I just got offered an editorial assistant position at the AP's Washington Bureau....it's all very exciting. So in the next three weeks, I'm starting the job, graduating from college...and turning 21. In that order.
What did you all have as your first jobs?
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Congratulations, Kasie. That sounds really cool.
My first job, other than babysitting, was at Chuck E. Cheese's. Not only was I a cashier, but I also dressed up as Billy Bob. Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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I'm sure I"ll be doing lots of grunt work, but I also get to do "presidential bodywatch", following him around when he does mundane, non-newsworthy things...keep your eye out, the next time the president falls off his Segway or his bike while riding in Maryland, my byline will probably be on the story.
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Congratulations, Kasie, that's very exciting! I'm really happy for you!
My first 'real' job (not counting the paper route I had when I was 12) was at Pacific Fabrics as a clerk. But the first interesting job I had was camera operator at a tiny little UHF station. That was a really fun job.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Kasie, that's fantastic! The AP's Washington Bureau right out of the gates is a wonderful start on your career. Remember, you are going to be starting out where many young journalists dream to be much later in their careers.
Good job!
Edit to add: And remember to keep a scrapbook of your stories. And stick with it throughout your career, you'll find yourself needing a good portfolio down the road for job interviews and whatnot.
Posts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
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My first job was my first work term during my undergrad: I worked for Xerox at their research centre in Mississauga, Ontario, on a new reaction mechanism for synthetic polymerizations. I was basically doing grunt work in that I put together a statistical design of experiments and then did all of the experiments myself. Each one took a day, so the whole DoE took a good chunk of my four-month work term.
It was pretty cool, though. I turned 19 about a month into that job, so it was neat to be hanging around with all of these career chemists.
Of course, I'm a chemical engineer, so my actual work now (that is, my real, full-time job, now that I've graduated and am out in the work world) is quite different.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Sounds like an awesome deal, Kasie! Congratulations!!
Dante, I know what you mean. I'm only 25 (almost), but I'll probably be in a similar position when I'm 30. So much school, so much time!
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Zal -- I will, as long as said PR people call me back. The Justice Department *never* does.
Dante...out of curiosity, how is that? You going for your PhD? (Forgive my not knowing...)
Twinky, your first job was clearly more important than mine because I have to admit I can barely decipher the job description Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Yeah, that's why I said never mind, Kasie. Government agency PIOs aren't always the most helpful people. We (meaning those of us who do university pr) aren't real fond of doing joint efforts with them. It takes forever to get a press release reviewed and approved.
Higher ed pr people are generally much nicer and more helpful. You should work your way up into the education beat. Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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What is a "real" full time job? Does that include waiting tables? I just got my first desk job about a year ago and, well, I hate it. But, it pays the bills, and I broke the double digit per hour pay wage, so thats good.
You're incredibly lucky that you got a job doing what you want to do, it is a rare thing these days. I was a creative writing major and would have loved to get a journalism or writing job, but alas, I am an admin. asst. for the biggest queen I have ever met. He's a nice enough guy, but good lord is he demanding.
So congrats and have fun!
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
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Kasie, that's wonderful! *beams* I'm thrilled for you - that's a great place to be.
My first real job was the Boy Scouts job, the one I was in for almost five years and just moved on from. It was quite a shock - I couldn't believe they wanted me there for eight hours, EVERY DAY.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Mine was as a programmer of Cobol on Data General minicomputers and IBM mainframes including JCL and all that fun stuff. We submitted jobs and they ran batch, then we would look at the results after the program was done. We ran an entire insurance company on a computer with less than 1 megabyte of memory, if you can believe that. We thought we were very cool, though, and tech saavy. It was a fun job!
Congratulations on your first real job! That sounds like a great one! I can't wait to read your stories. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Kasie, yes, I've bounced from school to school with a good deal of part-time and contract work (including some 80-hour weeks) to pay the bills. And now I'm in the first year of a Ph.D. program, so I'll be unrealjobless for at least two or three more years.
Mind you, I have nothing against real jobs or the people who do them...especially if it's something you enjoy!
Posts: 1068 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote: Dante, I know what you mean. I'm only 25 (almost), but I'll probably be in a similar position when I'm 30. So much school, so much time!
Yeah, I'm gonna be in a similar position. I'm 20 this summer, when I graduate I'll be 22. Add at least 7 years in a PhD program (possibly more) and I'll end up 30 and no RL job held.
Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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