Early Career Reflections
A story on my feed this morning had me reflecting on my first job out of college.? Feeling nostalgic, I thought I'd share.?
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In my venture into corporate America, one of my responsibilities was to manage jewelry samples we received from vendors. I loathed this part of my job.? The samples were shipped on massive, heavy boards that I had to transport and pack/unpack throughout the week. It was sweaty, physical labor (done in professional attire, I must mention) that I had not envisioned as the start to my career.? I was a mass communication major; I thought I'd be crafting press releases and building a portfolio.? Reality was a far cry from the expectation.
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Looking back now, I'm actually grateful for the experience. It was important and necessary.? I didn't take the job to stay there forever; it was an opportunity to get some real experience and build toward something bigger.? I didn't like what I was doing; but by doing it well, I could build a path to where I wanted to go.? It taught me grit and to keep going.
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Some people are lucky and get their dream job right away.? Others, like me, were lucky not to.? I'd love to hear other stories of first job experiences and how it shaped your career journey.
Strategy | Retail & Digital Commerce | Consumer Insights & Market Trends | Assortment Optimization | SEO & Search Behavior | Problem Solver
1 年Worked on many great teams at Target. But I think one of the things about Jewelry was our amazing leaders who shared a lot of wisdom with all of us no matter our position on the team (both career and life)!
Love this!
Kelly- You are amazing and I am so proud to know (and work) with you!
Vice President of Client Development
1 年I love this Kelly Calendine My first job was writing JCLs on a mainframe, working on a terminal with the green font (so many reading this will have no clue that that is - LOL) Very limited interpersonal interaction and SO boring. However, much like you I worked hard and wanted to do well. That effort opened up the door to a new project on something cutting edge called "client-server" with an actual GUI interface. OH MY! The project was very consultative and set me on a path of spending the next 20+ years in IT Consulting. It was a gift!