First Jobs: Lessons Learned

First Jobs: Lessons Learned
Once you’ve landed that first job, how can you ensure your success? Scripps alumni share the lessons they learned.

by Allison Stacy

When you’re consumed with looking for a job, it’s hard to see past the stress of scouring employment ads and polishing your resume to think about what comes next: actually working. But as professional journalists know, getting a job is only half the battle. Your next challenge is succeeding in that new position, so you don’t find yourself looking for another job.

That’s one lesson I learned from my first job: Don’t overlook what you’re getting yourself into. I got lucky, not only because the position pretty much landed in my lap, but because I ended up loving the job and was well-suited for it. It could easily have turned out the other way. I made the mistake of not investigating the details of the position thoroughly enough.

Of more value, however, I also learned that succeeding in my job wasn’t a matter of luck—it was a result of taking initiative. It’s no secret that entry-level jobs involve their fair share of grunt work. So if you’d like to take on more challenging or higher-profile projects, don’t wait to be asked—create opportunities for yourself. Research stories you can report, then pitch them to your editor. Brainstorm campaign ideas for a big client, then share them with your boss. Managers value employees who go above and beyond (as long as you’re getting your regular work done) and are more willing to trust you with bigger projects if you prove yourself capable. Doing this helped me gain the experience I needed to thrive in that first job—and over time, work my way to the top of the masthead of a national-circulation magazine.

Fortunately for you, other Scripps grads are willing to share their first-job lessons, so you don’t have to learn them the hard way. Here’s their advice:

My first job was with a plumbing trade magazine in Chicago, which was a wonderful experience. The most important thing I learned (and it’s still true today): Don't plan on walking into a job and having months, weeks or even days of training. While editors would love to spend time showing you what to do, most don't have the time and will just throw you in the mix. It's your job to pick up details along the way. This was a shock to me, but once I realized that I have the education, my system adjusted and I fit in just fine. Also, never be afraid to ask questions—better to ask a simple question upfront than make a glaring mistake that's recorded forever in print.
—Brian A. Klems (BSJ 2001), associate editor of Writer's Digest magazine

The most important thing I learned is that you don't always need to know everything in advance to do a good job. Sometimes it's better to approach the work from a fresh perspective. So as a beginner, you'll be in the best position to discover new solutions to problems.
—Megan Lane Patrick (BSJ 1996), senior editor of HOW magazine

Two pieces of advice: 1) Don't be afraid to ask questions. 2) Don't ask too many questions. You want the right people to know that you ask the right questions, but these people will consider you a nuisance if answering your questions forms the majority of their work loads. Before approaching someone with a question, consider whether someone less busy could help you, whether related questions are likely to pop up if you work a little farther (so you can knock off a list of questions at once), and whether you want to ask the question because you need the answer or because you want to prove your knowledge and capability. Self-sufficiency makes one much more indispensable than knowing the right questions.
—Amanda Metcalf (BSJ 2000), freelance writer in New York City


I learned many important lessons while participating in my first internship, which was at a business-to-business publication in the hospitality market. One of the more significant lessons was the importance of having a solid angle. While writing news and feature stories in college, each one seemed brand-new. I believed, as I plugged my “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “why” into my inverted pyramid, my story was one-of-a-kind, creative and even, perhaps, brilliant. But when writing for a niche publication, you quickly realize that the story you’ve been assigned is quite similar to the story you were assigned last month and that it’s quite similar to the stories that run every month, if you look at each story’s core. Plugging facts into an inverted pyramid wasn’t enough. Rather, I learned that it’s my job to take a topic that’s reported on every month, find a new angle that will divulge information of importance to the reader, and present it in a fashion that will make it enjoyable to read. During those three months writing became a lot more challenging but also a lot more fun.
—Kara Uhl (BSJ 2001), freelance writer in Cincinnati


Allison Stacy (BSJ 1999) is editor of Family Tree Magazine in Cincinnati, Ohio. Allison can be reached at allisonstacy@yahoo.com.