Thirty years ago, I arrived at The New York Times as an intern. I
never planned to be a “company man.” I had no real plan. This is just the way
things worked out.
اضافة اعلان
Young people often ask me for career advice. Well,
here it is.
Try to be the best
at what you do. The money will take care of itself
During a career conference
at my college, I remember a journalist describing what I thought was an
appallingly lower-than-average starting salary for newspaper journalists.
Hyperventilating, I excused myself, ran to the bathroom, and threw up. I had
been poor my whole life, and I remember thinking, “I can’t go to college and
still be poor!”
But I pulled myself together and came to this
resolution: I would simply strive to be the best at what I was doing, and I
would let the money take care of itself. Journalism is mission work. You don’t
enter this profession with the same ambitions as an investment banker.
In business,
persistence pays off
I got my internship at the
Times by not taking no for an answer. When I arrived at the Times’ booth at an
Atlanta job fair in the early ’90s, the recruiters told me I would not be able
to interview because applicants had to sign up in advance, and their dance card
was full.
I said that I understood, but that I was going to
wait there until someone did not show up for the interview. I sat for about six
hours, so long that they seemed to forget I was there. I listened in as other
applicants sat for interviews, and as the recruiters discussed each candidate
when they left. It was the absolute best opposition research. When one of the
recruiters finally relented and offered to interview me, I knew the perfect way
to answer every question.
The next day, the recruiters told me that I had so
impressed them that they called back to New York overnight and created a
graphics internship just for me.
Others may have more
advantages than you, but no one has more hours in the day than you. No one can
outwork you unless you let it happen
My first newspaper
internship was at the Shreveport Times in Louisiana. There, I decided that my
boss would never see me come or go. I would always arrive before him and leave
after him, even if I had to organize office supplies into the evening.
When I got my first full-time job at The Detroit
News, I decided that it was not enough to learn to do my job, I needed to learn
every job connected to mine. There were researchers in the graphics department.
I made them an offer: I would get their lunches and run their errands if they
would let me watch them work. They never asked me to do the menial tasks, but
they did let me watch them work with sources and even pitch in. I was working
two shifts every day — one for free and one for pay — but the experience I
gained was invaluable.
Find your workplace
tribe
The
Times I arrived at 30 years ago is a far cry from the Times of today. I once
heard it described as “a knife fight among valedictorians,” with managers who
were mean and who seemed to have been rewarded for being so.
That kind of hostile work environment would never be
tolerated at the Times today, but if you ever find yourself in such a
situation, remember, you are probably not alone. Anywhere you go, you have to
find your workplace tribe — the other earnest, good-natured employees who can
be your sounding board and source of support.
Everyone you work
with or for is a reference
It is estimated that up to
80 percent of job listings are never posted. Often, someone looking to hire
simply asks trusted people if they know of a good candidate. When those
opportunities arise, you want your name to be at the top of their mind — as
someone smart, collegial, and hard working.
This is why you must give your all in every job you
have, no matter how small, no matter if it has nothing to do with your ultimate
career and ambitions.
No one cares about
your disadvantages. Overcome them
I didn’t go to an elite
boarding school or an Ivy League college, but many of the people whom I would
work with did, and many of the people I would compete with did. I resolved early
on that I would have to compensate, as much as I could, for any deficiencies in
my educational pedigree. I read the classics that had never been assigned to me
and as many new books as possible. I watched documentaries nonstop as well as
the news. I visited museums and took classes if time permitted. I told myself
that no one would ever make a reference to “The Merchant of Venice” again
without me understanding it.
Managers must be
managed
The verb here may not be the
most precise, but this formulation is easiest for me to remember.
It is not enough to know the goals and expectations
your manager has set for you. You must know the goals and expectations they
have set for themselves, your department, and the company. You should try to
understand what the company expects of them, because only when you see this
bigger picture can you fully appreciate how you fit into it.
I have so much more advice, but not enough space to
share it all. This is, I think, a good start. Some of it may sound archaic. But
my mission here is simply to be honest rather than hew to modern mores.
I came into the workforce in a different time, when
a Black, country boy with a heavy Southern accent could easily have been
written off and reduced. I refused then, and I refuse now, to let that happen.
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