Today I took my next step into adulthood — I started my career.
While I may have taught history for two years to middle school students as part of the Teach for America corps, it was never truly a career. I loved and love my students dearly, but in my mind it was public service.
Freelancing/consulting was also not a career for me. Many others bring home the bacon with this as their sole profession, but for me it was more to pass the time. I never pursued it seriously.
So today, my first official day as the Community Relations Manager at Raising Arizona Kids maagazine, I consider the true start to my career.
This week I will be chronicling what it is like to start a new job – the joys along with the awkward moments that accompany not knowing the ropes.
>> Today was my first staff meeting. I’m fortunate to have been consulting with the magazine for two months, so many of the staff members already knew me. However, the weight of the moment was not lost on me. The first impression is crucial and in an office as small as this one, it’s important that veteran staff members find me approachable, as well as open to suggestions and feedback.<<
>>Learning systems and new software is always difficult and draining. Something I learned very early on and part of the reason I was so eager to work at Raising Arizona Kids is that the staff does not form attachments to these systems. They are constantly on the lookout for better, more efficient ways to perform tasks. Print may be struggling but the level of adaptability RAK magazine displays will allow it to maintain it’s status as a respected parenting magazine in Arizona for a long while to come.<<
Unparalleled message;)