for years yet, but it’s never too early to start thinking about it). Logically, it would be to get better hours without taking too much of a pay cut. Beyond that, I really couldn’t say. This isn’t an industry that’s very linear – in other professions, it’s a pretty straight rise up the ladder. In media, people move laterally into magazines, print, trade publications, freelancing, subbing, writing, PR…the list goes on.

The funny thing is, since I first started writing the draft of this post, a possible new opportunity has revealed itself. At this stage it’s nothing more than talk, and probably (hopefully) will remain that way for a while yet. While initially I dismissed the idea, the more I consider it, the more I’m intrigued.

But whatever happens, we musn’t get complacent.

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I work for The Man. It suits me just fine. I like the people I work with, the job I do, having sick leave, the occasional eats and drinks on the company tab.

My question is: How do you feel about doing overtime?

Most of my colleagues with the same job title are salaried. They all put in overtime (unpaid) and very few of them ever complain. For me – an hourly employee – I find it tough to imagine doing that without getting pretty resentful, pretty quickly.

When I work overtime, you bet it goes on my timesheet. I come from a line of low-paid jobs where if you stayed 10 minutes past the end of your shift, you noted it down. You’d be stupid not to! The one and only desk job I had previously – as an admin assistant – was the same; I enjoyed the job, but it paid barely above minimum, and I was always encouraged to note down every time that I stayed late.

Lately, though – since the raise and promotion – I’ve been feeling a bit reluctant to record extra hours worked. I guess this is because I get paid handsomely for doing the weekend shifts already, and don’t feel like I quite deserve it. Especially considering that the weekends are the quietest days, and I’m often scrounging to keep myself occupied at certain times.

Do you find yourself putting in lots of unpaid hours? Do you prefer being salaried or hourly? Or have you ever felt like you had to work extra to prove you were worth your salary?

Everyone assumes that as a journalism grad, I must want to be a reporter, and wonders why I’m not pursuing relevant positions.

But I’m not cut out for hardnosed reporting. I want to be a journalist, just not a reporter. I love subbing, editing, layout. I take great joy in untangling a mangled sentence. In writing captions, blurbs, headlines. And if I had more creative and technical bent, I might have gone into design.

My goal in life is not to bring down tobacco corps or expose dirty politicians. Those are noble causes – just not causes close to my heart. I work alongside reporters and have nothing but admiration for what they do (most of the time).

There is more to the field than ambulance chasing. It doesn’t mean I should go straight into PR or marketing, as one friend – a fellow journo, even! – has said to me (I don’t think I’d necessarily enjoy the commercial aspect of marketing, or all the liasing with various parties I’d have to do as a publicist).

Granted, sub-editing has traditionally been reserved for those with more experience. But that’s changing, with the centralisation of subbing operations and shrinking budgets – fellow grads have gone straight into fulltime subs work – and of course, the advent of online, where traditional hierarchies don’t apply so much.

Don’t get me wrong, I get a kick out of writing too. On that side of things, I’d probably want to pursue roles as a community reporter or entertainment writer. But I feel my heart is in online and that it’s a growth industry – which is why although aforementioned friend is pushing me towards a community arts reporting gig that’s up for the taking, I’m not applying.

In fact, I don’t think a lot of my fellow grads even understand online and what opportunities there are. To me, there’s the opportunity to move up faster, probably more money and certainly prestige, and fun bits on the side like graphic design, HTML, and social media. Although I’ve always thought I’d like to try a stint as a print sub – doing layouts and spreads – I am positive that I’d feel very limited back on the print side of things.

For now, I blog here, freelance at my side job, and mostly sub to my heart’s content at work. (I may not have the title or corresponding pay, but that is the job I’m doing nonetheless). It’s an ideal mix – maybe why I’m not getting the itch to write more?

You hear it a lot: Young people just don’t have any patience. They have an entitlement attitude.  You have to work your way up and earn your place.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve been here forever, and surely by now that should be recognised? Then I kick myself and think that I’m glad to have a job.  I’m still a fresh grad with plenty to learn and skills to hone. Sometimes I am irritated that my title and income bracket are still the same although I’m doing work beyond that. And then I remind myself that I have to be patient. Good things take time.

It’s funny how I am making what my mum made 6, 7 years ago as an accountant and now think it’s peanuts.  How fast things change. I’m definitely suffering from that 20-something I want it all and I want it now attitude.

I know that I’ve been proving I can handle more responsibility. I have to make my accomplishments more visible – blow my own horn, learn to schmooze.  I tend to just work quietly and prefer to get on with the job but am trying to be more visible…which given my hours isn’t always easy. As per Revanche’s advice, I’m cultivating rapport with those I work alongside. And I know that most everyone knows how awesome I am – the people around me and just above me, at least.

But I don’t want to end up like this friend of mine, and I may need to jump ship at some point to get ahead. I’ve been keeping one eye on the job market for months. Now one has come up and I’m hesitating. Why? Normally I would be the first to say, what’s the harm in testing the waters? I really don’t know. It’s all familiar – maybe I’m too settled? I like the environment, I like the people I work with. And I’m reluctant to risk giving that up.

However, that’s just not good enough a reason – so I’m biting the bullet. And maybe nothing will come of it. But there’s nothing to lose either way, right?

Among the blogs I read regularly is Ask A Manager – it always has great advice on everything from interviewing to dealing with management and coworkers.

Sometimes though, you just have to feel sorry for the people who write in.

I started a job at $10 an hour. I took the job because I needed income, and wasn’t planning to stay for very long. I liked it, because it was a 10 minute drive to work, and steady pay. I was offered another job that would be $14 an hour, but it was a 30 minute drive. I offered the place I was working a chance to keep me on by meeting the offer, because I liked the office and the short drive….

I asked my boss about the raise and was told it might be two months now… and to ask again in a couple days. I asked again in a couple days and I’ve been told that the company can’t afford it right now. I’d just have to stay at $12 an hour.

One of my friends is currently in a similar situation. She doesn’t enjoy her job, and although she has a lot of work experience – some of it in this field – she’s only just become qualified in her current industry and is making a lot less than what she’s used to. The work environment isn’t the best, and although her boss has indicated good things ahead, he hasn’t come through and is starting to get a bit Jekyll and Hyde on her. What really hurts is that she put her faith in him and turned down a much-better paying opportunity (albeit in another city) that she would most likely have gotten.

It’s just a reminder that no one else has put your best interests at heart. YOU have to put yourself first, no ifs or buts.